Cooper v. District of Columbia

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SAMUEL COOPER, Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 19-1449 (JEB) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION Tequila and the summer heat often prove a troublesome pair. Here, though, tequila is not to blame for our Plaintiff’s plight; rather, it is the conduct of Metropolitan Police Department officers in response to a small-scale open-container violation. On a warm May evening in 2018, Plaintiff Samuel Cooper planned to attend a cookout in his neighborhood. He was met, instead, with a violent police encounter that left him…