Akron reaches settlement with protesters arrested during Jayland Walker demonstrations

Akron has reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit filed against the city, city leaders and numerous officers by 24 people who were arrested during protests of Jayland fatal Walker’s shooting in 2022.

Among the plaintiffs were several high-profile activists, including Jacob Blake Sr., Bianca Austin and Javonna Beasley, the sister of Jaymeisha Beasley, Jayland Walker’s fiancée.

Mayor Shammas Malik said the law department recommended that the suit be settled “based on the potential cost associated with continuing to litigate it.”

“This decision was made with the fiscal responsibility of our taxpayers’ hard-earned money in mind, and we take that duty very seriously,” Malik said in an emailed statement.

Elizabeth Bonham, one of the Cleveland attorneys representing the protesters, declined Monday to comment on the resolution.

The amount of the settlement hasn't been disclosed.

The lawsuit claims the city unlawfully arrested people who were expressing themselves or just in the wrong place at the wrong time and prosecuted them in cases that dragged on for months. All 24 cases ultimately were dismissed or resulted in not-guilty verdicts by a jury or judge.

Attorneys for the city and the protesters had mediation conferences before Magistrate Judge James Grimes Jr. on Jan. 18 and 22.

After the second mediation, Grimes said in court records that a resolution had been reached. He said the parties would finalize the settlement by Feb. 2 and the first payment would be made by Feb. 23. A status videoconference between the parties is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Protests follow Walker's shooting and grand jury decision

Walker was shot 46 times by eight Akron officers on June 27, 2022, after fleeing from police first by car and then on foot. He was unarmed, though he fired a gun outside of his window while fleeing from police and the officers later said they thought he might still have a weapon. A gun was found on the seat of his car after the shooting.

After the city released body-worn camera footage of Walker's shooting, people gathered in downtown Akron several times to protest. More than 50 people were arrested over the Fourth of July weekend, with police deploying tear gas and paper spray to disperse the crowds. Several downtown businesses were damaged and fires were started.

A special grand jury in Summit County Common Pleas Court decided April 17 against indicting the Akron officers who shot Walker. This led to additional protests, though they weren't as large as the demonstrations last summer and didn't result in as many arrests.

Lawsuit involved people arrested in July 2022

The lawsuit, filed last July in U.S. District Court in Akron, pertained to people arrested between July 3 and July 7, 2022.

The suit named the city, former Mayor Dan Horrigan, former Chief Steve Mylett, 17 police supervisors and numerous Akron officers and detectives, as well as three University of Akron officers and one Summit County Sheriff's deputy who assisted Akron police with responding to the protests.

The claims in the suit include excessive force, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, supervisory liability, assault and battery, abuse of process and breach of duty.

More: Dismissals, acquittals and a few convictions: What happened with 2022 Akron protest cases?

The lawsuit sought compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees and costs, as well as injunctive relief against the city for its "unlawful policies and training for the Akron Police Department."

The suit didn’t seek a specific amount.

Bonham said when the suit was filed that the “violation of people’s rights are just not quantifiable” and would need to be determined by a jury.

People arrested during protests included well-known activists

Bonham said all 24 of her clients had their cases dismissed or were acquitted, but their cases were pending for months or, for a few, nearly a year. She said many of them had to miss work and go to court for repeated court appearances.

Most of the protesters were from Northeast Ohio, though a few national activists traveled to Akron to lend their support to the dissent.

This included Blake and Austin, the co-founders of Families United Against Police Brutality.

Blake's son was paralyzed in a police shooting in Wisconsin. Austin is the aunt of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed in March 2020 in a botched police raid in Louisville, Kentucky.

Blake had a jury trial that ended with a mistrial, with jurors deadlocked. Prosecutors decided against trying him again and dismissed his charges.

Austin's case also was dismissed.

Two other federal lawsuits are still pending

The protester’s lawsuit is among three suits filed against the city related to Walker’s shooting and the subsequent protests.

Akron is in settlement discussions with the Akron Bail Fund, which filed a lawsuit in April that claimed the city used tear gas, pepper spray and other types of force against non-violent protesters during a protest on April 19 in the Copley Road area, according to court records.

More: Justified or 'unacceptable?' What hours of body-cam footage from Copley Road protest shows

A status conference in this suit is scheduled for Friday before Grimes, the same magistrate judge who was involved in the resolution of the case about the prosecution of people arrested during protests.

As part of the lawsuit concerning the treatment of protesters, Akron and the Bail Fund reached an agreement that the city wouldn’t use methods like tear gas against peaceful protesters.

The lawsuit sought an injunction prohibiting the city from taking actions that impede protesters' rights to express themselves.

Walker’s family also filed a federal lawsuit against the city, the officers who shot Walker and several other officers and public officials.

The family alleged excessive force and said they are seeking at least $45 million in damages, which they attorneys said roughly $1 million for each bullet that struck Walker.

A status conference is scheduled in the family's lawsuit for May 1 before Judge John Adams.

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and 330-996-3705. Derek Kreider can be reached at DKreider@Gannett.com or 330-541-9413.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron settles suit by protesters arrested in Jayland Walker protests