Cincinnati approves $8.1 million settlement with protesters arrested in 2020

CINCINNATI, Ohio– The city of Cincinnati on Wednesday approved an $8.1 million legal settlement with hundreds of nonviolent protesters who had alleged mistreatment by city and county authorities when they were arrested during the 2020 racial justice protests.

The Cincinnati City Council approved the deal after its terms were hammered out last week. It ends years of litigation stemming from protests over the killing of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people.

None of the 479 plaintiffs had been charged with a violent crime or misdemeanor or involved in property damage – although some had occurred. All were charged with minor curfew violations during the nights of protests from May 30 to June 8, 2020, but were later dismissed by the city amid a wave of conflicting court rulings.

The lawsuit they filed collectively in 2022 alleged police brutality, wrongful arrests, inhumane detention conditions and illegal seizures of property.

Hamilton County, whose sheriff and jail also were named in the lawsuit, will pay $65,000 toward the settlement, with the city paying the rest.