It took the Denver City Attorney four weeks to determine that charges would not be filed against a Denver police officer who used his baton to ram a female protester in the chest, knocking her down to the ground in an incident that was caught in the above video.
It took him six months to determine that charges would not be filed against Alicia Forrest, the Code Pink protester who was struck in the chest with the baton during the Democratic National Convention last August. Forrest was facing a single charge of interfering with a police officer, which could have landed her in jail for up to a year.
The officer, Scott Stewart, struck her violently in the chest with the baton while yelling, “back up bitch.” She laid motionless on the ground for a few seconds. A couple of minutes later, as she was telling members of the media what had just happened, an officer grabbed her from behind and arrested her.
According to a press release from the ACLU:
If the First Amendment stands for anything, it stands for the right to peacefully protest without being bashed violently with a baton by a police officer.
…
Everyone’s precious First Amendment rights were compromised when this 5’2″ protestor, wearing a pink tiara with the word “peace” glittered on it, was beaten and arrested. The public should be outraged and offended by the actions of this police officer. Such police misconduct should never be tolerated.
Ms. Forrest is seriously considering a lawsuit, but a final decision has not been made.
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