Last Thursday, Trump security personnel pushed and hit them for protesting on the sidewalk outside Trump Towers.
Now, five New Yorkers are taking the Republican frontrunner to court.
"We're here basically to claim for justice, for the respect of freedom of speech, which was kidnapped from me," said Efrain Galicia, one of the people suing Donald Trump.
Galicia and others were protesting Trump's plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. They wore KKK outfits as satire.
Someone identified as the head of Trump's security detail tore away an anti-Trump sign, hitting Galicia on the head when the activist struggled to retrieve it.
"One of the guards told one of our clients to put away her cellphone camera and not to make a video of what they were doing, which is a sure sign that they know what they were doing was wrong," said Roger Bernstein, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
The bodyguard is believed to be the same person who last month escorted Spanish-language news anchor Jorge Ramos from an Iowa news conference.
Attorneys say their focus is on the September 3 incident.
"And that being said, there's obviously a larger issue at play here, which is individuals from the community speaking out in public, about issues of public concern, in a public space," said Benjamin Dictor, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
After a rally against a nuclear deal with Iran in Washington, we caught up with Trump.
Geoff Bennett: Mr. Trump do you have a comment about the lawsuit involving -
Trump: About who?
Bennett: About the lawsuit filed today over the security guards, he hit a protester.
Trump: (shakes head)
Last week, a Trump spokesperson claimed security reacted only after Galicia first attacked him from behind and assaulted him. She said the Trump team would be bringing legal action, but didn't respond to messages Wednesday.
Fearing for their safety, the demonstrators have called off a protest that they had planned for outside the Trump Tower next week. They are instead asking the court to issue an injunction that would block the Trump security detail from trying to eject them from the sidewalk again.
Protesters say twice before the September 3 encounter, Trump's security tried to remove them from the sidewalk, but police told them they had a right to stay.