Louisiana court: Protest leader can be sued for cop’s injury

By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s Supreme Court says a police officer injured when violence broke out over the police killing of a Black man in Baton Rouge in 2016 has grounds to pursue a lawsuit against a protest organizer. Friday’s decision by the state’s highest court deals with a federal lawsuit against protest organizer DeRay Mckesson. A federal appeals court had asked the state Supreme Court to weigh in on whether state law could be read to place a duty on a protest organizer to make sure the protest doesn’t precipitate a crime. The lone dissenter in Friday’s opinion said holding an organizer liable for “one bad actor” could chill free speech.