Columbus to pay $5.75 million to injured activists
The city of Columbus, Ohio, has reached an agreement to pay $5.75 million to 32 plaintiffs who said that they were injured and that their constitutional rights were violated by members of the city’s police force during social justice protests in summer 2020.
After the killing of George Floyd last year, the plaintiffs were among many in Columbus who participated in protests that swept the country. The plaintiffs alleged in a lawsuit filed last year in federal court that officers with the Columbus Police Division had used excessive force.
In announcing the settlement agreement, which is subject to City Council approval, the Columbus City Attorney’s Office said that during the protests the police had “made arrests and used force including, but not limited to, pepper spray, tear gas, wooden baton rounds, and sponge rounds.”
Some plaintiffs were “significantly injured” during the protests, Zach Klein, the city attorney, said in the statement, adding that it was “incumbent upon the city to accept responsibility and pay restitution.”
“While this has certainly been a difficult and painful moment for our community, it has yielded important, and in some instances long overdue, reforms to policing practices, policies, and oversight,” said Klein, who noted that the money for the settlement would come from the city’s general fund.
Klein said that many Columbus police officers performed their jobs “professionally” during the protests, “but this litigation highlighted serious issues that must be addressed.”
Earlier this year, three Columbus police officers were charged with misconduct in connection with the protests, and Klein said that others could face charges.
Also this year, after an evidentiary hearing, Chief Judge Algenon Marbley of U.S. District Court granted a preliminary
injunction that barred the Columbus police from “using nonlethal force, including tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, wooden pellets, and more on nonviolent protesters,” according to a statement from the city.
At least three of the plaintiffs sustained broken bones, according to court documents. Klein said that because the plaintiffs had different injuries
the settlement amount would not be split evenly, and that a mediator would determine damages and settlement amounts for each plaintiff. The Columbus City Council is expected to approve the settlement this week.