The ACLU has filed a complaint against the D.C. National Guard for using a helicopter tactic usually reserved for war against demonstrators in D.C. during protests against police brutality racial injustice.
The organization filed the complaint on behalf of Dzhuliya Dashtamirova, a 23-year-old who says she suffered injuries after military helicopters piloted by members of the D.C. National Guard flew low over the city, with one flying just a few stories off the ground, according to a press release.
National Guard Bureau spokesperson Wayne V. Hall, told DCist in an email, “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on matters of pending litigation.”
“This was a dangerous, unprecedented show of force against American civilians exercising their First Amendment rights,” Michael Perloff, an attorney with the ACLU of D.C., said in the release. “The streets of D.C. are not a war zone, and protestors are not the enemy. Our government should stop treating them that way.”
On June 1 around 9:50 p.m., the helicopters flew over Dashtamirova and other demonstrators who were marching near Gallery Place. The ACLU says the helicopter followed them as they fled to Judiciary Square.
At one point on 7th Street, one of the helicopters descended low above the group, it produced wind that kicked up debris that landed in Dashtamirova’s eyes and mouth and stung her arms, per the complaint.
“I couldn’t hear, I couldn’t see,” Dashtamirova said in an interview. “All my senses were muted.”
A few moments later, after protesters fled to the intersection of 5th and E Streets NW, the helicopter flew low again, hovering for around four minutes. When that helicopter flew away, the other took its place, according to the complaint, flying as low as 45 feet above the ground and kicking up more debris.
The tactic, known as “rotor wash,” has been used in war zones to incite fear and disperse crowds, experts say, and created wind gusts strong enough to snap thick tree limbs, the Washington Post reported. In the complaint, the ACLU alleges that “the National Guard intentionally put Ms. Dashtamirova in fear of immediate bodily harm, in fact caused harmful or offensive bodily contact, and inflicted severe emotional distress through extreme and outrageous conduct.”
The ACLU is seeking $200,000 in personal injury damages.
The D.C. National Guard previously announced in June that it had opened an investigation into the use of the tactic by one of its “rotary aviation assets.” When asked for comment on the status of the investigation, Hall referred DCist to representatives for the Department of Defense and U.S. Army, who did not immediately respond to an email.
Jordan Pascale contributed to this story.
