Des Moines Police Officers Peter Wilson and Jeffery George have filed a civil lawsuit against Des Moines Black Lives Matter Protestors in connection with Iowa State Capitol Protests on July 1, 2020. 

The suit names Des Moines City Councilwoman Indira Dixon Sheumaker and protestors Eva Cecilia Lewin, Jeffifer Marie Erwin, Anna Renee Gebhrat, and Bradley Christopher Penna as defendants.

The two officers allege that the actions carried out by these individuals, as described as “nothing short of domestic terrorism,” diverted police officers from responding to incidents of violence and vandalism. The suit states that both Schumaker and Stein put officer George in a chokehold, preventing him from making an arrest. 

Scheumaker later pleaded guilty to lesser charges in a plea for assaulting the officer after the initial felony charges were dropped. Additionally, according to the Des Moines Register, Sheumaker has not been to a city council meeting since mid-May. 

The suit additionally notes various tactics used by DSM BLM to divert police officers’ attention, such as placing decoy cars trapped behind nails, bringing martial art trainers to train BLM activists to use violence against officers during protests, false reporting, and “The use of an empty burner car with a unanimously reported gunman inside.” 

In another incident mentioned in the suit, Erwin, Gerbhardt, Penna, and Lewin allegedly pulled on officer Wilson’s hands and prevented him from making an arrest. 

One question remains amidst the ordeal: Why are there no calls for City Council Person Sheumaker to resign after assaulting a police officer, let alone not attending her duties as a council member and wasting taxpayers’ dollars?