Despite several suits against the Philadelphia Police Department, officers have continued to infringe on citizens’ first amendment rights to record police activity.

On Monday, Sept. 15, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA) filed its fifth lawsuit of the kind against the Philadelphia Police Department, this time telling the story of Amanda Geraci, a Philadelphian who was restrained by an officer trying to prevent her from recording of a protester's arrest during an anti-fracking rally outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center two years ago. Geraci was a trained legal observer who was filming through a glass wall into the Convention Center, where police were arresting a protestor inside. According to the suit, an officer “threw her up against a pillar on the Convention Center’s facade” and pushed her forearm against Geraci’s neck.

The story echoes other lawsuits against the Philadelphia police department, like when Temple student Rich Fields was arrested for photographing officers in 2013 or Community College of Philadelphia professor Alexine Fleck was arrested for observing police in 2011. ACLU-PA even started a hashtag, #PAcopwatch, to encourage more people with similar experiences to come forward and share their story.