Earlier this year a group of Black Lives Matter organizers won a suit against the city of Detroit alleging police had used excessive force against protestors. But now the city is suing them right back saying demonstrators were part of a "civil conspiracy."

The city's countersuit alleges that protestors engaged in a "civil conspiracy" and that they,

illegally, maliciously, and wrongfully conspired with one another with the intent to and for the illegal purpose of disturbing the peace, engaging in disorderly conduct, inciting riots, destroying public property, resisting or obstructing officers in charge of duty, and committing acts of violence against Counter-Plaintiffs and DPD officers.

This could be said about many of the "peaceful protests" that happened across the country this summer. But while the result in most cities has been the police either bowing down or essentially being castrated, it's interesting to see a city pushing back, and aggressively.

According to The Intercept, the city is asking the court to issue judgments that declare protestors engaged in a conspiracy and then "defamed" the mayor and the police department. And they want the court to award the city damages for it.

Imagine if a BLM group had to pay damages for riots!

According to the Washington Examiner,

It also claims the protesters, specifically the umbrella collective, Detroit Will Breathe, shouldn't be considered as protected under the First Amendment because "the protests in Detroit have repeatedly turned violent, endangering the lives of police and the public." The city has pointed to officers injured during protests to support this claim, which it says include "cracked vertebrae, lacerations, and concussions."

It will be interesting to see how it plays out. It's definitely a unique case. And there are concerns about the First Amendment implications if the city were to win a suit like this. We should all support genuine peaceful protest, even if we don't agree with everything being said. But when there are forces trying to incite riots, destruction, and physical violence against people, it doesn't matter how noble their cause is, those folks need to be held accountable.

Here's Detroit's police chief, who is named as a defendant on the protester's suit, back in July explaining how the violence in cities across the country was "coordinated," "planned," and was motivated by a "Marxist ideology."