NEW: A federal jury awarded $14 million in damages to 12 protesters who were injured by police officers in Denver during the 2020 protests in the first excessive force and civil rights trial coming out of the demonstrations over the death of George Floyd.
The jury’s award comes after a three-week trial in which the jury heard testimony about failures in leadership and coordination by police in responding to the protests in Denver and injuries suffered by protesters at the hands of officers from Denver and other nearby departments.
The 12 plaintiffs were hit with pepper spray, bean bags and more during several days of protests in the downtown area, and claimed in the lawsuit that their First Amendment rights to demonstrate were violated because of officers’ unreasonable force and use of “less lethal” ammunition. Epps, an abolitionist who is running for one of Denver’s state House seats this year, also alleged Christian was one of the officers who shot her during the demonstrations – something his and Denver’s attorneys had denied.
The jury ruled in favor of all 12 plaintiffs, though to varying degrees. For Sannier, Smith, Fitouri, Rothlein, Blasingame, Deras, Taylor, Parkins and Lyman, the jury found their First and Fourth Amendments had been violated and awarded them $1 million each in compensatory damages.
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