New York City has agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of approximately 1,300 people who were arrested, sometimes forcefully, during demonstrations that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020. This is the latest occurrence of racial injustice protesters in big cities receiving historic payouts.
In the NYC settlement, each person would be eligible for about $10,000 in compensation. That would be the largest payout ever awarded in a lawsuit over mass arrests, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
Attorneys for New York City settled the lawsuit to avoid potentially paying even more money if the case went to court, but they maintain the New York Police Department was acting within its rights as officers made arrests.
