Seattle agreed to pay $10 million to 50 demonstrators who sued over the police department’s heavy-handed response to racial justice protests in 2020. The protesters were among tens of thousands who rallied downtown and in the Capitol Hill neighborhood for weeks after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police — a period that saw Seattle’s police department abandon its East Precinct building as well as the establishment of the "Capitol Hill Occupied Protest," a six-block zone taken over by protesters, the Associated Press reports.
The police department — led by then-Chief Carmen Best — used aggressive techniques to disperse the crowds, including flash-bang grenades, foam-tipped projectiles and blast balls that explode and emit pepper gas. At some points during protests, people in the crowds caused damage, including burning police cars and trying to set a fire at the East Precinct. A federal judge ordered police to stop using chemical and other weapons indiscriminately against against peaceful demonstrators. When police used them even after Best and then-Mayor Jenny Durkan promised they would stop, the City Council unanimously barred officers from doing so. The case involved more than 10,000 videos, including police body-worn camera recordings, and hundreds of witness interviews. “Historians should review what we collected and write the true story of the shameful behavior of our City against the Peaceful Protesters,” said Karen Koehler, an attorney for the plaintiffs. A three-month trial had been expected to begin in May.