A federal judge has signed off on a settlement deal that would see the city of Santa Monica and its taxpayers pay Black Lives Matter activists and their attorneys $2.3 million to end a class action lawsuit accusing police of wrongly arresting 368 people while breaking up an allegedly peaceful demonstration in 2020.
On Oct. 22, U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder granted final approval to the deal between the city and Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.
Under the deal, attorneys representing the plaintiffs will claim $690,000 in fees, or 30% of the settlement. Attorneys representing plaintiffs in the action include Erin Darling, of Los Angeles; Paul Hoffman and John Washington, of Schonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman & Zeldes, of Culver City; and Carol A. Sobel and Weston Rowland, of the Law Office of Carol A. Sobel, of Santa Monica.
Attorney Erin Darling
| Erin Darling Law
As many as 368 protesters and BLM Los Angeles itself could be in line for a cut of $1.6 million through the deal.
According to the judge's order, each class members is eligible to receive $5,000-$7,000 each from the deal. Named plaintiffs, identified as David Brown and David Clennon, would get $15,000 as so-called "incentive awards."
The judge said he believed the compensation for the plaintiffs and class members to be "adequate" and the attorney fees to have been calculated acceptably.
The lawsuit was among a group of actions launched in court by BLM Los Angeles against southern California police agencies who responded to protests and riots in their cities amid the unrest prevalent in many U.S. cities in the spring and summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd while in custody of police officers in Minneapolis.
BLM Los Angeles has launched a similar class action lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, accusing police there of excessive force in addressing BLM protests. A federal appeals court recently ruled that a L.A. federal judge had improperly allowed the action to move ahead as a class action.
The Santa Monica case similarly accused city police of overstepping their authority and using excessive force when attempting to disperse city-wide riots in Santa Monica from May 31-June 1, 2020.
At that time, police also enforced a city-wide curfew in a bid to restore order. The plaintiffs in the case assert they were wrongly arrested, either while walking home or allegedly peacefully protesting.
In their lawsuit, plaintiffs assert Santa Monica Police arrested so many people at that time that police officers injured detainees while allegedly securing their arms with zip ties, only to use knives and other sharp objects to cut the restraints later.
According to court documents, nearly all of those arrested were released on a misdemeanor charge of violating curfew under the city's municipal code.
Santa Monica moved to settle the lawsuit before the federal appeals court weighed in against the separate action against the city of L.A.
According to court records, the city never filed any motions specifically asking the judge to dismiss BLM's lawsuit or any briefs mounting anything other than affirmative defenses against BLM's claims concerning police conduct in response to the unrest.
According to court records, the city and activists reached a tentative deal to settle the case as early as February 2024. They then asked for preliminary approval in July.
The lawsuit was filed in 2021 against the city and its former Police Chief Cynthia Renaud.
Renaud stepped down in October 2020, taking retirement and a severance package reportedly worth $100,000 amid growing criticism of her department's handling of looting and arson at Santa Monica businesses amid the protests. According to published reports, public criticism accused Renaud and city officials of focusing too heavily on the actual protest and not enough on protecting businesses within the city.