Bar Owner's Family Sue Prosecutors One Year After Suicide

The family of a white Nebraska bar owner who killed himself after being charged in the fatal shooting of a Black man during 2020 protests over racial injustice is suing local prosecutors, saying their comments led to his suicide. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the parents of Jake Gardner sued the Douglas County Attorney's Office, its top prosecutor and a special prosecutor in federal court on Monday. The lawsuit accuses special prosecutor Frederick Franklin and Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine of violating Gardner’s constitutional rights and accuses Franklin of implying that Gardner was a racist. Gardner had been charged with manslaughter and other felonies in the May 30, 2020, shooting death of 22-year-old James Scurlock.