The Denver City Council on Monday approved about $2.87 million in settlements that the city will pay out to 13 people who alleged that local police violated their constitutional rights during the 2020 George Floyd protests.
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The case, filed in U.S. District Court in 2022, alleged that when police officers used less-lethal weapons like rubber bullets, pepper balls and tear gas to break up demonstrations, they violated the plaintiffs’ First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
Councilwoman Shontel Lewis routinely makes comments on the liability claims that the council approves, saying she wants to make the public aware of the tax dollars going toward the cases.
“In order to pay the claims tonight, we have had to make a $3 million rescission that comes from the city’s general fund contingency and does not come from agency-specific budgets,” she said.
The payouts, ranging from $140,000 to $300,000 each, will go to Marquis Dominick, Brett Rios, Alex Hickman, Tashari Sayers, Raymond Schwab, Jesse Friedman, Susan McKillips, Ryan Kehoe, Adam Bentch, Patricia Koo, Isis Usborne, Kristen Klotzner and Joe Szuswalak.
A federal court ordered Denver to pay $14 million to another group of protestors in April.
The city has paid a total of $21.4 million for settlements related to the George Floyd protests, according to the City Attorney’s Office. That count doesn’t include the $14 million a judge ordered the city to pay in April or the $2.8 million that the council approved Monday.
Protests sprang up nationwide in 2020 after George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. In Denver, large-scale protests began two days after a video showing the minutes leading up to Floyd’s death became public. The protests continued every night for more than a week.
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