Judge: Secret Service Agent Can Sue Officers Over Detention

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing two white U.S. Park Police officers of unlawfully detaining a black Secret Service agent who was waiting to accompany a Cabinet secretary’s motorcade.

U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm in Maryland ruled Monday that a jury can decide if Gerald Ferreyra and Brian Phillips violated Agent Nathaniel Hicks’ constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizures.

Hicks says he did nothing during the 2015 roadside encounter to justify being detained for approximately an hour after the officers confirmed he was an on-duty Secret Service agent.

Hicks claims Ferreyra pointed his weapon at him after seeing a gun on the front seat of the agent’s parked vehicle. The suit says it appears Hicks was singled out because of his race.

(© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)