A man allegedly at the center of a widely shared video showing him being shot by a police officer using paintball rounds during one of last summer's George Floyd protest has sued the city of San Antonio.
The lawsuit, filed in Bexar County District Court, alleges an unknown San Antonio officer shot 24-year old plaintiff Alexander Lance without provocation — once in the arm and once in the leg — during a May 30 demonstration downtown.
Lance spent three days in the hospital to treat his injuries, which were caused by what police call "less-lethal" crowd control, according to the suit's allegations.
The city of San Antonio had no immediate comment on the case.
Also in today's criminal justice news, police in San Antonio TX deliberately shoot an unarmed and peaceful protestor as he records on his phone
— T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) May 31, 2020
Then, after shooting a hole in the guy's arm, shoots him again in the leg
pic.twitter.com/EwYL5dWP84
The video, which made the rounds last summer, appears to show Lance filming a group of heavily armed police, when he shouts to one that he'd better have his weapon's safety on.
In the video, one of the officers breaks from the ranks, approaches and fires at close range with a long gun.
As the person alleged to be Lance curses, showing off his bloodied arm, the officer fires again. The second shot, which also appears to come after no physical provocation, strikes him in the leg. Blood seeps through his pants after the injury.
The allegations in the suit appear to track with the course of events captured on video.
The May 30 San Antonio clip was one of more than 400 shared by T. Greg Doucette, a criminal defense attorney from Durham, N.C., who compiled a spreadsheet of videos showing police use of force against Black Lives Matter protesters.
Lance's suit alleges that other officers rushed in with flashlights after the shooting. “Not to provide medical attention to the badly injured plaintiff but to surround [the firing officer] and use flashlights in an attempt to blind the cell phones of other citizens recording the aggravated assault,” the suit alleges.
The lawsuit accuses the city of being “deliberately indifferent” to Lance's injuries and for providing lax oversight of police personnel. The plaintiff is asking for unspecified damages to cover medical expenses, lost wages and physical and mental injury.
The Law Offices of Maloney & Campolo is representing Lance in the case.
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