San Jose Demonstrators Sue, Accuse Police of Excessive Force During George Floyd Protests

Two Northern California civil rights organizations and demonstrators, including a man who lost his right eye, filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city of San Jose, saying police officers used excessive force against protesters who took to the streets last year following George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis.

The lawsuit filed by the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP and the San Jose Peace and Justice Center as a class action seeks for everyone who was injured or wrongfully arrested to be compensated and for reforms of the way San Jose police are trained and directed to handle protests, said Rachel Lederman, an attorney with Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, which is representing the plaintiffs.

“We’re asking for everyone who was injured or wrongfully arrested to be compensated and we’re asking for significant reforms for the way that San Jose police are trained and directed to police protests,” she said.

Michael Acosta, 49, said he was returning to his downtown San Jose home after running errands on May 29 when he saw the demonstration and began taking photos and video of what was happening. Within minutes, he was struck in the eye with a projectile.

“I could hear the sounds and people running and shouting and explosions still going on around me and it was honestly terrifying. I felt helpless and afraid,” Acosta said during a videoconference.

Rachel Davis, a city spokesperson, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

At least 28 people were injured as police tried to break up the crowd of about 1,000, using teargas, flashbang grenades, rubber bullets and batons — a heavy-handedness not seen in most other protests in the Bay Area, and one that drew fierce criticism of the Police Department and then-Police Chief Eddie Garcia.

Seven of those injured filed a separate federal lawsuit in July. The plaintiffs include Derrick Sanderlin, a community activist and one-time police bias trainer, who was trying to deescalate tensions between police and protesters when he was hit with a rubber bullet in the groin, the Mercury News reported. The lawsuit alleges that Officer Jared Yuen, whose aggressive behavior was caught on videos that were widely viewed online, was the one who fired the bullet.

Protesters that day gathered in downtown San Jose and temporarily shut down a five-lane section of U.S. Highway 101, before police started dispersing them.

Garcia said officers had been targeted by coordinated, violent attacks from agitators who hid among crowds of peaceful protesters and then turned the streets of downtown San Jose into a “war zone.” One officer was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Garcia apologized for Yuen's behavior, calling it unprofessional and saying it wouldn’t be tolerated. The officer has since been taken off street patrol duty.

Rev. Jethroe Moore, president of the local NAACP, said he was caught in the middle of the clash between police and demonstrators as he tried to ease tensions. He was pushed around and by officers, he said, and still wheezes from having inhaled a mouthful of teargas.

“We must stand up against those who were in command that day that let and forced those officers to act in that way, that was detrimental to not only the community, but also to the Police Department,” he said. “It’s been a travesty for the leadership for this city not to step out and do more for those injured, arrested wrongly or defending themselves from the aggressiveness of the police.”

KQED's Adhiti Bandlamudi contributed to this report.