'That's not good law enforcement,' says attorney for protesters getting $5.75M settlement

Bernadette Calvey said she had been brought up to respect and trust the police and had never been to a protest in her life. Out of curiosity on May 30, 2020, she decided to go to the Short North to show her support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Soon after her arrival, Calvey said she was shot in the face with a wooden bullet by Columbus police as she stood on a sidewalk, after having seen nothing to provoke the shooting but peaceful protestors chanting slogans.

"Within five minutes of me arriving the police kind of opened fire into the crowd," Calvey, 22, said Friday. "I was struck in my chin with a wooden bullet, and then there was a white powder that came out, so I was blinded. I couldn't see."

Calvey is one of 32 plaintiffs who will collect part of a $5.75 million settlement from the city of Columbus to end a a federal lawsuit filed in July 2020 in U.S. District Court.  The plaintiffs said they were brutalized by Columbus police during protests against racial injustice in the summer of 2020. Three plaintiffs reported that they suffered broken bones, one from a tear-gas canister that fractured a fibula, a leg bone.

Others were injured or scarred by wooden pellets and pepper spray, or were improperly arrested, the lawsuit claims.

"They came to non-violently protest police violence, and were met with police violence," said attorney Chandra Brown.

The settlement must still be approved by Columbus City Council and a federal judge. The payment money would come out of the city's General Fund, which receives roughly 80% of its revenue from the income taxes of those who work in Columbus.

“During the protests in Columbus, some plaintiffs were significantly injured," Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said in announcing the settlement on Thursday. "Therefore, it's incumbent upon the city to accept responsibility and pay restitution. ... This litigation highlighted serious issues that must be addressed."

The City of Columbus also agreed in the settlement to permanently ban police officers from using "tear gas, pepper spray, flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets, wooden pellets, batons, body slams, pushing or pulling or 'kettling,'" against non-violent protestors. "Non-violent" is defined as protestors who are "chanting, verbally confronting police, sitting, holding their hands up when approaching police, occupying sidewalks or streets, apart from expressways or freeways, and/or passively resisting police."

Chief U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley had issued a temporary injunction in late April banning so-called "non-lethal force" in a ruling in which he stated Columbus police had "run amok" in handling the 2020 unrest. The ruling came after more than two dozen protesters filed a lawsuit alleging police used excessive force during the protests.

Judge Marbley has indicated that he intends to approve the settlement after the City Council votes on it, according to a media release from Columbus attorneys John Marshall and Fred Gittes, who were among 11 civil rights attorneys who represented the plaintiffs.

The percentage of the money from the settlement that will be retained by the attorneys will remain secret, except to the plaintiffs, and no plaintiff will know how his or her settlement stacks up against the others based on the claimed severity of injuries, lost work, and emotional distress, Gittes said.

Instead, the amounts awarded to the 32 protesters will be decided secretly by a retired Georgia judge, Gino Brogdon Sr., who will serve as special master in distributing the payouts, Gittes said.

The secrecy provision was "up to the plaintiffs, they could change it anytime they want," Gittes said. Such matters "can be done and will be done privately. ...That's why I was just amazed at these (plaintiffs). They really didn't want to fight about money."

The civil rights lawsuit named the city of Columbus, former Police Chief Thomas Quinlan, a Columbus police commander, three lieutenants, seven sergeants and 14 officers for injuries the plaintiffs said they suffered while protesting Downtown.

In a written statement, Klein commended many Columbus police officers for their response to the unrest, which began after the May 25, 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. But he also said some officers crossed the line. 

Gittes said no officer stepped forward to stop the excessive acts of their fellow officers, even high-ranking officials in charge and on the scene, who were required by law to do so.

"That's not good law enforcement," Gittes said. "...We don't need officers who are not going to enforce the law equally, even among themselves. That's their job.

"These were not close calls."

The Rev. Clarressa Thompson, another plaintiff, said she went to the protests carrying a sign that read, "No violence, God lives," to try to diffuse the situation, to spread the message that "we don't need to fight each other." But, also within minutes of arriving, she was pushed to the ground by officers and repeatedly maced, even as others tried to help her up, she said.

"It was just so unbelievable and shocking," Thompson said a news conference Friday arranged by the group's attorneys. "Here I was trying to help."

Tammy Fournier-Alsaada, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said police made the protest a war zone, with "bangs and pops," knocking people to the ground including herself, and almost trampling her with a horse. She tried to run, but was blinded by tear gas, she said Friday.

"I don't even know how long it was, but they continued without any mercy," said Fournier-Alsaada, a social justice organizer who is part of the People’s Justice Project in Columbus.

Previous ruling: Federal injunction prevents Columbus police from using tear gas, wooden bullets

While police were required to record their actions on body cameras, they largely weren't using them, Gittes noted. The evidence for the suit came from cellphone video being taken by the public, he said.

As part of the settlement agreement, police will now be required to ensure that body cameras and vehicle dash cameras are on and functioning before any interaction with protesters. Badge numbers or other proper identification are required to be displayed where they can be seen, even when officers are wearing riot gear.

Columbus Public Safety Director Robert Clark said the settlement is about ensuring accountability for officer misconduct in an effort to build trust with residents across the city.

“We recognize what a painful chapter this has been for everyone involved, including the women and men of the Columbus Division of Police and the community we serve,” Clark said in a written statement.  “Where we have missed the mark and relationships have been damaged, we must strive to make it right. This settlement is a step toward that, while also protecting the interests of Columbus taxpayers.”

Three Columbus police officers were charged in June with misdemeanor offenses related to allegations of criminal misconduct during the 2020 protests, including that they pepper-sprayed demonstrators with no provocation.

Officers charged in protests: Columbus cop faces additional charges in pepper spray incident during 2020 protests

The police division is the subject of an ongoing federal review after the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to a city request in September to have the DOJ's Community Oriented Policing Services review its policies and procedures

But some community members, advocates, and faith leaders have voiced concerns that a COPS office review lacks the teeth of DOJ's Civil Rights Division investigations that often lead to consent decrees, and argue it won't lead to real change.

Federal probe: Justice Department agrees to city's request to conduct review of Columbus police

Earlier in September, the results of a $250,000 city-commissioned study found that the city and the police division were inadequately prepared for the scale of the 2020 protests. That report also concluded that Columbus city and police officials should actively seek reconciliation with residents — particularly communities of color — to address the "distrust, anger and fear directed towards the police."

Study: Columbus, police officials should seek reconciliation with communities of color

Columbus leaders have consistently touted initiatives they believe will lead to important reforms in policing, including the current "Reimagining Public Safety" initiative that includes a Civilian Police Review Board approved by voters and finalized in mid-July, as well as an alternative response 911 program that allows social workers to respond to some non-threatening calls that Mayor Andrew J. Ginther recently expanded.

“While this has certainly been a difficult and painful moment for our community, it has yielded important, and in some instances long overdue, reforms to policing practices, policies, and oversight," Klein said in his written statement. "This settlement is a good step forward for both the Division of Police and for the entire community because it sets defined parameters and clear expectations for all when exercising and protecting First Amendment rights in Columbus.”

Rioting and vandalism did an estimated $1.2 million in damage to Downtown in the first days of the protest alone, authorities said. 

Calvey said she isn't sure she would ever return to another protest. The wooden bullet's impact was absorbed largely by her jaw, leaving a permanent scar. Had it hit inches higher, it would have struck her teeth or eyes, she said.

It was her first negative encounter ever with a police officer, she said.

"It was a very eye-opening experience to see the police violence first hand," Calvey said.

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