Cleveland Community Police Commission asks DOJ for civil rights probe into police handling of May 30 protests
Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein Co-founder Gordon Friedman Part of Group Requesting that the Justice Department Launch Investigation into Cleveland Police Behavior during Protests
As a member of the Cleveland Community Police Commission, the role of FG+G co-founder Gordon Friedman is to provide oversight of Cleveland police procedures as designated in a 2015 consent decree. The Commission was formed because of a pattern of excessive force used by police.
The use of excessive force is being questioned again because of Cleveland Police officers’ behavior during a May 30 demonstration in downtown Cleveland to protest the death of George Floyd who died after being held down by a knee to the neck by a Minneapolis police officer.
The Commission formally requested the U.S. Justice Department launch a civil rights investigation into how Cleveland police handled May 30 protests against racist policing and brutality.
“We’re asking the police department’s behavior to be examined. We’re looking for answers for if they were justified in using the tear gas, the pepper pellets. We shouldn’t ask the police to investigate themselves. That’s an old tradition that gives disastrous results.”