Denver to pay $4.7M over claims curfew targeted George Floyd protesters

Black Lives Matter demonstrators who faced arrests and detentions while protesting the murder of George Floyd in 2020 have won a $4.7 million settlement from Denver.

The Denver City Council approved the settlement of a class-action lawsuit that alleged that hundreds of BLM protesters were unfairly arrested for violating the city’s nighttime curfew between May 30 and June 5, 2020, the legal team representing the plaintiffs, Loevy & Loevy, said in a statement on social media.

The plaintiffs argued that the city’s curfew and subsequent arrests targeted BLM protesters, violating their First and 14th Amendment rights. The majority of the protesters were detained for up to two days at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the firm said.

“Many of the protesters faced serious hardships due to their detention, such as lack of medical care for injuries or medical conditions, nearly being fired due to missing work, and even suicide attempts,” the law firm added.

Court documents show that the defendants – the city and county of Denver – agreed to settle given the uncertainty and risks associated with a jury trial. Further defense, the city said, “would be burdensome and expensive,” according to the documents.

“Denver denies its curfew order was unconstitutionally enforced,” the city attorney’s office said in an emailed statement.

The settlement, which is subject to court approval, is the latest in a string of cases in which law enforcement officials have come under scrutiny for using excessive force or cracking down on BLM protests that erupted after Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody. Officials in more than two dozen cities imposed curfews and governors in 26 states called in the National Guard to quell violent protests, the Washington Post reported in May 2020.

In March 2022, a jury awarded $14 million in compensation to 12 demonstrators injured by Denver police action during the Floyd protests, in a case that was also led by Loevy & Loevy. The city is appealing the verdict and seeking a new trial.

The same month, the city of Philadelphia agreed to pay nearly $10 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over accusations of excessive force. The previous month, two men in Austin received $10 million in a settlement after suffering significant injuries during the protests, and two Dallas officers were charged with criminal offenses for their actions. A class-action suit over the handling of demonstrators in D.C.’s Lafayette Square led to policy changes for the U.S. Park Police and Secret Service.

“Over 300 people were arrested for the simple act of protesting. The #FirstAmendment does not allow police to clear the streets of protesters simply because they do not agree with their message,” Elizabeth Wang, the lead attorney for the protesters, said Monday in a statement.

Denver’s police department announced multiple policy changes in the aftermath of the Floyd demonstrations, including on the use of less-than-lethal munitions and documentation of use of force during protests. In December 2020, an independent monitor that probed police response to the protests found that the use of force by police was “extremely troubling.”