Judge Rules Lawsuit Against SF Pride for 2015 Shooting Can Proceed

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A judge has ruled that a lawsuit against San Francisco Pride celebration organizers filed by a man injured in a shooting at the event last year can proceed. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Ulmer on Wednesday denied a motion by lawyers for the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee seeking to have the complaint dismissed.

The lawsuit, filed in May by attorney Ryan Lapine on behalf of San Francisco resident Freddy Atton, alleges that Atton was injured and disabled in a June 27, 2015 shooting due to insufficient security measures at the Civic Center Pride Celebration.

Attorneys for the Pride committee sought to have the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that it violated their free speech rights, but Ulmer found that Atton's lawsuit was not based on free speech but on a lack of
security. Lapine, who also filed a second lawsuit on behalf of two brothers injured at the Pride Celebration in 2013, sought an injunction seeking to force the Pride committee to increase security, but that motion was denied on June 16.

Pride officials argued they could not afford to make the security changes called for in the injunction, especially given the short time before the celebration Days later, however, in response to a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida at a gay nightclub, Pride and city officials announced increased security precautions. Those precautions included security screenings at the Civic Center celebrations of the type sought in the injunction, as well as a sharply increased police presence.

By Bay City News

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