Federal Suit Filed Against Seattle For Officer Pepper-Spraying Boy

SEATTLE, WA —The father of a then-7-year-old child who was pepper-sprayed by a police sergeant during a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Seattle filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court Western Washington District, according to court documents.

In the lawsuit, Armand Avery, the father, alleges that the city and its officers violated Washington State laws against discrimination because he and his son —called A.J. in the suit —are Black and the protest "was intended to address disproportionate excessive force used unjustly against African Americans and other people of color."

The lawsuit also said the father and son's Fourth Amendment protections against illegal seizures were violated.

In a statement to KIRO, the Avery family lawyers said both Armand Avery and A.J. were hit with spray, and that the injuries they experienced continue to impact them emotionally.

"A.J. and Armand did not do anything to justify being sprayed with OC spray. They were simply exercising their constitutional rights," the Avery family lawyers said in a statement.

The story initially made headlines when images were broadcast nationally of A.J. screaming and crying after being sprayed, and bystanders were shown pouring milk on his face to lessen the effects of the spray.

The lawsuit alleges that A.J. was in agony much of that evening and was treated at a hospital for chemical burns.

The viral video of the incident led to 13,000 complaints being filed with Seattle's Office of Police Accountability (OPA), according to authorities.

However, a three-month investigation by the OPA determined the boy's injuries were "inadvertent" and that the incident was not excessive use of force or a violation of Seattle Police Department policy.

According to the OPA, the officer was trying to direct a stream of pepper spray at another protester and struck the child instead.

At the time, the Avery family said it was "deeply disappointed, but not surprised by the result reached by the OPA."

According to the lawsuit, the incident occurred on May 20, 2020, when Armand Avery and A.J. and members of their family and church attended a "peaceful rally and protest" near Westlake Mall.

The demonstration came five days after the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd "shocked the nation's conscience and sent thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters into the streets."

According to the Seattle Times, body camera footage of the incident shows a masked woman wearing a bike helmet grabbing an officer's baton and shoving him.

That's when the sergeant unleashes a stream of blue-dyed irritant at the woman. The footage shows that Armand and A.J. were right behind the woman in the bike helmet.

The OPA's internal investigation concluded that it was unlikely the sergeant could see the child, who was hidden by adults around him.

But the lawsuit claims the sergeant's actions had negative mental and physical effects on the Averys and violated their civil rights.

"Videos and pictures were taken of the aftermath of A.J. being sprayed with [Oleoresin Capsicum] spray, a powerful irritant that causes a burning sensation, pain and temporary blindness," the lawsuit said. "In the videos, A.J. can be seen crying out in pain and shaking,"

"The use of noxious gases against individuals exercising their constitutional right to speak out about issues of inequity in support of members of a protected class constitutes a violation of the Washington State Law Against Discrimination," the lawsuit claims.