Four men arrested and later released from custody during a confrontation with demonstrators at a pro-Israel rally in Westwood last year sued the city and county of Los Angeles.
Mohammed Elkhatib, 35; Mostafa Gamaledin, 19; Fadi Obeidallah, 38; and Hassan Kredieh, 41, also were fired upon by law enforcement, according to their lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging assault and battery, negligence and civil rights violations. Published reports at the time stated the men were pro-Palestine counter-protesters.
“Non-Arabic people would not be subject to such treatment, policies or procedures,” the suit alleges.
The suit maintains that sheriff’s deputies and Los Angeles police did not enforce their own policies against racial and ethnic profiling and that its law enforcement officers should not “shoot at and then restrain for extended periods of time law-abiding persons.”
The suit seeks unspecified damages.
An LAPD spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit and an LASD representative could not be immediately reached.
Demonstrators had gathered outside the federal building on July 13, 2014, to express their support for Israel, which during the prior week launched airstrikes into the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rocket attacks by Hamas.
Cellphone video showed opposing demonstrators yelling at each other as the rally was ending about 5:45 p.m.
The suit states that someone in law enforcement present at the scene “shot at the plaintiffs with a gun.”
The published reports stated that the weapon was fired by a Department of Homeland Security officer and that no one was struck.
