The senior speaks out on unchecked police violence with ‘less-lethal’ weapons.
Boston Moreland, a senior majoring in game development and interactive design, was struck in the abdomen by a rubber bullet fired by an unknown LAPD officer who was standing inside the campus gates on April 24. (Zongyi Wang / Daily Trojan)
After spending the day in Alumni Park participating in the “Gaza Solidarity Occupation,” a member of USC Students for Justice in Palestine found himself at the North Trousdale Entrance, looking back at a swarm of police, drums beating in the background. What the member didn’t realize was that he would be struck by one of these officers, ending his day of protest in the hospital.
Boston Moreland, a senior majoring in game development and interactive design, was struck by a rubber bullet fired by an unknown Los Angeles Police Department officer during a pro-Palestine protest last spring. He filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles on Sept. 11, alleging a violation of his First and Fourth Amendment rights along with battery, negligence and a violation of his Bane Act rights by the LAPD.
On the night of April 24, Moreland was at the Trousdale North entrance after LAPD cleared a pro-Palestine encampment out of Alumni Park and locked roughly 100 protestors, including Moreland, outside the campus gate. Without warning and while unarmed, Moreland was struck in the abdomen by a rubber bullet fired by an unknown LAPD officer who was standing inside the campus gates.
Thomas Seabaugh, Moreland’s lawyer, wrote in the lawsuit that Moreland had not been ordered to disperse from the area and was not disobeying any police commands at the time when he was shot. Moreland is demanding a trial by jury, is seeking compensation for general and compensatory damages as well as any special and punitive damages.
The suit claims Moreland was a victim of “constituted battery by a peace officer under California law.” It also claims the officer’s actions interfered with Moreland’s Bane Act rights, which provide protection from threats, intimidation or coercion if it interferes or attempts to interfere with an individual’s state or constitutional rights.
Moreland said he was shot in the abdomen and taken to the emergency room, where they ran CT scans and X-rays. Despite having no internal injuries from the rubber bullet, he sustained a bruise that has now turned into a scar.
Moreland said taking a stand against ongoing, unchecked police violence against students was a factor that led him to file his lawsuit. Moreland said that despite students’ efforts, universities are still invested and refuse to divest.
“The primary function here, at least for me, is awareness of the violence that these universities, these police organizations are inflicting on their own students,” Moreland said. “The fact that at this moment, many universities still have not divested and are doubling down on that violence that they bring to their own communities.”
Despite not knowing the future result of the lawsuit, Moreland said it has been tough finding a balance between what he has been through and how to continue with his daily activities.
“I’m paying tuition to attend this University, the same University that decided it was more worth it to shoot me than to divest,” Moreland said.
Moreland said there is a lot of “cognitive dissonance” that has come with the circumstances, including the difficulty he is experiencing in creating games and art after being struck. The checkpoint gate on the North Trousdale Entrance where the events happened and Moreland was struck by a rubber bullet is “slightly sickening,” making him feel ill, he said.
“It’s been hard to come on campus, hard to get to classes and hard to stay invested in pursuing higher education,” Moreland said.
Through the difficulties, Moreland said what’s been the most helpful are his friends, fellow organizers of USC SJP. Moreland said the incident did not end his protesting and advocacy.
“The short answer is absolutely not,” Moreland said. “If anything, let’s say it became more resolute.”
Seabaugh said that what everyone should understand about the weapons is that when they hear terms like “bean bag” and “foam baton,” an individual would think of nerf guns or hacky sacks, but that is not the case.
Seabaugh wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan that the way the various police weapons are described are misnomers, as they can inflict serious and painful injuries.
“If it hits you in the eye or hand or groin, it can change your life catastrophically and permanently,” Seabaugh wrote. “The police call them ‘less lethal’ because while these projectiles may not be as deadly as a real bullet, they can still kill you. They are still lethal.”
Seabaugh said students and faculty need to ask themselves if they think these weapons belong on campus at all. Seabaugh said that both groups need to understand that one of these weapons has already been used by LAPD on campus and struck and injured a student who was “completely innocent.”
“Parents should also ask whether they want their children attending a university where they can be shot with one of these projectiles, for no reason, which is what happened here,” Seabaugh wrote.
The University, the Department of Public Safety and the LAPD all declined request for comment.
