Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, dropped a bomb on the Ferguson Police Department today, informing the group that they have violated the constitutional rights of the people of Ferguson MO, and she especially focused on the order by police for the protesters to “keep moving.“
“The evidence from plaintiff’s witnesses shows that the police, including those from St. Louis County, told many people who were either peacefully assembling or simply standing on their own that they would be arrested if they did not keep moving,” wrote Perry, who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. “Some law enforcement officers told people that they could stand still for no more than five seconds. Others gave instructions that people were walking too slowly, or that they could not walk back and forth in a small area. Some law enforcement officers did not make people keep moving, others did. Some officers applied the strategy to reporters, others did not. Many officers told people who were standing in small groups on the sidewalks during the daytime hours that they would be arrested if they did not keep moving.”
Perry ruled that individuals who wished to gather “in the wake of Michael Brown’s tragic death have a constitutional right to do so.” She also noted that “they do not have the right to endanger lives of police officers or other citizens.” She said that nothing in her order restricted the ability of police officers to do their jobs.
