A group of racial justice protesters has reached a settlement with the federal government in a lawsuit accusing law enforcement agents it sent President Trump use of excessive force to protect federal courthouse in 2020.
Under the settlement, the federal government must compensate plaintiffs for injuries they suffered at the hands of federal agents, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon said Tuesday.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the ACLU of Oregon for details on specific compensation amounts.
The plaintiffs included three military veterans, a university professor, several Black Lives Matter activists and a man who said agents grabbed him off the street for no reason while he was blocks from the federal courthouse in Portland.
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Police use chemical irritants and crowd control ammunition to disperse protesters during riots in Portland, Oregon, on September 5, 2020, sparked by the killing of George Floyd. (AP)
“We are proud to represent our courageous clients,” Kelly Simon, legal director of the ACLU of Oregon, said in a press release. “They have suffered serious injuries due to the unlawful, aggressive actions of federal law enforcement and it is just and fair that they receive compensation. Thank you to our clients and to all the people who stand up for black lives and against government tyranny. The ACLU of Oregon stands with you again and again to make sure that the government treats everyone justly and fairly.”
Thousands of protesters in Portland and across the country took to the streets in the months of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Protesters occasionally clashed with police, and militarized federal agents were ordered into Portland to quell the riots.
The lawsuit accused federal agents of overstepping their authority, making illegal arrests and using tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray when trying to stop the riots. Almost all the plaintiffs stated that they suffered physical injuries, and some were treated in hospitals.
Federal police officers fire tear gas at a group of protesters during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon, on July 26, 2020. (AP)
The video shows Navy veteran Christopher David, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, outside the courthouse as an agent hits him with a baton and another pepper sprays him in the face. David had two bones in his hand broken during the protest.
The lawsuit alleges that then-acting Homeland Security Director Chad Wolf did not have the authority to send more than 100 agents to Portland because he was improperly appointed. Wolf resigned suddenly in 2021 — shortly before Trump was due to leave office — saying he was prompted by “recent events,” including court rulings that his appointment illegal.
A federal investigative report later found that the militarized federal agents did not have adequate training or equipment and that there was no plan to respond to the protests without the help of 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, on December 31, 2020. (Getty Images)
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Local police arrested hundreds of protesters over three months, and federal agents arrested nearly 100 more during the height of the protests.
“It was shocking to 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 learned in the military,” prosecutor and veteran Nichol Denison said in a press release.
This was one of the several lawsuits The ACLU of Oregon filed suit against the federal government on behalf of protesters and other groups, including journalists and legal observers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
