Denver Demonstrators Injured in 2020 Protests Awarded $14 Million
Lawyers for the 12 plaintiffs believe that the decision could set a precedent for other pending cases across the country involving police misconduct against protesters in 2020.
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A Colorado jury has ordered the city and county of Denver to pay 12 plaintiffs who were targets of excessive force by the police during demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd in 2020 $14 million in damages, the first time in which a lawsuit accusing the police of misconduct during the protests went to trial, reports the New York Times. The jury concluded that the city and county failed to properly train its police and that, as a result, officers violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights under the First and Fourth Amendments.
The police shot at the plaintiffs with projectiles at close range without warning, striking some of them, and used pepper spray and tear gas, among other tactics. Zach Packard, a protestor who was hit in the head by a projectile, knocking him unconscious and sending him to the I.C.U., received the largest damage amount at $3 million. The city and county of Denver acknowledged shortcomings in how the police responded to the protests but argued that the demonstrations caused a “level of sustained violence and destruction” that the city had never seen. Meanwhile, the Denver Department of Public Safety reports that the city has already settled several protest-related lawsuits and paid more than $1.3 million to injured demonstrators. The plaintiffs’ lawyers believe that this decision could set a precedent for other pending cases across the country involving police misconduct against protesters in the George Floyd demonstrations.
