Three Valley women notified the Department of Homeland Security of their intention to file a lawsuit over what they claim was excessive use of force by two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at two separate protest rallies earlier this year.
The three women — Erica Connell, Tera Abritis and Denise Pabst — hired Pittsburgh-based attorney Joel Sansone to handle their case.
Abritis and Pabst were protesting against ICE at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at 2035 N. Central Avenue in Phoenix on Feb. 12 when an ICE agent pushed a megaphone Abritis was holding into her face, causing a split lip, Sansone said. Then, when Pabst picked up the microphone and started using it, the agent pushed it into her face, causing her to loose a tooth, Sansone said.
