The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with attorney Harmeet Dhillon’s clients in the San Jose anti-President Trump riot civil rights lawsuit filed in 2016.
The decision denies qualified immunity to the San Jose police officials who Dhillon says forced Trump supporters to walk into a riot.
The rally was held on June 2, 2016.
Dhillon says a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals now makes that possible.
The court ruled 3-0 in Dhillon’s favor that the San Jose police officers present that night do not have qualified immunity.
Dhillon argued the officers created a situation in which Trump supporters had to walk through the violence.
“There were another number of routes to safety that citizens could have taken and they were all blocked by the police,” said Dhillon.
Dhillon says protesters hit her clients in the head with rocks, sucker punched them and tore their glasses off.
“All of them were assaulted in the course of this riot and had to flee for their lives and the police stood there and watched them being assaulted,” said Dhillon.
The decision means the case will now go back to trial court.
