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 For Immediate Release
May 22, 2000 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172
Donato Dalrymple Sues Reno, Holder, Meissner for $100 Million

Constitutional Rights Violated in Predawn Raid (Other Victims Also File Lawsuit) ‘The Fisherman' Had Rescued Elian From The Ocean


(Washington, DC) Donato Dalrymple filed a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami against Attorney General Janet Reno, Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, and INS Commissioner Doris Meissner for violating his Fourth and Fifth Amendment Constitutional rights during the raid on the home of the relatives of Elian Gonzalez on April 22, 2000. As seen in the famous Associated Press photograph from the raid, six-year-old Elian was torn from Mr. Dalrymple's arms at gunpoint. The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $100 million. Mr. Dalrymple is represented by Judicial Watch, Inc., the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes government corruption.

The lawsuit seeks to hold Reno, Holder, and Meissner personally accountable for their lawless raid which resulted in denying Mr. Dalrymple his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure and his Fifth Amendment right to due process of law (among other damages). The text of the complaint is available on the Judicial Watch Internet site at www.judicialwatch.org.

Judicial Watch is also filing today a lawsuit in Miami on behalf of an innocent bystander, Mike Stafford, who was assaulted and gassed during the illegal raid.

"On Easter weekend, America was disgraced and harmed as Reno, Holder, and Meissner sent armed thugs to bring Elian back under the control of the communist dictator Fidel Castro. Mr. Dalrymple's lawsuit seeks to hold these three personally accountable for their failure to obey the law and their willingness to destroy the liberties and lives of those who saved Elian and gave him refuge. This lawsuit will do much to rescue the heritage of this great nation," stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.

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