The American Civil Liberties Union apparently doesn’t like it, but a man who led a protest during an election year can, in fact, be sued and potentially held accountable for the illegal actions of his followers.
And no, I’m not talking about former President Donald Trump; it’s hard to imagine the ACLU defending him.
In this case, the Supreme Court denied an appeal from the legal team of Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson, which included ACLU lawyers, to be sued by Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Police Officer John Ford, according to Reuters.
Ford sued Mckesson for negligence after being “struck in the face by a rock or piece of concrete hurled by an unidentified person” on July 9, 2016, near police headquarters.
Mckesson was arrested that day, Reuters reported, but suffered no further consequences, as the charge was later dropped.
Mckesson claimed that he should not be held accountable for Ford’s injuries because his First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly protected him, essentially trumping Ford’s right not to get hit in the head with rocks.
