On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes. Tens of millions of people took to the streets, not only in outrage, but with a fervent hope that people coming together and demanding justice would lead to safer communities for Black Americans—and for everyone. 

From day one of the protests, police unleashed horrors on protesters. Cops dressed in riot gear fired less-lethal weapons into crowds of unarmed civilians, sometimes within seconds of arriving at the scene. The weapons were “less-lethals” but they still resulted in gruesome, and in some cases permanent, injuries. Police kettled protesters and made mass arrests for nonviolent offenses, such as violating curfews and blocking highways. In just the first two weeks of the uprising, 17,000 people were arrested. At the highest level, protests were characterized as “riots” and acts of terrorism. But the story on the ground is clear: the police escalated situations, emptied their arsenals on protesters, and violated protesters’ rights.

In this report, we analyze 132 lawsuits brought by people injured, traumatized, wrongly arrested or otherwise harmed by police during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. We found that cities both large and small, in red states and blue, have been forced to pay out almost $150 million to protesters, journalists, legal observers, and bystanders. Cities overwhelmingly chose to settle these cases. They were unwilling or unable to defend the actions of police in court.  

Each lawsuit is the inspiring story of a person or group of people who joined with others to call out the violence and demand change. When met with the same police violence and brutality they were protesting, they refused to back down. It’s notoriously difficult to hold police accountable, but by suing cities for the indiscriminate violence and unconstitutional actions of their police, survivors can tell their stories, win restitution, and sometimes force reforms.

As our research documents, over 3,000 people were harmed by police during the George Floyd protests and have won settlements from cities across the country. Many more are still awaiting their day in court, but already, the amount of money cities have paid out is unprecedented. In some ways, these settlements bring a modicum of justice by way of monetary compensation for harm done and, in some cases, restrictions on police. Our challenge is to use the evidence of abuse documented in these cases to demand that cities and states do better. While some protesters may have smashed windows, thrown bottles, or committed arson, it was the heavily armed, massive police engagement that led to life-threatening injuries and trauma to human beings. As the lawsuits document, it was too often the police who made the situation dangerous and violent.

Based on our analysis, we recommend enacting laws and policies designed to enable the right to peaceful assembly and protect protesters. These reforms would include steps to minimize police presence at protests, prohibit the use of less lethal or other weapons against First Amendment-protected assemblies, and prohibit kettling and mass arrests, among other necessary changes to policing. 

Washington, DC: Defending Rights and Dissent, 2024. 45p.