L.A. to pay $12.85 million to demonstrators

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles City Council approved a $12.85 million payout Wednesday for demonstrators and bystanders who were beaten by police at a pro-immigration rally, one of the largest settlements ever for Police Department misconduct.

The payout will settle nine lawsuits filed on behalf of nearly 300 people after the May 1, 2007, rally at MacArthur Park, where police dispersed crowds by beating people with batons and firing at them with beanbag rounds and rubber bullets. Forty-two people were injured, including nine journalists.

Carol Sobel, an attorney who represented some of the injured parties, said the payout is the largest single settlement in a demonstration case in the nation.

“It means that for everybody who was in MacArthur Park that day, they can now feel that their injuries were recognized by the city,” Sobel said.