An African-American special education teacher who doubles as a musician says he was assaulted by members of a white nationalist group in Boston in 2022 and is now seeking legal action.
The lawsuit aims to hold the organization accountable and deplete its financial resources, ultimately aiming to cause the organization’s internal collapse.
Charles Murrell III’s legal team filed the lawsuit, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, in US District Court in Massachusetts. Murrell and his attorneys claim the Patriot Front conspired to violate Murrell’s civil rights and committed civil assault and battery.
According to the complaint, on July 2, 2022, the teacher was playing his saxophone near the Boston Public Library when he was confronted by members of the Patriot Front, who launched a “coordinated, brutal, and racially motivated attack” on him as he performed.
They approached him during a 100-man flash demonstration by the Texas-based organization in the city. They marched along the Freedom Trail and selected famous Boston landmarks, dressed uniformly in khaki pants, dark shirts, hats, sunglasses, and face coverings, and shouted their mantra, “Reclaim America.”
Murrell, 36, claims he tried to film them coming down the street on his phone when he heard someone yell “tar” before they surrounded him and started to beat him down. He believed “tar” was a reference to his race.
The lawsuit names the organization, its founder Thomas Rousseau and several other unknown assailants as John Does.
The lawsuit serves several purposes, according to Licha Nyiendo, the chief legal officer at Human Rights First, the organization representing Murrell.
The activist said their objective is to bankrupt Patriot Front, The Associated Press reports, similar to the way other white supremacist groups were hit with a $26 million judgment after the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
“Our goal is to…
Read the full article here