Navy Vet Christopher David: Why aren't feds protecting civil rights? We'll find out in court

Thirty-six years ago, I walked through the gates of the United States Naval Academy as a midshipman. The academy forged all of us into one unit with the same goal and purpose: To support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

I upheld that oath with pride and honor during my eight years of service in the Navy. It was this commitment to the Constitution that made us all protect the rule of law and strive to make our country better. I had always believed that when taking the oath of office, everyone else believed as we did when we took ours.

But I was very wrong.

Last month, while attending Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, Oregon, I witnessed federal officers attack protesters outside the Hatfield Courthouse. I, too, was violently beaten and tear gassed by federal agents — all because I had the nerve to ask the federal officers why they were not honoring their oath to support the Constitution. My beating by these lawless officers was captured on video and has since gone viral. As the world saw, there was no reason for such violence. And as I came to understand that for some people, the oath is just a set of words, not a calling.

Now, together with the American Civil Liberties Union, I’m suing the federal government for violating our constitutional rights.

For weeks, I watched on TV as federal officers arbitrarily attack peaceful protesters supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. They even used unmarked vans to abduct U.S. citizens from the streets of Portland — all under the guise of protecting federal property. I was shocked and appalled. If the U.S. government could do this to our fellow citizens, where would it end? Anybody can buy surplus military uniforms and rent a minivan. How do we now know that these really are the feds when it happens again? What if it’s the Proud Boys?

If the feds could get away with these flagrant violations of our civil liberties in Portland, it would undermine all our freedoms across the country.

Protests not as portrayed by police

My decision to attend the protest was a spontaneous one. I walked the perimeter of the protest and was shocked to see how small the affected area actually was — just four city blocks. Contrary to what the administration had been telling us, all of downtown Portland was not in flames with uncontrolled and widespread looting everywhere.

In fact, the protest was peaceful when I arrived, with more the air of a festival, not the violence or looting depicted by the administration. Only later at night did the mood get more tense as people anticipated the arrival of the federal officers like a violent and blustery wind. Everybody knew it was going to arrive, just not exactly when or where from.

When the federal officers emerged from the courthouse, I saw them rush at the peaceful protesters, plowing into them and knocking them down. I watched this happen in shock. I then stepped out of the park and into the street just north of the intersection and stood there, just several feet from the curb.

This was not Portland. This was not the United States I had sworn to defend.

When the federal officers were done dispatching the peaceful protesters in the intersection, they turned their attention toward me. The first one leveled his weapon at me as he approached, then lowered it. A second officer then plowed into me and knocked me back several feet. I then squared up and stood my ground, still stunned by what was happening. A smaller officer then hit me with a baton five times as other officers sprayed a chemical irritant into my face from very short range. Blinded and with a broken hand, I offered the officers a disgusted farewell salute and then started back toward the park and into a giant cloud of tear gas.

Volunteer medic to the rescue

Stumbling and blinded, I was rescued by a volunteer street medic who cared for me and bravely evacuated me to safety. It was an amazing act of courage on the medic’s part, but for the medic and the others who were out to help, it was just another night of selfless bravery standing up for racial justice by exercising their civil liberties.

This is the country that we have now become. Selfless, volunteer civilian combat medics are needed to rescue their fellow citizens from lawless violence directed at them by the federal government.

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Yet one thing that gives me hope: the many people from different backgrounds raising their voices against this outrage. A shining example for me is Duston Obermeyer, a giant USNA graduate from the class of 2001. He is a true combat hero and former Marine helicopter pilot with three tours into two war zones. As it turns out, he was standing right next to me when I was struck and gassed by the federal officers.

He came down to the protest to ask the federal officers the same question that I did.

“Why are you not honoring your oath to the Constitution?"

We’ll now have to get our answer in court.

Christopher David is a U.S. Navy veteran and client of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon. Follow him on Twitter: @Tazerface16

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why the ACLU, Christopher David are suing federal agents, DHS over beating