"The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed a lawsuit today against the Baton Rouge Police Department for violating the First Amendment rights of demonstrators who were protesting peacefully against the killing of Alton Sterling," the release stated.
The lawsuit claimed Baton Rouge police used excessive force, physical and verbal abuse, and conducted wrongful arrests to get protestors to stop speaking out against the police.
Video footage of the protest shows police in riot gear grabbing peaceful protestors and throwing them to the ground before placing them under arrest.
On July 5, a video emerged of two white police officers in Baton Rouge who appeared to be holding Sterling, who is African-American, down on the ground before shooting him multiple times.
Police have said officers were called to the scene because of reports a man with a gun was threatening someone outside a convenience store.
