Saratoga Black Lives Matter co-founder Lex Figuereo has filed a federal lawsuit against several Saratoga County and former city officials over alleged misconduct during a 2020 rally on Broadway.
The lawsuit, filed on July 29th, accuses former city Mayor Meg Kelly, former city Commissioner of Public Safety Robin Dalton, former Saratoga Springs Police Chief Shane Crooks, former Assistant Chief of Police John Catone, and Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo of using “excessive and unreasonable force” against protesters.
During the July 30th, 2020 protest following a “Back the Blue” rally, BLM activists and supporters were confronted with an armored vehicle and shot with pepper bullets by officers in riot gear, which Figuereo says caused him physical and emotional harm.
"There's been no accountability whatsoever for July 30," Figuereo said. "As we know, the city was in outcry after July 30. I've calling for city officials to make changes in our community and make sure that the police were demilitarized as they continue to have military gear that police and the Saratoga County Sheriff 's still have that same tank that they brought to us before and asked to stop. That's what this lawsuit is about."
Figuereo’s attorney Mark Mishler anticipates additional legal action in the future.
"We anticipate filing that at some point in the future," said Mishler. "This particular piece of it had to be filed now in order, because of a statute of limitations. So, we had a deadline so we filed this piece of the claim, of the overall claims now to meet that statute of limitations."
WAMC has requested comment from the public figures named in the suit.
The city is complying with an investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s Office into past officials’ interactions with demonstrators and potential misuse of police authority.
