Protesters head home after a vigil in downtown Salem in late May 2020. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
A Salem man is suing the city and the Salem Police Department, alleging police officers tear gassed and shot him with a rubber bullet at a protest two years ago before forcefully arresting him.
Bran Smith, 26, was taking part in a peaceful protest in downtown Salem on May 31, 2020, when police arrived, according to the complaint dated April 29.
He was one of dozens arrested by Salem police during nighttime protests that broke out in late May and early June in reaction to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Police said they were targets for bottles, fireworks and other projectiles as they tried to regain control of the city streets. Several of those arrested told Salem Reporter they weren’t engaging in illegal conduct but were trying to leave downtown Salem after protests.
Salem officers launched tear gas into the group of protesters and shot some of them with rubber bullets, the complaint alleged, and Smith was injured after being subjected to tear gas and hit by a rubber bullet in the face.
Smith left the area, started walking back to his car and noticed broken glass on High Street Northeast, which he started sweeping out of the roadway “to minimize any danger to traffic, the complaint said. As he was cleaning the glass, “Salem Police pulled up and forcefully arrested” him.
Smith and five other protesters between the ages of 19 and 24 were charged June 1, 2020, with riot, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $125,000 fine. They were also charged with interfering with police, according to an information filed in Marion County Circuit Court.
The Marion County District Attorney’s Office a month after the protests dismissed criminal charges against 14 people arrested, including Smith. Deputy District Attorney Amy Queen said at the time attorneys did a full review of the cases and determined they didn’t meet the threshold for the office to continue prosecuting them.
Smith is seeking $375,000 in non-economic damages, claiming relief for battery, false arrest and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
He alleged in the complaint that by firing rubber bullets at the crowd and “subjecting a peaceful protest to tear gas,” Salem police injured him through “harmful and offensive contact” and intended to do so.
Smith also alleged his arrest was illegal, and that he was subjected to “extreme humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish, and other highly unpleasant mental or emotional reactions lasting over a prolonged period of time.”
Salem police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick said the department refrains from making statements on the cases. “The Salem Police Department, however, takes these incidents seriously and participates fully in the related proceedings,” she wrote in an email Tuesday.
Rick Glantz, the attorney representing Smith, said he was not available to comment before press time.
The spring 2020 protests started at the Capitol and spread into downtown. That June, then Police Chief Jerry Moore said officers made the arrests to stop small groups intent on confrontations and to stop rioting.
In court documents, 22-year-old Jaimie Dehart said she was walking back to her car when she was arrested and lost both her jobs as a result of the felony riot charge.
Another eight people were arrested and charged with interfering with a police officer. Those charges were later dismissed. The other arrests were minors and not in the district attorney’s purview.
The Salem Police Department in a review released June 29, 2020, alluded to problems with the arrest process, noting that police in the Criminal Investigations Section helped with charging documents and interviews before they were transported for booking.
“There were issues with charging documents and officer reports,” the report said. “Mostly this was the result of lack of coordination between the arrest teams and the teams managing the charging documents, who were working at different locations.”
The city of Salem faces another lawsuit related to the May protest filed August 2020 in Eugene U.S. District Court by Elea McCrae, who alleged Salem officers shot rubber bullets at people marching when “there was no rioting, looting, or destruction of public and private property,” according to the complaint.
McCrae alleged she and other marchers linked arms and silently knelt in the street before standing up. Police then blared sirens, and McCrae turned around to leave and was shot at least twice with rubber bullets, one to her chest and another to her eye. Blinded in one eye and unable to see out of her other eye due to Salem police’s use of tear gas, she stumbled, fell and passed out, the complaint said.
After awaking to officers questioning her, she cried and pleaded, “Please, I don’t want to talk to you,” according to the complaint, to which an officer replied, “Talk or get arrested.” She was transported to the emergency room and diagnosed with an eye injury needing surgery, and she now has permanent vision loss, the complaint said.
A trial is scheduled to begin in that case Sept. 26, court records showed.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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