CHICAGO, May 24 (UPI) -- Two lawyers have filed a lawsuit against Chicago, alleging police unlawfully intimidate panhandlers on the Magnificent Mile.
The suit, filed Wednesday, alleges police officers force people begging for money off Michigan Avenue by telling them it is against the law to panhandle there and threatening to arrest them if they don't move, the Chicago Tribune reported.
"The city is engaging in short-term bullying tactics in the name of promoting commerce," said Mark Weinberg, a civil rights lawyer who filed the suit with Adele Nicholas.
Weinberg and Nicholas are seeking to have the suit, which currently names nine people as plaintiffs, declared a class-action suit. The lawyers asked the court for compensatory damages in the case.
The Chicago Police Department has not yet responded to the suit.
