City offers to settle Detroit Will Breathe lawsuit for $1 million

Protesters march through downtown Detroit on the sixth day of protests against police brutality on Wednesday, June 3, 2020.
Protesters march through downtown Detroit on the sixth day of protests against police brutality on Wednesday, June 3, 2020.

The Detroit City Council offered a settlement Tuesday of $1,035,000 to Detroit Will Breathe in an effort to end their two yearslong lawsuit against the city of Detroit.

Detroit Will Breathe, the group that led the Detroit Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 after George Floyd's murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming police used  excessive force against protesters and  violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights.

Among the allegations were the use of tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, sound cannons, flash grenades and chokeholds, and mass arrests without probable cause.

In September 2020, Detroit Will Breathe secured a temporary restraining order on the police's use of force against protesters.  The restraining order only lasted two weeks, and prevented police from using striking weapons, sound cannons and chokeholds, and arresting without probable cause.

The City Council also made offers of judgment on four other lawsuits: $10,000 on Marlon Frazier v. City of Detroit, et al; $10,000 on Timothy Hall v. Blake Navarre, et al; $60,000 on Emma Howland-Bolton, et al v. City of Detroit, et al; and $150,000 on Nadia Rohr, et al v. City of Detroit, et al.

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These offers are for damages only, and if they are accepted, the city would also pay for any attorney fees the plaintiffs' incurred  until the offer was made.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: City offers to settle Detroit Will Breathe lawsuit