Attorneys from Davis Wright Tremaine have sued the New York City Police Department on behalf of professional photojournalists who said they were subject to beatings, arrests and harassment while covering last summer’s protests for racial justice.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleged a “chilling pattern” of arrests and assaults while the plaintiffs were lawfully photographing protests and gathering news on city streets and sidewalks.