A group of racial justice protesters has reached a settlement with the federal government in a lawsuit accusing law enforcement agents sent by President Trump of using excessive force to protect a federal courthouse in 2020.
Under the settlement, the federal government must compensate plaintiffs for injuries suffered by federal agents, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon said Tuesday.
Fox News Digital has contacted the ACLU of Oregon for details on specific compensation amounts.
The plaintiffs included three veterans, a college professor, several Black Lives Matter activists and a man who said officers stopped him on the street for no reason while he was a few blocks from the palace federal courthouse in Portland.
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Police use chemical irritants and crowd control munitions to disperse protesters during riots in Portland, Oregon, September 5, 2020, sparked by the killing of George Floyd. (PA)
“We are proud to have represented our courageous clients,” said Kelly Simon, legal director of the ACLU of Oregon, in a press release. “They suffered serious injuries due to the illegal and aggressive actions of federal law enforcement, and it is fair and just that they be compensated. Thank you to our clients and everyone who has stood up for Black lives and against government tyranny. The ACLU of Oregon I will stand with you again and again to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and fairly by the government.”
Thousands of demonstrators in Portland and across the country took to the streets for months in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. Protesters sometimes clashed with police, and militarized federal agents were ordered to Portland to quell the riots.
The lawsuit accused federal agents of overstepping the bounds of their authority, making illegal arrests and using tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray to try to stop the riots. Almost all of the plaintiffs claimed to have suffered physical injuries and some were treated in hospitals.
Federal agents fire tear gas at a group of protesters during a Black Lives Matter demonstration at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Oregon, July 26, 2020. (PA)
Video showed Navy veteran Christopher David, a plaintiff in the suit, outside the courthouse being hit by one officer with a baton and another pepper spraying him in the face. David suffered two broken hands during the protest.
The lawsuit alleges that Chad Wolf, then acting director of Homeland Security, did not have the authority to send more than 100 agents to Portland because he was inappropriately appointed. Wolf abruptly resigned in 2021 – shortly before Trump left office – saying he was forced to leave due to “recent events,” including court rulings that concluded that his appointment is illegal.
A federal investigative report later found that militarized federal agents did not have adequate training or equipment and that there was no plan to respond to protests without help from local police.
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Rioters throw fireworks at police officers during a protest against police brutality near the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, December 31, 2020. (Getty Images)
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Local police arrested hundreds of protesters in three months, and federal agents arrested nearly 100 more at the height of the protests.
“It shocked the conscience that this level of force was used against veterans, mothers and other nonviolent protesters. The way our own government treated us violated everything we have learned in Army,” plaintiff and veteran Nichol Denison said in the press release.
It was one of several trials The ACLU of Oregon filed a lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of protesters and other groups, including journalists and legal observers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
