The 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and riots resulted in as a lot as $2 billion in property injury, however a few of the hardest-hit cities at the moment are paying the demonstrators.
New York City agreed to a $13.7 million settlement for a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of about 1,300 protesters arrested or harmed by police from May-June 2020, which involves about $9,950 per demonstrator.
The settlement disclosed in a federal courtroom submitting Wednesday represents one of many largest so far by a serious liberal metropolis to resolve claims introduced by 2020 protesters over allegations of law-enforcement abuse, a determine approaching an estimated $100 million.
In March, New York City agreed to pay $6 million, or $21,500 every, to about 300 protesters who had been corralled by officers in the course of the June 4 Mott Haven protest utilizing a tactic often called kettling.
This week’s settlement, which should be accepted by a federal choose, doesn’t embrace an admission of wrongdoing by the town or the police division.
“Although the city does not admit liability in this settlement, the size of this monetary settlement, coupled with the earlier settlement about Mott Haven, strongly suggests otherwise,” lead plaintiff Adama Sow in a assertion to Gothamist. “It is also a testament to the importance of collective action to redress violations of important constitutional rights.”
The settlement excludes protesters arrested on costs corresponding to trespassing, property destruction and assaulting an officer, however critics mentioned the deal basically quantities to paying folks to protest.
“In other words, people are being retroactively paid to riot,” mentioned the conservative Twitchy Team.
Other feedback on social media included “Criminals getting paid. How left wing,” “Blue state and local governments compensate their left wing rioters,” and “Be right back. Gonna go riot, be arrested, get a paycheck.”
“It’s part of a larger scheme in which leftist agitators use sympathetic Democratic city bureaucracies to fund their activities,” tweeted conservative pundit Dinesh D’Souza after the March settlement.
Try THAT in a small city… https://t.co/gU7ZgCkvUI
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) July 20, 2023
Some of the protests triggered by the May 2020 dying of George Floyd by the hands of Minneapolis police started peacefully however devolved into rioting, looting and burning of companies and even public buildings. The Minneapolis Third Precinct was torched in the course of the unrest.
At least a dozen different main U.S. cities have additionally agreed to pay protesters to resolve lawsuits. In March, Philadelphia introduced a $9.25 million settlement over allegations of “physical and emotional injuries” by the hands of police.
“After several years of negotiation, we are confident that this settlement will provide an opportunity for the plaintiffs to heal and move forward from the incidents on May 31, 2020 and June 1, 2020,” mentioned Philadelphia metropolis solicitor Diana Cortes in a March 20 assertion.
Denver has agreed to pay $3.8 million to settle claims introduced by protesters, which doesn’t embrace a $14 million jury verdict final 12 months towards the town for extreme pressure used towards a dozen demonstrators.
In addition to the class-action lawsuits, New York City has been hit with greater than 600 particular person complaints stemming from police actions in the course of the 2020 protests. About half of these have been settled for about $12 million, metropolis comptroller Brad Lander informed the AP.
Attorney Wylie Stecklow, who represented the protesters with the left-wing National Lawyers Guild, mentioned the division has a “decades-old problem with constitutionally compliant protest policing.”
• This article was based mostly partly on Associated Press reviews.
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