Stockwell Law Firm Defends Protesters’ Right to Protest

Stockwell Law Firm clients who were sued following a 2023 protest at an Eritrean festival in Tacoma have had the federal lawsuit against them dismissed, ending nearly two years of litigation.

The News Tribune covered the dismissal in an August 20 story examining the dispute, the protest and the outcome for the activists Stockwell Law Firm represented.

The case arose from a protest at the 49th Annual Eritrean Festival in downtown Tacoma on August 5, 2023.

Our clients are members of the Eritrean diaspora who describe themselves as human rights activists and journalists. They were protesting what they viewed as connections between Eritrean festivals and the government of Eritrea, a country widely criticized for suppressing fundamental freedoms.

The Eritrean Association in Greater Seattle subsequently sued 13 named defendants and 150 unidentified protesters, alleging a coordinated attack involving property damage and assaults.

Our clients denied those allegations, maintaining that they participated in a peaceful political protest and did not cause the property damage alleged in the lawsuit.

On August 17, the parties agreed to dismiss the federal lawsuit without a settlement. A trial had been scheduled for October.

Stockwell Law Firm founder Chris Stockwell told The News Tribune that the prolonged litigation had imposed an enormous burden on activists exercising their right to speak out. “It’s important that people’s speech isn’t chilled,” Stockwell told the newspaper. “It’s unfortunate that it cost them a lot of money to get justice, but justice did come.”

Political protest can be contentious. But the ability to criticize governments, institutions and those in power is fundamental to free expression. Our clients came to Tacoma to speak out about conditions in Eritrea and then spent nearly two years defending themselves in federal court. Stockwell Law Firm is proud to have stood beside them.

Read The News Tribune’s coverage: “Tacoma festival protest turned ugly. Three years later, both sides move on in court”.

Chris Stockwell and several of our clients also discussed the case and the right to protest in a video interview: Watch the interview.