Seattle will pay $10 million to protesters who said police used excessive force during 2020 protests
SEATTLE — Seattle has agreed to pay $10 million to 50 protesters who filed a lawsuit over the heavy-handed police response to racial justice protests in 2020, in a settlement announced Wednesday by attorneys for both sides.
The protesters were among the tens of thousands who gathered downtown and in the Capitol Hill neighborhood for weeks following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police — a period that saw the Seattle Police Department move out of the East Precinct building, as well as the creation of the ‘Capitol Hill’. Occupied Protest,” a six-block zone taken over by protesters.
The police department – led by then-Chief Carmen Best – used aggressive techniques to disperse the crowd, including flash grenades, foam-tipped projectiles and blast balls that explode and emit pepper gas.
At some points during the protests, people in the crowd caused damage, including burning police cars and attempting to set fires in the East Precint. But a federal judge ordered the department to stop indiscriminately using chemical and other weapons against peaceful protesters.
When police used them, even after Best and then-Mayor Jenny Durkan promised they would stop, the City Council voted unanimously to stop officers from doing so.
Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit was Aubreanna Inda, who was standing in the middle of the street in front of a phalanx of officers in riot gear when a blast ball hit her in the chest and exploded, sending her into cardiac arrest. Volunteer medics and other protesters performed CPR and took her to a hospital.
Others included a teenager whose finger was partially blown off, a disabled veteran with a baton who was tear-gassed and tackled and dozens who suffered hearing loss, broken bones, concussions, severe bruising, PTSD or other injuries, the lawsuit said.
The case involved more than 10,000 videos, including recordings from police body-worn cameras, and hundreds of witness interviews.
“Historians should review what we have collected and write the true story of our city’s shameful behavior against peaceful protesters,” Karen Koehler, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement Wednesday.
City Attorney Ann Davison said in a statement that the lawsuit had resulted in a “significant drain” on time and resources and that Seattle did not admit liability in the settlement, which was signed Tuesday.
“This decision was the best financial decision for the city considering the risks, costs and insurance,” Davison said.
A three-month trial was expected to begin in May.