Protester hurt by driver during BLM demonstration sues

article

SEATTLE, WA - NOVEMBER 03: A protester waves a Black Lives Matter flag during racial justice protests on November 3, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. Police say they made at least two arrests as multiple large racial justice groups protested on Election

Expand

SEATTLE - A Seattle resident critically injured by a driver during a Black Lives Matter demonstration has filed a lawsuit against the state, city and suspected driver.

Dawit Kelete is accused of hitting two protesters, killing one of them, after driving around roadway barricades and taking an off ramp onto Interstate 5 on July 4, 2020.

The Seattle Times reports the King County Superior Court lawsuit filed by Diaz Love — who sustained a traumatic brain injury, multiple fractures, lacerations, displacements and other physical wounds — alleges Kelete was driving negligently. The suit filed Tuesday also alleges state and city agencies failed to block all access ramps to Interstate 5 and refused to protect vulnerable protesters.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Washington State Patrol (WSP), Washington State Department of Transportation, Seattle Mayor’s Office and Seattle Police Department.

It alleges the agencies failed to reinstate a policy banning pedestrians from obstructing freeways during protests and wrongly prohibited and removed protesters’ support vehicles, which are sometimes used as protective barricades.

Kelete was able to access I-5 because the agencies failed to block the off ramps, the lawsuit alleges.

Kelete told jail officials he was struggling with an "untreated addiction," and WSP investigators found "several implements commonly used to smoke illegal substances" and a substance that appeared to be "similar to crystal methamphetamine" in the car he was driving, according to charging papers.

A WSP drug-recognition expert determined he had not been drinking and did not appear to be under the influence, according to the charges.

Judge finds Seattle police in contempt for use of blast balls at protests

A federal judge has found the Seattle Police Department in contempt of court for the indiscriminate use of blast balls and pepper spray during Black Lives Matter protests in recent months.

Kelete pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless driving charges in late July 2020.