The family of a black man killed by a white police officer in South Bend, Indiana, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the city and the officer involved in the shooting, accusing him of using excessive deadly force.
Lawyer Brian Coffman filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of the family of Eric Jack Logan, requesting “compensatory damages and attorneys’ fees,” if they win.
“The misconduct described in this count was objectively unreasonable and undertaken with willfulness and reckless indifference to the rights of others,” Coffman writes in the lawsuit. “In addition, the misconduct and excessive force, including use of deadly force, described in this count ‘shocks the conscience.’
“O’Neill’s conduct created discriminatory effect by targeting Eric Jack Logan for police action based on his race,” Coffman writes.
Police allege Logan was breaking into cars and wielding a knife when he was shot by officer Ryan O’Neill on June 16.
The shooting has roiled the Indiana community, putting the spotlight on years of racial tension between the South Bend Police Department and the city’s African American residents.
Presidential candidate and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg faced the raw and unvarnished emotion of his community at a town hall Sunday as he attempted to soothe the pain caused by the shooting.
Buttigieg, who announced his presidential campaign earlier this year and quickly surged in the polls, largely put his campaign on hold this week, traveling back and forth to South Bend as he canceled multiple events across the country while keeping some engagements in Massachusetts, Florida and South Carolina.
CNN attempted to reach attorneys with the city of South Bend but was not immediately successful.
It is unclear whether O’Neill has an attorney.
