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Opinion
The city of Seattle has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Black Lives Matter protesters who claimed that they were victims of excessive force during the 2020 demonstrations.
The settlement comes after years of legal battles and negotiations between the city and the protesters.
A group of 50 BLM protesters filed the lawsuit claiming that the Seattle Police Department was a bit heavy-handed during the demonstrations following the death of George Floyd.
Floyd died in 2020 during an arrest involving excessive force by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, sparking nationwide protests and unjustified race riots.
Doing the math, the settlement amounts to a $200,000 payment to each protester involved in the suit.
RELATED: Black Lives Matter Seattle Vows to Boycott White Businesses On Black Friday
Black Lives Matter Gets A Hefty Payday For Rioting
A statement from the City Attorney in Seattle seems to indicate that the $10 million payday was simply a means to settle the matter and move forward.
“This decision was the best financial decision for the City considering risk, cost, and insurance,†he said. “The case has been a significant drain on the time and resources of the City and would have continued to be so through an estimated three-month trial that was scheduled to begin in May.â€
It’s never really a good strategy to give in to extortionists, especially those who burned and looted your city for months on end.
You don’t reward a child who steals a cookie by giving them $10 to buy more cookies.
Attorneys for the Black Lives Matter protesters claimed that their clients suffered a whole host of injuries ranging from hearing loss and broken bones to “emotional damage.â€
Will BLM use some of that money to pay for the emotional damage they caused local businesses?
Journalist Andy Ngo, who documented much of the rioting, explains that such payouts “encourage future rioting.â€
RELATED: Lawless In Seattle: Anarchist ‘Autonomous Zone’ Preventing Police From Responding To Violent Crimes
Who Pays For The Damage THEY Did?
According to various reports, the riots in Seattle caused millions of dollars in damages to businesses, public buildings, and infrastructure.
The Seattle Police Department reported that over 100 officers were injured during the protests, and many businesses were looted, vandalized, and set on fire.
The Seattle City Attorney’s Office estimated that the total cost of property damage and other expenses related to the riots was around $200 million.
This figure includes damages to private businesses, public buildings, and the cost of deploying law enforcement and other emergency services during the unrest.
Those businesses got a lot less than $10 million. In fact, business owners received $3,650,000 for damages caused by the Black Lives Matter protests according to court filings.
As for something you can’t put a price tag on, there were reports of two deaths that occurred during the Black Lives Matter protests in Seattle.
One of these incidents involved a 19-year-old man who was shot and killed in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone, and another involved a 32-year-old woman who was hit by a car while protesting on a closed section of Interstate 5.
Multiple other shootings took place in that seven-block area that police were forced to abandon during the “Summer of Love.â€
What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments section.
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