A lawsuit filed Wednesday says invasive and unnecessary rectal exams followed the mass arrest of 235 people in the nation's capital during President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

At least five people were rectally probed, the lawsuit says. And the number of demonstrators, journalists and legal advisers forced to remove their pants for the procedure may be much higher, says Scott Michelman, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia.

“I think part of the reason this hasn’t come out more is that people are reluctant to talk about it,” says Michelman, who is representing the four original plaintiffs on the lawsuit.

“It is shameful, it is traumatic and a lot of people are still dealing with it," he says.

Two of the lawsuit's plaintiffs – photographer Shay Horse and demonstrator Milo Gonzalez – say they were probed by police alongside three other detainees who are not part of the lawsuit.

“Defendant Officer John Doe 150, who was wearing rubber gloves, ordered Mr. Horse, Mr. Gonzalez, and three other detainees to remove their pants,” the lawsuit says.

“Without warning,” it continues, “[the officer] grabbed Mr. Horse’s testicles and yanked on them. He then put his finger into Mr. Horse’s rectum, through his underwear. As [the officer] pushed his finger into Mr. Horse’s rectum, he ordered Mr. Horse not to flinch. [The officer] pushed his finger an inch deep into Mr. Horse’s rectum and wiggled it around for several seconds.

The officer then allegedly turned to Gonzalez.

“[The officer] then reached inside Mr. Gonzalez’s underwear and fondled his testicles,” the lawsuit says. “[The officer] reached inside Mr. Gonzalez’s underwear and put his finger into Mr. Gonzalez’s rectum. As [the officer] pushed his finger into Mr. Gonzalez’s rectum, he ordered Mr. Gonzalez not to resist. [The officer] and other officers laughed at Mr. Gonzalez while this degrading search was performed.”

The lawsuit says the same officer “moved down the line and subjected the other three detainees there to similar treatment” and that Horse “heard another detainee yelp.”

The officer “did not change gloves when he moved from one individual to the next,” the lawsuit says.

“The manual rectal searches were performed in the presence of several other detainees and approximately five to ten other MPD officers, including at least one or two female officers,” the lawsuit says. “No circumstances provided reasonable suspicion or probable cause to suspect Mr. Horse or Mr. Gonzalez of concealing contraband in any body cavity. No contraband was found on either Mr. Horse or Mr. Gonzalez.”

The Metropolitan Police Department, which arrested 230 adults and five minors after cornering part of an anti-capitalism march, did not immediately respond to a request for comment specifically about the alleged rectal exams.

In a statement addressing the lawsuit, police said: "As with any pending criminal or civil matter, we will continue to support and respect the formal legal process. Moreover, all instances of use of force by officers and allegations of misconduct will be fully investigated.”

The lawsuit brought by Horse, Gonzalez and the two others – legal observer Judah Ariel and demonstrator Elizabeth Lagesse – alleges false arrest when police took the large group of protest participants to jail. Ariel was not arrested, but says he was pepper-sprayed without justification.

Some members of the preceding march had smashed windows and thrown items at police. Police responded with pepper spray, flash-bang grenades and batons. Many of the most aggressive activists broke through a closing police line and avoided arrest.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in the nation’s capital dropped charges against most arrested journalists and photographers, including Horse, as well as some others, but has pressed a raft of felonies that could carry decades in prison against more than 200 remaining defendants.

Michelman says it’s unclear how widespread forced rectal exams were in the aftermath of the mass arrest.

“We heard secondhand that a lot more people experienced them,” he says.

D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham, reviled by civil libertarians for his role in earlier mass arrests, announced charges last week against Turkish security officers for attacking protesters, saying "in the United States, and particularly in the District of Columbia, we hold our ability to peacefully protest as a sacred right."

Michelman says police conduct during the inauguration suggests a need to look in the mirror.