Four Asian American residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against Siskiyou County, California, and its sheriff, alleging widespread racism in traffic stops, access to water and enforcement of cannabis-related property liens.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Sacramento on Wednesday, the plaintiffs accuse Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue and other county officials of "a sweeping campaign to harass and intimidate Hmong and other Asian Americans."
They also allege that they have been wrongly blamed for criminal activity involving cannabis cultivation and that officials have made it "difficult or impossible for Asian Americans to live and travel peacefully in Siskiyou County."
