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New York City Published July 20, 2023 10:44am EDT

New York City agrees to pay Black

Lives Matter protesters $13 million in
new mass arrests settlement
New York City settlements concerning 2020 protests lawsuits have cost the city nearly $12 million to date

By Lawrence Richard | Fox News

Black Lives Matter slammed for 'incredibly shady' finances while running massive deficit
Columnist Adam Coleman joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss why he believes the organization is struggling financially and how money mismanagement
has led to the group's monetary decline.

New York City will give more than $13 million to more than 1,000 protesters arrested or
interacting with police during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests following a civil rights
lawsuit settlement filed in Manhattan federal court Wednesday.

Experts said the settlement, which allows the city to avoid a trial, would be among the
most expensive payouts ever for mass arrests. It still needs to be approved by a judge
before it is finalized.

The lawsuit focused on 18 protests that erupted in New York City in the week following
George Floyd’s death in May. According to attorneys for the plaintiffs, eligible persons can
receive $9,950 in compensation.

Protests and riots following the 2020 killing of Floyd resulted in at least 18 deaths, $350
million worth of property damage in the Minneapolis area, and nearly $2 billion
nationwide. About 10,000 people were arrested in the span of a few days.

NEW YORK CITY COULD PAY BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTERS $21K EACH OVER
RIGHTS 'VIOLATIONS' IN 2020

People participate in a Black Lives Matter rally on June 14, 2020, at Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza in New York. (AP
Photo/Kathy Willen)

Several other cities across the U.S. are negotiating their own settlements concerning
officers’ handling of protesters who spilled into the streets, with some causing fires,
throwing objects, breaking windows and damaging buildings.

Protesters arrested in connection with violence – those arrested on charges including

trespassing, property destruction, assaulting an officer, arson or weapons possession –
will be excluded from the settlement. Those seen on video blocking police from making
arrests may also be ineligible.

The lawsuit named former Mayor Bill de Blasio and retired NYPD Commissioner Dermot
Shea, as well as other police leaders, as defendants. Under the settlement agreement,
neither the city nor the NYPD is required to admit any wrongdoing.

BLM CALLED OUT FOR RECEIVING MILLIONS, NOT HELPING BLACK AMERICANS:
‘BLACK LIVES DON’T MATTER'

Attorneys with the National Lawyers Guild, representing the plaintiffs in New York,
accused these NYPD leaders of depriving protesters of their First Amendment rights
through brutal tactics and unlawful arrests.

A protester is arrested on New York's Fifth Avenue by NYPD officers during a march on June 4, 2020, following the death of
George Floyd. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Attorneys for the city maintained police officers were responding to a chaotic and
unprecedented situation and highlighted unruly protests where police vehicles were set on
fire and officers pelted with rocks and plastic bottles.

Attorneys for the city said there was no systematic effort to deprive people of their right to
protest.

"There is no history – or present or future – of unconstitutional policing," Georgia Pestana,

an attorney for the city, wrote in a memo. "There is no frequent deprivation of
constitutional rights."

BLACK LIVES MATTER AT SCHOOL WEEK OF ACTION KICKS OFF FOR THOUSANDS OF
US SCHOOLS

The city also invoked qualified immunity, which protects police officers from lawsuits
stemming from lawful work performed in the line of duty.

On Wednesday, July 19, 2023, New York City agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought on
behalf of roughly 1,300 people. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The settlement does not force the NYPD to change its policing practices, unlike several
other lawsuits aimed at injunctive relief, which remain ongoing, such as one brought by
New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Another class action settlement announced earlier this year would award $21,500 to
demonstrators in the Bronx who were arrested. The payout could total around $10 million,
including legal fees.

Separately, more than 600 people have brought individual claims against New York City
related to police action during the 2020 protests, according to the city’s comptroller, Brad
Lander. Settlements in these cases have cost the city nearly $12 million.

Fox News' Brian Flood and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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