Washington, Aug 5 (IANS): African-American activist DeRay Mckesson has filed a suit against the police and city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, over mass arrests during protests against police killings.

Mckesson was among nearly 200 protesters arrested in Baton Rouge after the July 5 killing of 37-year-old Alton Sterling, a black man who was shot dead by two white police officers, ABC News reports.

The federal class-action lawsuit filed on Thursday, which names two other arrested protesters as plaintiffs, accuses police of using excessive force and violating the protesters' constitutional rights.

McKesson's arrest on July 9 was captured on live-stream on Twitter's Periscope after he protested Sterling's murder, NBC News reported.

The lawsuit said it will seek damages for civil rights violations for the "unlawful mass arrests" of almost 200 peaceful demonstrators made by the police without a probable cause.

Some of those arrested for highway obstruction were apprehended on sidewalks, the grass and residents' homes, NBC News reported citing the suit.

It said the plaintiffs were entitled to compensation for lost wages, bond expenses, administrative fees paid to the city and jail, court costs as well as past and future lawyer fees to clear records of their arrests.