A lawsuit alleges two police departments and a city and county in Pennsylvania violated the constitutional rights of several Black residents they profiled, targeted, and aggressively mistreated during a 2020 manhunt for a man who shot an officer.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania is holding the city of McKeesport, the McKeesport Police Department, Allegheny County, the Allegheny County Police, and numerous officers who go unnamed in the lawsuit responsible for the unlawful treatment of several Black residents during that search by brandishing firearms, demanding entry into homes at gunpoint without a warrant, and using excessive force during traffic stops. Officers also unlawfully detained several residents.
The suit claims the defendants violated Fourth Amendment rights, used excessive force, intentionally inflicted emotional distress, and racially discriminated against a number of people during a manhunt that started on Dec. 20, 2020, to track down a shooting suspect.
Police tried to arrest that suspect, Koby Francis, that day for violating a protection-from-abuse order. When they tried to take him into custody, Francis shot Officer Gerasimos Athans and fled. Athans survived the shooting, and Francis was found in West Virginia and apprehended nine days later.
However, in the days leading up to Francis’s arrest, officers profiled Black residents in neighborhoods near the scene of the arrest in their attempts to locate Francis, the suit claims.
Two plaintiffs in particular, Courtney Thompkins and Ezra Dixon, were treated more intensely and aggressively than other residents, even though both have little to no connection with Francis.
On the day Officer Athans was shot, two officers approached Ms. Thompkins’ partner, Howard Gibbons, with guns drawn in front of their shared home, even though Gibbons shared no resemblance to Francis. When she came outside, officers surrounded her home and pointed guns at her head. They demanded entry into her…
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