Three Finger Jack (Kyre Mitchell) Sues CMPD

 

And then there's this from the Queen City News — A protestor who lost two fingers during a 2020 Charlotte protest has filed a lawsuit against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

The suit takes issue with how police handled the protests related to George Floyd, a man who died during a Minneapolis arrest on May 25, 2020. Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests.

Kyre Mitchell (aka 3 Finger Jack) alleges the city and police used tactics that injured peaceful protestors in Uptown during a May 30, 2020, incident.

Lawyers say Mitchell lost two fingers on his right hand when a flashbang device used by officers exploded on him. Mitchell also suffered deep burns to his palm.

Photo Courtesy of 3 Finger Jack

The suit alleges that Mitchell was “violently assaulted and permanently maimed by Defendants that night, who recklessly used weapons and other needlessly dangerous tactics under the guise of “crowd control” to suppress, deter, and injure Mr. Mitchell – and others who similarly sought to exercise their First Amendment right to peaceably protest police violence and brutality.”

Mitchell’s lawyers said CMPD used “tear gas, flashbangs and other chemical munitions” on Mitchell and others to “terrorize, retaliate and punish Mr. Mitchell and other protesters for peacefully protesting against systemic police violence.”

The suit named specific CMPD officers in the incident.

The Lawsuit as filed is here.

Cedar's Take: What the lawsuit doesn't say is that 3 Finger Jack was allegedly holding the "Flash Bang" device seemingly attempting to hurl it towards officers when the device activated.  Perhaps the device landed at his feet and within 1.5 seconds (Normal det time) he picked up the canister and it exploded.

His injuries appear to be rather catastrophic and indictive of someone holding the device when it activates. 

Across the country as the nightly protests occurred, protestors could be seen throwing tear gas canisters back at police. CMPD officers had deployed smoke and later tear gas and flash bang devices as the violence escalated.  

Unfortunately for 3 Finger Jack, "Smoke", "Tear Gas" and "Flash Bang" devices look somewhat similar and in his apparent effort mimic other protestors picked up a flash bang and not a smoke cannister.

Mitchell posing for the local paper

A cursory review of the lawsuit shows a number of typos and grammatical errors, however the opening quote from MLK is a nice touch. 

In the end the city will settle and life will go on.

Sidebar: A nod to 3 Finger Jack, if you ever get out west you need to spend some time in Oregon. It's that state between Washington and California that gets little attention. It is that lack of attention that makes Oregon cool, and up along the cascade range on the Pacific Crest Trail there are endless climbs and hikes. There you will also find Three Fingered Jack a group of peaks that are not quite 14's but worth the effort.