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Logging protesters file suit over use of pepper spray
October 31, 1997
Web posted at: 7:03 a.m. EST (1203 GMT)SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- Anti-logging demonstrators have filed a federal lawsuit against law enforcement officials in California for using pepper spray at close range to break-up protests.
A lawsuit, filed on behalf of nine demonstrators protesting the logging of northern California's Headwaters forest, alleges that officers used pepper spray in violation of standard police practices. The suit also says the action breaks from National Law Enforcement Policy Center Guidelines governing the use of pepper spray.
A dramatic videotape released Thursday shows officers dabbing pepper spray into the eyes of four female protesters, then spraying one of them with it, during a sit-in at a congressman's office.
After repeated demands that the women release each other, an officer is shown squirting the spray into a protester's eyes at close range.
"It was like burning under your skin ... the worst pain I've ever felt," Maya Portugal, 16, told reporters.
In both cases demonstrators linked their arms inside metal sleeves and refused to let go until after the liquid spray was applied.
Authorities said they used the pepper spray because they were afraid that cutting the metal cuffs would injure the demonstrators.
Pepper spray a decent alternative for police
The Humboldt County sheriff's' department routinely records officers using chemical spray as a way of documenting warnings to protesters that their actions may trigger the use of pepper spray.
Sheriff Dennis Lewis said pepper spray was the safest way to disperse the protesters.
"What we're trying to do is deal with the situation with a minimum of force and a minimum of hazard," Lewis told reporters.
Sit-ins in a lobby of the Pacific Lumber Company headquarters in Scotia on September 25th, and in the Eureka office of Representative Frank Riggs (R-California) on October 16th triggered the use of pepper spray.
The demonstrators belong to the Headwaters Forest Defense, which protests the destruction of ancient redwoods in Pacific Lumber's Headwaters forest.
"I think under the circumstances, this was probably an appropriate use of force, as opposed to the laying on of hands or some other technique," Riggs said.
'Bobbing for French fries'
The lawsuit seeks damages for pain and suffering, punitive damages and a court order stopping Humboldt County sherrifs and Eureka police from using pepper spray on "peaceful, non-violent protesters who pose no threat to the safety of any person."
National guidelines governing the use of pepper spray specify that it should not be discharged into the eyes at distances less than two feet, should not be used on people in restraints and should not be used as punishment, the suit said.
Attorney Mark Harris, who represents Headwaters Forest Defense, compares being doused with pepper spray to being burned.
"It's a lot like bobbing for French fries in a deep fat fryer," said Harris. "That's what it feels like when this chemical weapon is applied to your face."
Spring Lundberg of the Headwaters Forest Defense accuses law enforcement authorities of treating the protesters like experimental guinea pigs.
"We were like specimens, a case study. They were putting the chemical agents in our eyes to see what would happen and what we would do ... and let me tell you ... when it's first applied, it's so painful."
Correspondent Susan Reed and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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