CHICAGO, IL – A federal lawsuit consisting of sixty plaintiffs was filed on November 19th, alleging that the Chicago Police Superintendent and twenty officers engaged in “gross misconduct” when responding to protests.
Lawsuit alleges CPD used excessive force during clashes at Columbus Statue, other protests https://t.co/0psSFnHkx2
— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) November 19, 2020
While officials have offered little commentary on the recently filed lawsuit, the complaint file is a staggering 203 pages in length. Needless to say, that can make for a rather complicated civil endeavor.
The summarization the lawsuit centers around the plaintiffs alleging that, on numerous instances during police responses to protests in Chicago, officers applied excessive force, attacked peaceful demonstrators, and, generally, mistreated protest participants.
Apparently, one of the incidents mentioned in the suit involves 18-year-old Miracle Boyd. Back in July, Boyd claimed that she was punched in the face by a police officer, during a protest, which resulted in a broken tooth.
Shortly after the incident, video circulated of what appeared to be a CPD officer smacking a phone out of Boyd’s hand. There is, yet, to be video located of her actually being struck in the face.
Speaking to news crews about the alleged assault by a CPD officer, Boyd stated:
“There’s no way I should have left a protest bruised and battered for exercising my freedom of speech. I’m disgusted and never thought I’d become a victim to the biggest gang in America.”
A GoFundMe page that was set up on Boyd’s behalf wound up amassing over $80K. But, while many may not remember the alleged incident, Boyd seemed to become her own worst enemy via a video posted online.
“These “White people” love a sad sob story as her gofundme acct rises to almost $84,000. After she alleges Chicago PD slapped her.
“Gonna be rich as hell.” Watch her aggressively confront law enforcementment. pic.twitter.com/WHyBab4cSd
— Fukushima Exposed?? (@fukushimaexpos2) July 25, 2020
In video Boyd recorded of herself that was then shared by her critics, she says the following while commenting on the status of the GoFundMe:
“Bro, look at the GoFundMe. These people…look. ‘So why they smack you?‘ I just told you he smacked me – damn, I’m talking close as hell. Anyways look, we just gonna go do this.”
Boyd then moves the camera from her to then focus in on a computer screen that shows the status of the fundraiser, saying the following:
“These white people love a sad sob story.”
A friend with Boyd then comments with the following:
“Man, my friend really just got rich as hell off this shit. The police really didn’t do shit but just make her rich as fuck for no reason. They lame as fuck though.”
And interestingly enough, other video surfaced of Boyd bragging about her criminal exploits during “protests” in Chicago:
“I’m telling ya, I’m badass. In police officers’ faces, spitting on they ass, throwing water on they ass, throwing food at they ass – I did not give no fuck.”
Outside of admitting to assaulting police officers, Boyd was also competent enough to admit to committing acts of rioting and vandalism:
“Yes I was downtown causing a ruckus. I was smashing windows. Fuck you talking ’bout? I was on top of police cars – all that shit!”
Now, while Boyd is only one of sixty plaintiffs associated with the lawsuit against the CPD officers, it’s highly likely that these videos are going to crop up when relating to her claim in the suit.
A spokesperson for the CPD only offered the following statement regarding the filed suit:
“These are allegations at this stage and not proof. We will review the complaint thoroughly, and each allegation it contains, once we have been served and respond through the courts as appropriate.”
However, to quote Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s take on what these “protests” consisted of in Chicago over the summer, Mayor Lightfoot even couldn’t refer to what transpired as “protests”:
“That’s not a peaceful protest. That’s anarchy.”
This is a developing case.
Please follow Law Enforcement Today to receive updates as this matter progresses.
Speaking of legal battles, an LAPD sergeant recently filed a lawsuit against the LAPD.
The reason why is because the police sergeant is alleging that being disciplined for his social media posts on his own time is a violation of his rights.
Here’s the details on this matter.
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LOS ANGELES, CA – A sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has filed a lawsuit against the LAPD and its top commander for violating his Constitutional rights, after being repeatedly disciplined over posts on his personal social media accounts.
