$1 Million Offer Accepted By Detroit Will Breathe To End Lawsuit
Racial justice organization Detroit Will Breathe is reportedly accepting a $1 million offer from the city to end an ongoing federal lawsuit alleging police used excessive force against protesters, violating their First Amendment rights during demonstrations that broke out in the summer of 2020.
According to the Detroit Free-Press, the group protested in the streets of Detroit for more than 100 days in a row in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.
"This offer of judgment resolves the case in our favor," Detroit Will Breathe said in a statement. "This judgment is a victory for the movement."
The August 2020-filed suit claimed the Detroit PD used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, sound cannons, flash grenades, chokeholds and mass arrests without probable cause. The plaintiffs alleged those actions by police resulted in hospitalizations, concussions, damaged nerves and dislocated fractured and broken bones.
In late July 2022, Detroit City Council offered $1,035,000, including $5,000 to the group itself, and the remaining funds going to the 14 individual plaintiffs, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.
According to a court order filed Thursday (October 13), the city has also agreed to pay a negotiated $860,000 in court costs, which are now subject to city council approval.
Also on Thursday, Detroit Will Breathe called the pending end to the lawsuit a victory but noted that overall, systemic police violence is still prevalent in the Michigan city and nationwide.
"The road towards liberation is not linear," the organization said, according to the Free-Press. "While we don’t see the daily marches of a few years ago, the struggle has taken on new forms - strikes have rippled across the country, and student walkouts are a regular occurrence. See y’all in the streets."
