Denver Settles Lawsuit Over George Floyd Protests for $4.7 Million
Denver lawmakers have reached a settlement in a lawsuit that accused officials of unfairly targeting protestors during the George Floyd demonstrations in 2020. The lawsuit alleged that over 300 protestors were arrested for violating the city’s curfew.
The city denied using the curfew against protestors but decided that pursuing the lawsuit further would be too costly.
Under the settlement, Denver will pay $4.7 million to resolve the class action lawsuit. This lawsuit claimed that protestors were wrongly singled out for breaking the city’s curfew during the protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd.
On Monday, the city council unanimously approved the settlement without any debate.
The lawsuit contended that the city instructed the police to enforce the 8 p.m. curfew only against protestors, violating their right to free speech. The curfew, however, applied to everyone in public places. Additionally, the lawsuit pointed out that during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 300 protestors were taken to jail instead of being issued tickets for curfew violations.
Elizabeth Wang, the lead attorney representing the protestors, emphasized, “The First Amendment does not allow police to clear the streets of protestors simply because they do not agree with their message.”
The city maintained that it did not have an official policy of targeting protestors with the curfew. However, it concluded that moving forward with the lawsuit and going to trial would be both burdensome and expensive, leading to the settlement.
Last year, Denver was ordered to pay $14 million in damages to a group of 12 protestors by a federal jury. These protestors claimed that the police had used excessive force against them, violating their constitutional rights during the demonstrations.
This settlement related to the curfew is the most recent in a series of agreements stemming from the 2020 protests against police violence, including the killings of George Floyd and other Black individuals.
In a separate development, the city council approved $1.6 million in settlements in March to address lawsuits filed by seven injured protestors, according to The Denver Post.