The father of one of the Dallas police officers who were killed back in July is reportedly suing Black Lives Matter and other groups, claiming that organizers incited a "war on police" that resulted in his son's death, the Star-Telegram reports.
According to the report, Enrique Zamarripa filed a 43-page lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Monday seeking up to $550 million.
“While Defendant Black Lives Matter claims to combat anti-black racism,” the lawsuit said, according to the news site, “the movement has in fact incited and committed further violence, severe bodily injury and death against police officers of all races and ethnicities, Jews, and Caucasians. Defendant Black Lives Matter is in fact a violent and revolutionary criminal gang.”
As the Star-Telegram notes, 32-year-old Patrick Zamarripa was on bicycle patrol the night of July 7 as hundreds of protesters rallied against police shootings of black Americans. As the peaceful protest was winding down, Micah Johnson opened fire on the crowd, killing five officers.
According to the report, the elder Zamarripa's lawsuit does not name the Next Generation Action Network or its leaders as defendants, even though the group helped organize the protest, but did name Minister Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam; the Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network; Black Lives Matter organizers Rashad Turner, Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, DeRay Mckesson and Johnetta Elzie; and a few more.
In his lawsuit, Enrique Zamarripa claims that Johnson was "acting as an agent of and at and under the direction of" the listed defendants.
“I want justice for my son,” Zamarripa told the news site. “He served three tours in Iraq, he protected his country and he protected everybody. And he gave up his life doing that. When people were running away from the gunshots, he was running toward them.”
Read more at the Star-Telegram.