Jury awards $14 million to protesters of Floyd killing

DENVER — Jurors on Friday found police used excessive force against protesters, violating their constitutional rights, during demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd two years ago, ordering the city to pay a total of $14 million in damages to a group of 12 who sued.

The jury of two men and six women returned its verdict after about four hours of deliberations. The verdict followed three weeks of testimony and evidence that included police and protester video of incidents.

Lawyers involved believed it was the first trial in a lawsuit challenging officer tactics during the 2020 protests that erupted around the nation over the police killing of Floyd and other Black people.

The protesters who sued were shot at or hit by weapons including pepper spray and a Kevlar-bag filled with lead shot fired from a shotgun. Zach Packard, who was hit in the head by the shotgun blast and ended up in the intensive care unit, received the largest damage amount — $3 million.

One of the protesters’ lawyers, Timothy Macdonald, had urged jurors to send a message to police in Denver and elsewhere by finding the city liable during closing arguments.

“Hopefully, what police departments will take from this is a jury of regular citizens takes these rights very seriously,” he said after the verdict.

The protesters said the actions of police violated their free speech rights and rights to be protected from unreasonable force. Jurors found violations of both rights for 11 of the protesters and only free speech violations for the other.

During the trial, Denver admitted that mistakes were made at the protests, which it says were unprecedented in their size, duration and amount of violence and destruction. More than 80 officers were injured as protesters hurled rocks, water bottles and canned food at them, and the state Capitol, the hub of the protests, incurred $1.1 million in damage, according to the city. Lawyers for the protesters who sued stressed they were not accused of being violent themselves.

Aggressive responses from officers to people protesting police brutality nationally have led to financial settlements, the departures of police chiefs and criminal charges.

In Austin, Texas, officials have agreed to pay over $13 million to people injured in protests in May 2020, and 19 officers have been indicted for their actions.