Police may pay for botched MLK counter-protest tactics

SEATTLE, Wash. (INTELLIHUB) — Jesse Hagopian, a teacher at Garfield High School, was shot with pepper spray by police while talking on the phone in the midst of a Martin Luther King rally which he was leaving.

Hagopian was leaving the rally to attend his son’s birthday party when an out of control female bicycle cop doused him with pepper spray, causing a major burning sensation in his eyes and on his face, according to reports.

Additionally the event was all captured on film and posted to YouTube by a third-party.

During the news conference, Hagopian’s attorney, James Bible, said Hagopian was pepper-sprayed “irrationally” by the officer. “No provocation and no reason,” Bible said, calling the officer’s action a challenge to free speech.

Before the incident, Hagopian had spoken at the holiday event about how black lives matter — a cry that has swept the country since grand juries in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, N.Y., declined late last year to indict white police officers in the deaths of African-American men., the Seattle Times reported.

The officer that fired the pepper spray is currently under investigation.

Police were also accused of misusing photography to surveil protesters at the event.

Video Source: James Bible/YouTube