Minneapolis agrees to pay $1.8 million to women injured by police during 2020 protests
According the lawsuits, police fired projectiles at peaceful protesters. Each woman was struck in an eye.
On Thursday, the city of Minneapolis agreed to settle lawsuits in the amount of $1.8 million with two women who were injured by police officers during protests following the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.
According to court documents, on May 27, 2020, Ana Gelhaye was live streaming a protest outside the Third Precinct. “The City responded by shooting Gelhaye in her right eye, causing a severe and permanent injury to that eye,” said the complaint. She will receive $900,000.
Samantha Wright will also receive $900,000. According to her lawsuit, on May 30, 2020 Wright was protesting with a crowd of people near Lake Street and Nicollet Ave. “She was not rioting, looting, or starting fires,” reads the complaint. “Yet law enforcement officers gratuitously struck her several times with ‘less lethal’ projectiles, the last of which struck her left eye.”
The settlements come one month after the city paid $2.4 million to Soren Stevenson, who was partially blinded after an officer shot him in the eye with a projectile. Stevenson’s attorneys have asked for an additional $1.6 million in attorneys fees and related costs.
Stevenson’s attorneys also represent Ethan Marks, who also lost an eye to a 40mm projectile fired by a police officer. That lawsuit is still in the courts.
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