Woman files $3 million claim against Idaho National Guard for detaining her in D.C.

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — A woman has filed a $3 million legal claim against the Idaho National Guard for injuries and distress she said she experienced after guardsmen detained her at her home in Washington, D.C., in May. 

Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia, or ACLU-D.C., and law firm Levy Firestone Muse filed the tort claim on behalf of Anna King. The filing said two Idaho guardsmen were involved in the incident.

The Idaho National Guard and Gov. Brad Little could not be reached for comment.

Idaho is one of more than 20 states that have chosen to send National Guard members to the nation’s capital as part of a Joint Task Force. As of July 28, there were 99 Idaho National Guard members there, according to the D.C. National Guard. 

What do King’s attorneys say happened

In the claim, attorneys say the guardsmen approached King as she was sitting outside her apartment on May 8. She had signs on her front patio showing her opposition to the presence of the National Guard in the city, including “Occupation: Troops Out,” and “National Guard Stop Being So Embarrassing,” the court filing said. 

The claim said the guardsmen did not explain why they were detaining her or provide a warrant when they approached her that evening. A video included with the press release shows three men in National Guard uniforms approaching King, who had been sitting on a bench outside her apartment around 7 p.m. 

King yelled at the guardsmen and told them not to touch her. She walked toward the steps to go back into her apartment, but was blocked, the video showed.

“Surrounding her, they grabbed her arms and back and shoved her toward the concrete patio,” the claim said. “Two of the Guardsmen pressed their weight down on her and cuffed her wrists behind her back, extraordinarily tightly, with plastic handcuffs. Ms. King repeatedly screamed in pain, but the Guardsmen continued to hold her down and did nothing to help her. One Guardsmen pressed his knee into her back and pulled her arms upward, increasing the pain.” 

The guards kept King on her stomach until Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived and moved her onto her side, according to the claim. The police officers also tried to remove the plastic handcuffs the guardsmen had put on, but they were too tight, the claim said. The guard members removed the plastic cuffs and they were replaced with metal ones, the claim said. 

The National Guard members deployed in D.C. may patrol and detain people but cannot make arrests, WUSA9 has reported. 

According to the claim, a police officer later told King’s neighbor that King was a suspect in an assault on a guardsman two days earlier. King’s attorneys wrote that this claim was baseless, and she never faced charges. 

A search of court records found charges against King on May 9 of two misdemeanor counts of assault of an officer related to the May 8 guardsmen incident described in the claim. No other charges could be found. 

What injuries is she asking to be compensated for

King filed the complaint under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows individuals to seek reimbursement for injury or damage that occurred through “wrongful or negligent” acts by federal employees.

King said the incident caused numbness on her dominant hand and ruptured one or more ligaments in her wrist, which required surgery. Her right arm is still in a cast, the claim said, and she has little feeling in her right thumb. 

She said her ribs were bruised during the incident, her left ankle was swollen, and she had back spasms afterward. 

King is an U.S. Army veteran who had been deployed to Iraq, and treated for post-traumatic stress disorder since she returned, the claim said. She said the incident has reactivated her PTSD, leading to difficulty sleeping, anxiety and diminished appetite. 

“As a trained combat veteran, I never imagined that armed National Guard members would attack, injure, and traumatize me at my home. We are not at war with Americans, and my porch is not a war zone,” King said in the press release. “The troops who attacked me need to be held accountable, and every one of the thousands of armed National Guard members who continue to patrol our streets, our grocery stores, our Metro stations need to leave immediately before they hurt anyone else.”

King is a former Army captain and Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient, the claim said. Her complaint was filed against the U.S. Department of Defense in addition to the Idaho National Guard. 

The ACLU said in a press release that it and its affiliates have filed 54 claims across 17 states and Washington, D.C. against federal law enforcement.