At least 19 American cities are set to pay more than $80 million to protesters injured by police during 2020 racial justice protests stemming from George Floyd’s tragic murder.
The Guardian reported that the whopping settlement deal may increase as many lawsuits persist. It has been three years since the murder of Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, sparking the largest racial justice protests in the United States since the Civil Rights Movement.
But the movement went far beyond this nation’s borders: more than100 cities and millions of people rallied to stand against police brutality and racial injustice.
During this critical time, the National Guard was deployed and police officers discharged use-of-force tactics, including tear gas and projectiles. Dozens of lawsuits were subsequently filed for trauma as well as permanent bodily injuries. According to the news outlet, experts believe that the potential $80-plus million is a record considering the “unprecedented” number of lawsuits stemming from the George Floyd protests.
For instance, Anthony Evans of Austin, Texas, said he was peacefully protesting the murder of Floyd with his twin brother on Sunday, May 31, 2020 when he was struck in the jaw with a less-lethal bean bag round, according to KVUE. He underwent two surgeries and had a permanent titanium plate installed in his jaw.
“I never thought anything like that would happen to me,” Evans told the Austin outlet. “They said my jaw looked like I got hit by a car.”
The city of La Mesa, California, awarded a local woman $10 million after an officer shot her in the head with a bean bag projectile, CBS 8 News reported. The traumatic incident landed Leslie Furcron in the ICU in a medically induced coma and lost vision in one eye.
Cities involved in the mounting settlements include New York, Philadelphia, Denver, and Atlanta. In fact, New York City and its police department have settled with 320 protesters who were victims of batons, pepper spray, and being zip-tied during a June 2020 protest.
A total of $9.25 million was paid to hundreds of Philadelphia protesters. The city agreed to pay plaintiffs in four federal civil rights lawsuit as well as contribute $500,000 to a fund that will provide counseling to victims of police violence and offer community-led programming.