Newswoman Files Suit Against City Over May Day Protest
POSTED: 8:46 am PDT April 14,
2008
LOS ANGELES -- A KTTV newswoman who alleges LAPD officers subjected her to excessive force during last year's May Day protest at MacArthur Park filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city and the Police Department, according to court papers obtained on Monday. Christina Gonzalez filed the suit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. She also alleges negligence and assault and battery and is asking for unspecified general, triple and punitive damages. An LAPD spokeswoman declined to comment on the suit.
The confrontations between police, demonstrators and others in the park occurred last May 1 while members of Multi-ethnic Immigrant Worker Organizing Network were holding a rally and march in support of immigrants' rights. Gonzalez was "struck, hit and pushed" by officers while she was covering the May Day event despite wearing her press credentials, the suit states. Gonzalez was targeted because she is a member of the media in general and because she is a Latina who was associated with other Hispanic members of the media, according to the suit. The reporter suffered "shock and injuries to her nervous system" and "severe emotional distress," according to the lawsuit. The LAPD brass was negligent in supervising its officers that day, resulting in the injuries to Gonzalez, according to the suit. Gonzalez's camerawoman, Patricia Lynn Ballaz, filed a similar suit against the city and the LAPD last Sept. 17 in Los Angeles Superior Court. She alleges she was knocked to the ground by baton-wielding officers and had to be hospitalized. A status conference in Ballaz's suit is scheduled June 13.Previous Stories:
Copyright 2008 by KNBC.com and KNBC (NBC4 Los Angeles). All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
You want to make the best impression possible on your possible employers, so be a professional and send them a thank you note after the interview. More
