“Protest means absolutely everything, without it there is nothing else. If you don’t have the right to protest then you are not free to do or think certain ways. You’re not free.”
This is what Loren, a disabled social justice activist in Sacramento, California, shared as one reason he was seeking justice after he was attacked by police during a Black Lives Matter protest, and as he continues to be surveilled and intimidated.
In 2020, Loren, who has epilepsy, joined protests in his community to stand up for racial justice. During one protest, police struck him repeatedly with a baton and aggressively shoved him into a police car, dislocating his shoulder. At a later protest he was also attacked by members of a known white supremacist group as officers stood by, and he was later detained under false allegations.
Loren is working with Disability Law United to seek justice for the injuries that he and other protestors endured at the hands of the Sacramento police, and injunctive relief to stop the local police from continuing to use excessive force, surveillance, harassment, and arrest to subdue people exercising their first amendment rights.
Despite risking his own health and safety, Loren fights back because he believes people should not be harassed for exercising their civil rights, and that disabled people have the right to safely participate in protests without being targeted by police.
Loren reflects on working with Disability Law United, “They have shown me a good faith effort and understand they’re working with people who are dealing with a lot of trauma. They’ve taken care of a lot of the things that I would have had to do myself. So that’s what’s really been positive for me – they’ve helped me feel like it’s something I don’t have to constantly worry about because Disability Law United is on my side.”
To learn more about this case, visit www.creeclaw.org/case/white-v-sacramento-police-department/ or click here.