The city of Baton Rogue has just reached a settlement in a lawsuit that they had with protestors. The city will split approximately $100,000 among more than 90 protesters. Metro Council approved the settlement Tuesday with a 10-2 vote.
The settlement will be paid by four agencies. None of them will be paying more that $25,000. They include, the city government, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, and the Louisiana State Police.
DeRay McKesson was one of the Black Lives Matter leaders who filed a lawsuit again Baton Rogue for damages for administrative fees and attorney fees, and for the arrests to be removed from their records. The lawsuit said that the police acted “militarized and aggressive manner.” McKesson and others were arrested and charged with obstructing a highway. They now will not be persecuted. Metro Councilman John Delgado voted against the settlement saying,
“To me, this encourages that type of behavior to happen in the future. I have no interest in paying $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to people who are coming into our city to protest.”
Source: Complex
