(Newsworthy.news) – The city of Seattle has reached a settlement with dozens of protestors who filed a lawsuit against police for so-called aggression used during demonstrations that occurred in 2020.
50 individuals sued the Seattle Police Department for its response to local riots that took place following the May 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the time, police used various methods in an effort to break up the crowds such as pepper gas, foam-tipped projectiles and flash-bang grenades.
On January 24, attorneys representing both the police and the protestors announced that a settlement had been reached, resulting in the city of Seattle agreeing to pay $10 million to the plaintiffs.
Along with hundreds of similar protests that broke out across the country, demonstrators did break the law in Seattle, prompting a harsher response from law enforcement. Some people set fire to police cars as well as the East Precinct.
At the time, a federal judge ordered that the department only use such techniques on protestors who were engaged in unlawful activity, emphasizing the need to avoid these actions on peaceful protestors.
However, citizens in the Capitol Hill neighborhood expressed continued grievances when tear gas was used—impacting non-violent protestors as well as citizens who were not part of the demonstration—even after the police chief and mayor at the time had vowed not to take such measures unless a life-threatening situation presented itself. The City Council unanimously voted to prevent police from using crowd control methods all together, but their decision was overruled by a federal judge.
The plaintiffs involved in the case were all injured—physically and/or emotionally—from what was described as “police brutality” that targeted peaceful protestors. As the previously anticipated May 2024 trial will not commence due to the settlement, it is unclear the exact involvement of the plaintiffs and the accusation that police targeted them remains an allegation.
Seattle did not concede to be liable for the injuries but agreed to the settlement in order to avoid major impact to the city’s resources by taking the case to court.
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