The University of California, Berkeley and other officials face a $23-million lawsuit brought by student Kiara Robles, who was pepper-sprayed during the school’s riots in February.
Over $100,000 in damage was done to UC Berkeley’s campus on Feb. 1, 2017, before an event featuring provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was cancelled. Ms. Robles, a supporter of President Donald Trump who was randomly attacked with pepper spray by a protester, now seeks millions in damages via a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Freedom Watch, a conservative nonprofit organization, filed the lawsuit Monday on her behalf, which targets the school and 18 others for alleged civil rights violations, First and Fourth Amendment violations, equal protection violations, negligence, gross negligence, and other charges.
“She was assaulted,” Ms. Robles’ attorney told The San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday. “The California university system, and in part, Berkeley, is out of control, and they’re facilitating, if not inciting, violence, and the campus police sit around twiddling their thumbs.”
Ms. Robles told the newspaper that her lawsuit was an appropriate response to the school’s handling of the riots since “order is the right way to respond to chaos, and a lawsuit is the civil way to respond to injustice.”
Others named in the lawsuit include the UC Berkeley Police Department and Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, and UC President Janet Napolitano.
UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof told the newspaper that a “collection of false” claims would be exposed in court.
“We are confident that UCPD’s actions will be vindicated against the plaintiff’s uninformed allegations,” Mr. Mogulof said.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.