BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A federal judge in North Dakota has thrown out another lawsuit alleging officers used excessive force during the Dakota Access Pipeline protest in 2017.
The lawsuit by Eric Poemoceah is the second such lawsuit to be dismissed in recent weeks. The complaint, filed last April, said the Oklahoma man was tackled while running from law enforcement and suffered a broken pelvis.
The complaint names Morton County, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney, Bismarck Police Officer Benjamin Swenson, Highway Patrol Lt. Thomas Iverson and others. It seeks unspecified monetary damages, the Bismarck Tribune reported.
Poemoceah further alleges officers ignored his injury and that they retaliated against him for exercising his rights by videotaping protest activities.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor said last week in dismissing the lawsuit that Poemoceah knew the officers were at the protest site to enforce an evacuation order, admitted that he advanced on the officers before fleeing, and failed to show that Morton County had unconstitutional policies in place.
Last month, Traynor threw out the lawsuit of an Arizona man, Marcus Mitchell, who claimed officers injured him and violated his civil rights in January 2017.
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