SEATTLE — A man arrested during a Black Lives Matter protest two years ago is suing the city of Seattle and unnamed police officers, saying one officer used a racial slur before others tackled him and took him into custody.
Jorge Torres, who is Latino, filed a civil rights complaint in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, saying he was subject to excessive force and false arrest. Officers arrested him as demonstrators responding to high-profile police shootings of black men around the country were headed toward Interstate 5.
In an in-car recording just before Torres’ arrest, an officer who was tailing the protest can be heard apparently catching himself as he uses an expletive and racial slur. The department’s Office of Professional accountability found he did not use the slur.
A police spokesman said the department had no comment on the lawsuit. Seattle police have been under a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice designed to eliminate concerns about excessive use of force and biased policing.
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