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Portland police use excessive force on protesters Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2004/11/30/oregon/news02.txthttp://www.tdn.com/articles/2004/11/30/oregon/news02.txt
City to pay $300,000 to protesters
By Associated Press
Nov 30, 2004 - 08:03:08 am PST
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Portland is set to approve payment of $300,000 to 12 people who claimed police used excessive force during two anti-war marches in March 2003 and during President Bush's visit to Portland in August 2002.
A federal judge spent at least five months mediating the claims, and the City Council is set to approve the settlement Wednesday.
Plaintiffs argued in two lawsuits that the city, Mayor Vera Katz, then-police Chief Mark Kroeker and several officers violated their rights to free speech and free assembly.
They said they were doused by pepper spray at close range and that police fired rubber stingballs into a crowd. They used videotapes to document their claims.
"Our settlements historically have been few and far between in this range," said Mark Stairiker, a claims analyst in the city's Risk Management Division. "It's a big case, but when you divide it by 12, it's fairly routine."
"We hope that getting a settlement of this size will send a message and result in some more accountability than the police have had to date," said Liz Joffe, one of the lawyers representing the group.
The city attorney's office has recommended a settlement to avoid the risk of a large jury award, according to an ordinance before the council.
Political activist Lloyd Marbet was among nine defendants who filed a lawsuit stemming from the Bush visit.
Police clashed with protesters outside the Hilton Hotel as a Republican fund-raiser headlining Bush was getting under way.
Three children there with their parents and a teacher who was hit by pepper spray were among the other plaintiffs.
Their lawyers reviewed more than 100 hours of videotape taken by independent observers and the Police Bureau.
"Several officers testified that protesters were rioting, but the videos showed they were chanting, peaceful protesters," Joffe said. "These officers just showered people in a sea of pepper spray who were doing nothing but chanting."
The city contended that the Bush protesters were sprayed when they "ignored lawful orders to disperse." Yet police commanders and supervisors have acknowledged that they made mistakes and changed tactics when Bush returned for a fund-raiser at the University of Portland the following summer.
"Over the years, we've learned from each and every incident, dating back to the infamous May Day incident" in 2000, when police clashed violently with protesters, Foxworth said. "We continue to look at what worked well and identify areas for improvement."
The next summer, police bused the donors into a fund-raising luncheon at the University of Portland, and set up a large fenced perimeter around the event.
A second suit was brought by William S. Ellis, Randall C. Lyon and Miranda May stemming from anti-war protests on March 20 and March 25, 2003.
According to the complaint, Lyon, an engineer for KATU television news, was struck in the right temple and shoved into his news van by two officers at the demonstration on March 20. It said May, a peaceful protester, was pepper-sprayed at close range and hit in the head on March 25. Ellis, the suit said, was slammed to the ground, assaulted and pepper-sprayed when he refused to identify himself.
Some plaintiffs pledged to donate a portion of their settlements to the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press.
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