7-year-old chemically burned after cops pepper-sprayed him at BLM protest, WA suit says

A father in Seattle filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, saying that police used excessive force against him and his child during a Black Lives Matter protest in the summer of 2020.

The Seattle City Attorney’s office and Seattle Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

According to the lawsuit, Armand Avery went to a Black Lives Matter rally and protest in Seattle on May 30, 2020, just days after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Avery went to the event with his fellow church members and his family, including his 7-year-old son, A.J., the lawsuit says.

Avery and his son are both Black, according to the lawsuit.

At the protest, marchers made calls for police accountability and carried signs bearing pictures of other people who had died during or after interactions with police officers, the lawsuit said. The protest had been authorized in advance by the city of Seattle, court documents said.

Avery and his family noticed that there was a significant police presence at the rally, and that officers appeared to be in riot gear. Police were seen carrying batons and canisters of pepper spray that had a range of 18 feet, the lawsuit said.

Avery and his family described officers as wielding their batons in a threatening manner and felt that the officers seemed to be instigating conflict with protesters, the lawsuit said.

At a certain point during the demonstrations, some protesters exchanged words with police officers, but Avery and his family didn’t see anyone being violent toward officers, the lawsuit said. Officers then pushed through the crowd and began using pepper spray canisters, spraying Avery and A.J. in the face with the substance, the lawsuit said.

Officers didn’t warn anyone before unleashing the pepper spray, the lawsuit said. A.J. “felt like his face was on fire” and had difficulty breathing, and Avery attempted to care for his son while experiencing the effects of the pepper spray himself, according to the lawsuit.

Bystanders took videos of A.J.’s reaction to the pepper spray, which went viral online afterward. In the videos, A.J. “can be seen crying out in pain and shaking,” the lawsuit said. Someone nearby poured milk on A.J. to try to alleviate the pain – the protein casein found in milk is thought to break down capsaicin, the main chemical in pepper spray – and Avery and his family left the event shortly after, the release said.

The Seattle Office of Police Accountability did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News. However, the office told the Associated Press that A.J.’s injuries were “inadvertent,” and that officers were trying to spray another protester.

Once the family was home, A.J. and Avery tried to quell the pain they were still in. Taking showers and using ice did nothing to soothe it, the lawsuit said.

A.J. couldn’t sleep that night and continued to cry until eventually Avery took him to the hospital, where they were both diagnosed with chemical burns, the lawsuit said.

“A.J.’s birthday is on June 1st,” two days after the protest, the lawsuit said. “The actions of the officers ruined A.J.’s 8th birthday.”

The lawsuit accuses officers of violating state law prohibiting discrimination, due to the fact that Avery and A.J. are Black and that the rally was intended to protest “excessive force used unjustly” against Black Americans and other people of color.

Specifically, the lawsuit says that officers discriminated against Avery and A.J. by using excessive force against them while they practiced their right to free speech

“Spraying a peaceful seven year old child in the face with a noxious gas is extreme and outrageous conduct,” the lawsuit said. “The officers who sprayed the noxious gas into A.J.’s face did so either intentionally or recklessly.

The father also accuses officers of negligence. Avery asks that the city compensate him for damages, as well as for attorney fees and any other funds that the court deems “equitable and just,” court documents said.

This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 2:43 PM with the headline "7-year-old chemically burned after cops pepper-sprayed him at BLM protest, WA suit says."