Baton Rouge settles with DeRay Mckesson and Alton Sterling protesters
Source: Associated Press
Baton Rouge settles with DeRay Mckesson and Alton Sterling protesters
Associated Press in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Wednesday 23 November 2016 20.05 GMT
The Baton Rouge Metro Council approved a settlement on Tuesday paying activist DeRay Mckesson and other protesters arrested during summer demonstrations over the shooting death of Alton Sterling.
The Advocate reports that under the terms of the deal, the city government, the Louisiana state police, the East Baton Rouge sheriffs office and the district attorneys office will pay no more than $25,000 each for a total of about $100,000.
Mckesson was among nearly 200 protesters arrested after Sterling, a black man, was shot on 5 July during a struggle with two white police officers. His shooting death sparked widespread protests in the city about the treatment of black people at the hands of police.
The federal class action suit accuses police of excessive force and violating their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly.
The 4 August lawsuit says police advanced against protesters while wearing military gear and gas masks and brandishing assault weapons alongside armored vehicles. Officers threatened peaceful protesters by pointing weapons directly at them, the suit says.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/23/deray-mckesson-alton-sterling-protest-settlement-louisiana