Judicial Watch is suing the Department of Veterans Affairs after police officers allegedly violated a veteran’s constitutional rights by cuffing and stuffing him into a police car.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Judicial Watch announced it filed a suit against VA police officers and officials over the arrest of Robert L. Rosebrock, who has protested the VA for not making use of land to solve the veteran homelessness problem.
Rosebrock, a veteran himself, has protested the VA on a public sidewalk on almost every Sunday afternoon since early 2008. According to Rosebrock, the VA should be making much better use of the 388-acre lot it possesses to provide homes for veterans, rather than allowing the land to be used as a baseball stadium for UCLA and a dog park, among other uses.
The text of the complaint states that on June 12, 2016, VA police handcuffed Rosebrock and pushed him into a police car, also confiscating his cameras in the process. Officers took his cameras in a separate incident on June 19, 2016.
For Judicial Watch, the VA’s actions clearly violated Rosebrock’s constitutional rights.
“Bob Rosebrock, a 75-year-old veteran, faced unlawful arrest and a retaliatory prosecution for holding the VA to account,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “This VA bureaucracy has gone wild. Hopefully, Bob’s lawsuit and the new VA accountability law will help to restore common sense to the VA and ensure our veterans are treated with respect.”
The suit is asking for damages and to block further violations of Rosebrock’s rights. Moreover, the suit wants the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles to declare that the VA’s interpretation of a law used to prohibit photography is invalid.
Rosebrock was acquitted in April of illegally placing an American flag on the fence of a VA facility.
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