Baltimore police and nine protesters have settled a lawsuit filed last summer, a year out from the #AFROMATION protest during Artscape of 2016, in which 65 people were arrested en masse after a demonstration on I-83 and allegedly held in inhumane conditions during detention and booking.
The police and the city’s Law Department, which defends them, announced the settlement today. The group of nine sued last July seeking policy changes within the department, along with more than $75,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, City Paper reported at the time.
The plaintiffs, some of whom belong to the activist collective Baltimore Bloc, had called for BPD to “develop and enforce policies that prohibit ‘kettling’ protesters, require officers to issue clear warnings to disperse at demonstrations, and give people an opportunity to comply before carrying out arrests.” Their suit also called for a court order preventing police “from subjecting people arrested for minor offenses to harsh and lengthy detention.”
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