Seattle African-American Sues Cops For Unprovoked Pepper-Spray Attack

Jesse Hagopian, an activist and Seattle high school history teacher, was pepper-sprayed while he was walking home from a Black Lives Matter rally on the Martin Luther King holiday.

He has now decided to sue the city and the police for $500,000.

Hagopian gave no offence, yet he was pepper-sprayed by a cop in an "unprovoked attack", according to rt.com. He is clear that whatever happened to him is "reflective of the police brutality" that is common in the US.

A nearby witness quickly videotaped the incident, showing a small crowd on the sidewalk and in the road.

As Hagopian talked to his mother on his cell phone, a female officer in a queue of other officers saw a policeman fall to the ground when he was lightly brushed by bystanders. She drastically overreacted by screaming, "Get back, get back," and sprayed at the crowd. She shouted at the people who were facing her, even though they did not issue any kind of threats. The other officers did not react either, yet they did not attempt to stop her from overreacting.

Hagopian's lawyer, James Bible, wondered why the unprovoked use of force happened. It burnt Hagopian's eyes, ears and face, according to theguardian.com. "He spent the rest of his day washing his eyes out with milk and trying to get better," Bible added.

Later, Hagopian charged the city authorities with keeping silent, without any comment on the issue, even though it happened almost two weeks ago, and they became aware of the situation.

"We still don't have the name of the officer...I hope the city will respond rapidly to address this incident and others like it. I'm not the only one who's faced this type of overreaction from the police here in Seattle," he told RT.

The manner in which the police officer's reacted in Seattle indicates the general police brutality in the state, he added. "Every effort to curb police brutality seems to be met with more force," Hagopian said.

"We wouldn't anticipate that there would be an apology in this case. Frankly the Seattle police department has a long history of violating civil rights," added Bible.