NEW YORK (Sputnik) — Five human rights activists of Mexican decent are suing presidential candidate Donald Trump and his security detail following a violent altercation that occurred during a protest outside Trump’s campaign headquarters, the plaintiffs’ attorney Benjamin Dictor told Sputnik.
"You had a group of people on a public sidewalk who were assaulted violently by private security guards for Donald Trump’s corporation and his campaign committee," Dictor said on Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleges that during a protest on September 3, Trump’s security guards violently assaulted the group of activists, stole their property and barred them from their right to protest.
"Plaintiffs were attacked and their property destroyed for the express purpose of interfering with their political speech while they were lawfully and peacefully assembled on the public sidewalk in front of the headquarters of Donald J. Trump for America, Inc.," the complaint stated.
The premise of the protest, Dictor explained, was to raise awareness of Trump’s outspoken comments against Mexican immigrants and immigration policy.
"They were expressing their opinions on issues of concern, mainly on remarks that Mr. Trump has made concerning immigrants in the United States and his policies that effect the immigrant community," Dictor stated.
In announcing his presidential bid on June 16, Trump said illegal immigrants from Mexico bring mostly drugs and crime to the United States. He also characterized the Mexican immigrants as rapists.
