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Source: Kimberly White / Getty

More than four years after a lawsuit was filed, the courts have sided with activist DeRay McKesson.

The suit stems from a 2016 Black Lives Matter event that McKesson organized where a police officer was injured. It’s been revealed that the Supreme Court thinks a lower court should rehear the case. The officer, who is unnamed in the suit, was struck by a “piece of concrete or similar rock-like object” in the face, which caused brain trauma.

The alleged assault occurred when police began to arrest protestors in the crowd who were bringing awareness to the killing of Alton Sterling. Sterling was a Black man who was killed by police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when officials tried to subdue him by the arms and then was shot when police thought he was reaching into his pocket for a gun.

The protest took place just after the unlawful killing, and while the officer doesn’t think McKesson was the one who physically harmed him, he does hold him responsible because his organization put the rally together.

“We are gratified the Supreme Court has recognized there are important First Amendment issues at stake and has asked the state courts to review whether their law even permits such a suit,” said ACLU attorney Vera Eidelman who’s representing the activists.

The District Court sided with McKesson on behalf of the First Amendment. Yet, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit disagrees because getting in a physical exchange with a police officer while holding a protest on a highway is somewhat expected.

The decision was nearly unanimous with a 7-1, as the odd one out was Justice Clarence Thomas. Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in just a week ago, so she didn’t have a vote in the matter.