The protesters' federal lawsuit claims the police violated their civil rights by using "less lethal" munitions that caused serious injury. And they say police did not differentiate between peaceful protesters and others when using force.
Pittsburgh protester who lost eye from police projectile harassed by officer at court hearing
Alex Horell [Source: Twitter]
Horell believes that he was likely shot by a rubber bullet, telling the
Pittsburgh City Paper, “I really distinctly remember being hit, that is what I really remember. Then I remember people shouting ‘Man down!’ and not realizing that it was about me. I remember people looking at my face coming to, like they were looking at a dead person. That is a pretty vivid memory.”
“The doctors did say it was the equivalent of a baseball bat to the face. It’s a really dark irony that a police brutality protest is met with more brutality, and it doesn’t seem to matter.”
Protester who lost eye from rubber bullet says officer harassed him at hearing
Alex Horell, injured during a protest last spring was charged with felony riot after his lawyer contacted the Pittsburgh police.
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A protester who lost his eye last spring during a public demonstration was charged with a felony after his lawyer contacted the Pittsburgh police about a possible lawsuit regarding his injury. Black Lives Matter protest in May 2020 after the murder of
George Floyd. He initially thought he was struck by a beanbag before coming to the conclusion that a rubber bullet caused his permanent injury.
Photo: Tim Murray Alex Horell Alex Horell lost his right eye last year. During a Black Lives Matter protest in Downtown Pittsburgh on May 30, 2020, Pittsburgh Police fired a less-lethal projectile either a rubber bullet, a bean bag, or a sponge round at Horell, striking him in the face. Horell, who lives in Pittsburgh s Morningside neighborhood, believes it was a rubber bullet, after initially thinking it was a beanbag. “I really distinctly remember being hit, that is what I really remember,” says Horell, who says he blacked out momentarily after being struck by the object. “Then I remember people shouting ‘Man down!’ and not realizing that it was about me. I remember people looking at my face coming to, like they were looking at a dead person. That is a pretty vivid memory.”