He helped injured cop; now he’s suing city, SJPD

Response to last summer’s police violence demonstrations has second civil rights suit

San Jose and its police department now face a second federal civil rights lawsuit stemming from last summer’s protests, with the latest involving a man who helped carry an injured police officer to safety during the downtown demonstrations only to have officers later shoot him with a rubber bullet and allegedly threaten and intimidate him.

The second federal suit, filed on behalf of Tim Harper last month, centers on the chaotic response to demonstrators last summer protesting the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Both suits allege that San Jose police officers’ overly aggressive crowd-control tactics and use of rubber bullets, tear gas and other munitions to disperse unarmed and nonviolent civilians was a result, in part, of a failure in proper training.

Harper, who first filed a tort claim against the city in July, was standing by himself — away from any large crowds — and backing away from a line of officers when he was shot by a rubber bullet in the stomach by San Jose Officer Jared Yuen. He was not making any threatening motions or statements, accordingtothesuit.harper still has a knotted chunk of muscle on his abdomen wall that his physician told him will likely take more than a year to subside, according tothesuit.

“No reasonable officer could reasonably interpret his behavior as threatening — let alone to a degree that justified any use of force against Plaintiff; this was an act of gratuitous violence,” the lawsuit states.

Harper’s injury occurred just hours after he assisted and brought to safety a wounded officer, who was punched in the face and thrown to the ground after taking a protestor’s phone out of their hands and throwing it behind him, the suit states. Footage from news stations caught the event unfold, including Harper’s effort to help the injured officer, which went viral, and included a brief interview with Harper, criticizing the department’s response to the protests.

Days later, Harper allegedly pulled his truck over in downtown San Jose to help a woman who had been hit by a car fleeing police officers. When officers responded to the scene, they noted that they had seen Harper on the news, warned him to “stay out of downtown” and detained him for an hour “with no apparent purpose except to allege that Yuen not only to the lawsuits, his training intimidate (Harper) into silence,” injured other protestors materials included a the suit states. but shot rubber projectiles cartoon featuring cavemen

The named defendants into an upper-story apartment and a giant mammoth in the lawsuit are the City building in San Jose, that “mocks shots of San Jose, former police breaking a window and injuring to the groin,” includes “no Chief Eddie Garcia, spea tenant who was inmention of de-escalation, cial-operations Capt. Jason side and not taking any part and the final slide syntheDwyer, Sgt. Chris Sciba and in the demonstrations. sizes the SJPD message to Yuen. SJPD referred a request Three new defendants trainees regarding use of for comment to the were also added to that ‘less-lethal’ weapons: ‘Do city attorney’s office, citing amended suit — Sgt. Ronnie not hesitate. Always win.’ ” the pending litigation. City Lopez and Sgt. Lee Tassio, The San Jose Police DeAttorney Nora Frimann dewho were supposedly superpartment has since upclined to comment on the vising Yuen at the time, and dated its duty manual to same grounds. Officer Jonathan Marshall, provisionally allow the

Yuen, who was taken off who allegedly also shot into use of rubber bullets in street duty after videos of neighboring apartments. crowded situations like a his profane and aggressive According to the suit, Tasprotest but only “in situaoutbursts during the prosio directed Yuen to shoot tions where a person is actests went viral, and Sciba, the projectiles. tively attacking an officer one of four active officers According to the second or another person or when who was placed on leave followingthesurfacingofracist federal lawsuit, Yuen had an armed agitator poses a not received any training threat to officers or other and anti-muslim Faceon the use of less-lethal peaceful protesters.” book posts by SJPD officers, weapons like rubber bulletsinatleastthelastfive Harper is seeking unare also subjects of another specified monetary damfederal suit filed on behalf years. ages to cover medical bills, of seven people injured during Both lawsuits also single loss of work and emotional last summer’s protests. out Sciba for his role distress. His attorney,

That first lawsuit, which in preparing training maRobert Powell, did not rewas initially filed in July, terials for the use of less-leturn multiple requests for was updated last month to thal munitions. According comment.