City Pays $10 Million to Black Lives Matter Protesters Over 2020 Riots
“Mostly peaceful protests” are apparently turning out to be profitable, at least for some street activists — and, presumably, their legal representatives — in the state of Washington.
The city of Seattle this week agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit from more than 50 protesters who claimed injuries arising from confrontations with police during the 2020 riots following the death of George Floyd.
City Attorney Ann Davison, a Democrat-turned-Republican who, even in Seattle, defeated a far-left rival in the November 2021 election, explained in a news release issued by the city that cutting a pre-trial check was more practical — even at this cost — than continuing with the pending litigation and the ongoing legal fees associated with it.
The now-resolved lawsuit had dragged on for about three years.
As usual, with these kinds of settlements, the city admitted no wrongdoing for the way the cops allegedly operated or may have used excessive force during the civil unrest.
“This decision was the best financial decision for the City considering risk, cost, and insurance,” Davidson said.
“The case has been a significant drain on the time and resources of the City and would have continued to be so through an estimated three-month trial that was scheduled to begin in May.”
Many BLM or Antifa protesters involved in the anarchy around the country during 2020’s so-called summer of love were never charged or had their charges dropped or downgraded.
This large settlement comes in sharp contrast to the long prison sentences (sometimes preceded by extensive periods of pre-trial incarceration) handed down for Jan. 6, 2021, protesters who wrongly walked through or trespassed at the U.S. Capitol or committed acts of vandalism there.
#BREAKING: City of Seattle just settled a $10 mil lawsuit related to BLM riots during the 2020 “Summer of Love.” City admits no wrong doing and says it’s the best move right now since the litigation has been such a time and financial drain.
Otherwise, this basically signals to… pic.twitter.com/1cYN6cEDBq— Jonathan Choe Journalist (Seattle) (@choeshow) January 24, 2024
At least some of those charged for their actions on the day Congress met to certify the 2020 presidential election, however, were only in the building briefly, or didn’t enter all.
The recent release of more J6 video has called into question the narrative that the Democrats and the establishment media have propagated, but that’s another matter.
According to the Seattle Times, “The Seattle Police Department has been sharply criticized for its violent and over-the-top response to the protests stemming from Floyd’s May 2020 murder by Minneapolis police … Seattle officers indiscriminately deployed tear gas, blast balls and pepper spray into crowds of mostly peaceful protesters.”
The news outlet listed some of the injuries suffered by the plaintiffs. Among them included a woman who suffered a heart attack following a blast-ball strike in her chest and a teenager who lost part of a finger from a blast-ball hit.
“[D]ozens of others … suffered permanent hearing loss, broken bones, concussion, wounds, bruising and emotional damage” from alleged Seattle police misconduct, the legal team for the protesters claimed.
As typically part of what’s called discovery in the run-up to a trial — and this one was very complex — Davison noted that lawyers, among other things, reviewed in excess of 10,000 videos and reviewed hundreds of interactions with police.
Although Davison said that this settlement wraps up most of the remaining claims, evidently the city is not totally off the hook, Seattle talk show host Ari Hoffman indicated on X.
🧵EXCLUSIVE: Documents show that the city of Seattle is budgeting almost $5 million more towards “anticipated, pending or actual judgments, claims payments & litigation expenses while defending the city”
Since 2020, the city has spent millions settling lawsuits from the riots pic.twitter.com/AAihhgzU1D
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) January 25, 2024
“Documents show that the city of Seattle is budgeting almost $5 million more towards ‘anticipated, pending or actual judgments, claims payments & litigation expenses while defending the city,'” Hoffman wrote.
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