Bay Area police pulled over a California privacy advocate and held him at gunpoint after a license plate reader error, a lawsuit alleges.

Brian Hofer, chair of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission, said in a suit filed in December that he had rented a car and was traveling with his brother in November when he was pulled over by a Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office deputy, and more police cars joined. Hofer alleges that an officer had a gun drawn and told him and his brother to exit the rental car, and that a deputy injured his brother by throwing him to the ground.

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