Denver Settles Suit for $4.7M With Black Lives Matter Protesters

City officials in Denver have approved  a $4.7 million settlement with Black Lives Matter protesters who claimed police used excessive force during demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

The protesters had been detained for violating an emergency curfew during the demonstration, according to The New York Times.

The settlement had been approved by the Denver City Council and resolves a classaction suit against the city and county.

 The plaintiffs included a lawyer, a former U.S. Marine, a journalist, a business owner, and union organizers.

The protests were part of unrest in cities over the killing of Floyd in May 2020 by white police officers.

In the complaint they claimed police used “violent crowd control tactics” against hundreds of protesters who gathered in late May and early June of 2020 to demonstrate against police brutality and racism, according to the Times.

They alleged police fired tear gas, flashbang grenades, pepper balls, rubber bullets, and other projectiles directly at protesters.

“The settlement prevents the city from enacting any curfew enforced against those engaged in protest activity in the future,” the protesters’ lead attorney, Elizabeth Wang, said in a statement, according to USA Today. “This is a win that will protect free speech in Denver for the years to come.”

The newspaper noted that in 2022, the federal government partially settled suits with Black Lives Matter protesters who were cleared from Lafayette Square in Washington D.C.