Opinion
The city of Seattle has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Black Lives Matter protesters who said they were victims of excessive use of force during 2020 demonstrations.
The agreement comes after years of legal battles and negotiations between the city and protesters.
A group of 50 BLM protesters have filed a lawsuit alleging that the Seattle Police Department was heavy-handed during demonstrations following the death of George Floyd.
Floyd died in 2020 during an excessive-force arrest by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, sparking nationwide protests and unjustified race riots.
Doing the math, the settlement amounts to a $200,000 payment for each protester involved in the lawsuit.
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Black Lives Matter receives heavy payout for riots
A statement from Seattle’s city attorney appears to indicate that the $10 million payment was simply a means to resolve the matter and move forward.
“This decision was the best financial decision for the city considering risk, cost and insurance,” he said. “The case represented a significant drain of time and resources for the city and would continue to do so during an estimated three-month trial that was expected to begin in May.”
It’s never a good strategy to give in to extortionists, especially those who have been burning and looting your city for months.
You don’t reward a child who steals a cookie by giving him 10 dollars to buy more.
Lawyers for the Black Lives Matter protesters said their clients had suffered a range of injuries ranging from hearing loss and broken bones to “emotional harm.”
Will BLM use some of that money to pay for the emotional damage caused to local businesses?
Journalist Andy Ngo, who has documented much of the riots, explains that such payments “encourage future riots.”
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Who pays for the damage they have done?
According to various reports, the Seattle riots caused millions of dollars in damage to businesses, public buildings and infrastructure.
The Seattle Police Department reported that more than 100 officers were injured during the protests, and many businesses were looted, vandalized and set on fire.
The Seattle City Attorney’s Office estimated the total cost of property damage and other expenses related to the riots to be approximately $200 million.
This figure includes damage to private businesses, public buildings and the cost of deploying law enforcement and other emergency services during the riots.
Those companies got far less than $10 million. In fact, the business owners received $3,650,000 in damages caused from Black Lives Matter protests according to court documents.
Regarding something you I cannot put a price, there were reports of two deaths occurring during the Black Lives Matter protests in Seattle.
One of these incidents involved a 19-year-old man who was shot and killed in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone, and another involved a 32-year-old woman who was hit by a car while protesting on a closed section of Interstate 5.
Many other shootings took place in that seven-block area that police were forced to abandon during the “Summer of Love.”
What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments section.
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