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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Civil rights lawyers say local and federal law enforcement agencies violated the rights of Inauguration Day demonstrators.
Lawyers from the Partnership for Civil Justice and the National Lawyers Guild charged that members of the private Presidential Inaugural Committee, which coordinated the festivities, improperly took control of a security checkpoint to delay protesters from approaching Freedom Plaza, where they had a permit to rally.
The lawyers also said local and federal police detained hundreds of people before they reached the parade route and used "agents provocateurs" to disrupt protests.
The allegations were added Thursday to a federal lawsuit that was originally filed before the Jan. 20 inauguration.
A police spokesman referred inquiries to the office of the District of Columbia's corporation counsel, which declined to comment because lawyers there had not seen the amended complaint. A representative of the inaugural committee said the group was unaware of the lawsuit. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, which is defending federal agencies in the case, said there would be no comment until lawyers reviewed the complaint.
The complaint says the police corralled peaceful demonstrators who had not violated any laws and were not charged. They were allowed to proceed after about an hour, lawyers said.
"Agents provocateurs" were seen by witnesses and captured on demonstrators' video cameras operating near the Navy Memorial, the lawyers said. One allegedly punched a protester and more than one allegedly fired pepper spray at close range in the faces of peaceful demonstrators.
