A man is suing the city of Atlanta and police, alleging they forcibly grabbed him, slammed him to the ground and arrested him while he was recording local protests in 2014 in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting.
Corey Toole’s lawyers said at a news conference Wednesday that the arrest was unlawful and violated Toole’s First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights.
“We believe and he believes that it is his duty to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” attorney Mawuli Davis said.
Toole was at protests in Atlanta following a grand jury’s decision not to indict Missouri police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Brown, 18.
Toole’s lawyers said he was already standing on the sidewalk when Atlanta police repeatedly told him to stand on it. But officers, the lawyers said, grabbed Toole and slammed him face-first into the concrete.
He suffered a deep gash to his forehead and lip and a chipped tooth. Toole was held to the ground for several minutes, according to the lawsuit.
Toole’s phone captured audio of the incident, but once he was slammed to the ground the recording stopped, Nora Benavidez, a lawyer for Toole, said. He was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, but the charges were later dropped, according to the lawsuit.
According to the police report, however, Toole and other protesters were standing in the street after being told repeatedly to move. Toole was arrested for pedestrian in the roadway, according to the report.
The city of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Department have not yet been served with the lawsuit.
“Toole has lasting scars on his forehead from being thrown to the ground,” according to the lawsuit. “(He) received dental treatment for his chipped front tooth. Soreness in his back persists. He also suffers from regular migraines.”
According to the lawsuit, Toole was arrested without probable cause and his damaged iPhone was taken without a warrant.
The lawsuit alleges Toole’s incident isn’t the first of its kind in Atlanta. There have been at least three lawsuits settled by the city in which officers arrested people for filming police activity, according to the lawsuit.
“Hopefully sooner or later we will be able to get some type of justice and maybe even reform when it’s all said and done,” Toole said.
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