Police Sergeant Sues LAPD After He Was Suspended, Reprimanded Over Personal Social Media Posts https://t.co/0b5Ix4hErO
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 19, 2020
Sgt. Joel Sydanmaa, a 24-year-LAPD veteran said that his right to free speech has been violated. He said that he was disciplined by the department for his off-duty social media posts concerning gang violence in songs by the late rapper Nipsey Hussle and other issues.
According to the suit that was filed on November 16th, Sgt. Sydanmaa said that he was wrongly disciplined for expressing his opinions as a private citizen while off-duty on his personal social media accounts about public issues.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the suit said that he has “never done anything improper on the job,” yet was reprimanded twice and briefly suspended for his social media posts.
Sgt. Sydanmaa alleged that the punishments, which followed posts he made about Muslims, the appointment of Brett M. Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court amid sexual assault allegations, and the shooting death of rapper Nipsey Hussle, were doled out solely because his opinions “run counter” to the LAPD’s “preferred political stance.”
In each of those instances, Sydanmaa made it clear online that he was speaking for himself, not the department and that he was posting on his own time from his Orange County home.
According to the 45-page lawsuit:
“Sgt. Sydanmaa’s statements on the account were always and entirely his personal views, opinions, and comments, in his capacity as a private citizen, on matters of public concern.”
The suit added:
“The Instagram account’s home page contains a prominent disclaimer stating expressively that the statements and opinions expressed are solely his personal opinions and not those of any government agency.”
Another example by the left to suppress free speech!
LAPD sergeant sues over discipline over social media posts on Nipsey Hussle, other topics https://t.co/kIVOtumC3x
— Quaestio JI (@SI19466925) November 18, 2020
In 2015, following the November 13th terrorist attack on Paris carried out by the Islmaic State group, Sydanmaa saw a post on Facebook that was being widely shared at the time about how Japan, “keeps Islam at bay by putting restrictions on Islam and all Muslims.”
According to the lawsuit, Sydnamaa reposted it on his own account, thinking it was worthy of further discussion.
The suit says:
“He is not an expert on Japanese law or culture, but he knew that unlike many other countries, Japan has not been the target of radical Islamic terrorist attacks. He hoped to engage in discussions about an issue of obvious grave public importance and re-posted the Japan post on his Instagram page.”
Reportedly, after his postings, two employees of the Council on American-Islamic Relations wrote to then-LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, demanding that Beck “identify and discipline” the officer behind the Instagram account.
The department initially proposed a penalty of a 22-day suspension without pay.
Sergeant sues LAPD for disciplining him for social-media posts made from Orange County home https://t.co/NArOWv6JoW
— Daily Breeze (@DailyBreezeNews) November 17, 2020
In a 2018 post, Sydanmaa summarized the public allegations made by three accusers that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted one or more young women when in high school or college.
Sydanmaa concluded by writing:
“Considering these circumstances, there’s no way that Kavanaugh can be proven guilty. Sooooo?”
After that post, an anonymous person filed a complaint with the department, alleging that Sydanmaa was “actively engaging in the shaming of multiple women who came forward with allegations.” After a hearing, the department imposed an official reprimand.
In his April 2019 post about Nipsey Hussle, who was fatally shot a month earlier in South LA, Sydanmaa wrote:
“The bottom line is that he chose the lifestyle that ultimately killed him and it wasn’t the ‘great guy’ lifestyle that so many people are making it out to be now that he’s gone.”
According to the lawsuit, his post drew more than 1,300 comments, many of them insulting him.
One commenter wrote:
“No wonder so many gangbangers want to kill y’all, y’all just shouldn’t show up, for everyone’s sake.”
Sydanmaa was handed a one-day suspension.
The suit contends:
“A public employee simply cannot be subjected to discipline or retaliation consistent with our Constitution, for the statement Sgt. Sydanmaa made about Nipsey Hussle. The LAPD cannot take the position that expression of opinions praising Mr. Hussle is allowed, but expressions of opinions criticizing Mr. Hussle is prohibited and subject to discipline.
“Yet, that is exactly what the LAPD has done.”
The lawsuit states that Sgt. Sydanmaa has received more than 120 commendations, been awarded the Police Medal for Heroism, and is “devoted to the job, the people he protects, and the younger officers he mentors.”
The lawsuit also states that he fought through a cancer diagnosis and instead of retiring, he came back to the job.
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