D.C. protester claiming copter-tactic harm

WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia filed an administrative claim against the D.C. National Guard for damages Wednesday on behalf of a woman who says she was injured by the military’s aggressive use of helicopters to disperse protesters in Washington.

Dzhuliya Dashtamirova, 23, of Baltimore, says she was caught in storm-force winds created by the rotor wash of Guard helicopters that hovered below the tops of buildings and followed crowds between Gallery Place and Judiciary Square the evening of June 1.

The complaint seeks damages of $200,000 under the Federal Tort Claims Act for physical harm and ongoing psychological injuries it says Dashtamirova suffered from an intimidation tactic that lawmakers and human-rights activists say has been deployed against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The complaint also said that Dashtamirova traveled from Baltimore with her roommate to demonstrate peacefully for racial justice after the killing in May of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. After the helicopter appeared over the protest, the claim asserts, she experienced eye irritation for several days and continues to experience mental and emotional trauma including anxiety, insomnia and intensified migraine headaches.

In a statement, ACLU lawyer Michael Perloff called the move “a dangerous, unprecedented show of force” against Americans exercising First Amendment rights.

“The streets of D.C. are not a war zone, and protesters are not the enemy,” Perloff said. “Our government should stop treating them that way.”

The D.C. National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Two helicopters from the D.C. Guard flew low over protesters on June 1. One of the helicopters, a UH-72 Lakota, hovered an estimated 45 feet over the heads of protesters, according to a Washington Post analysis using 3-D modeling, videos and photos.