Denver leaders have approved paying a $500,000 settlement to a Black college student who attorneys say needed stitches and suffered vision problems after a Denver police officer shot him in the eye with a foam projectile during the 2020 George Floyd protests in the city.
The City Council on Monday night approved a resolution to send the half-million-dollar settlement into a client trust account for the law firm representing Michael Acker. The resolution was included as part of a block vote with other items and was not called out for comments by council members.
The payment comes in response to a lawsuit originally filed in October 2020 that accused Denver police Chief Paul Pazen and other members of the department of violating Acker’s First Amendment right to protest in the incident that damaged his eye.
Acker was among a crowd of protesters who were gathered on Platte Street near Confluence Park on the evening of May 28, 2020, according to a summary of the events written by Acker’s attorneys with the Denver firm Killmer, Lane & Newman. Some protesters had climbed onto Interstate 25 and stopped traffic that day but Acker had not joined them, the summary said.
Acker was retreating from a line of officers who were shooting peppers balls at the crowd when he stopped to face the officers and raise his fist in the air. At that point, a Denver police sergeant directed an officer to fire a 40mm sponge round at Acker, according to the attorneys’ summary. The projectile broke a glass portion of a gas mask Acker was wearing, cutting his eye and leaving him bloodied.
Acker did not lose his eye but experienced vision problems for months afterward, according to his attorneys.
“He got lucky. A lot of people lost their eyes during this protest or had serious, traumatic brain injuries that really hampered them,” attorney Andy McNulty said. “Overall he has recovered completely other than the trauma of being shot in the face for simply going out there and peacefully protesting.”
The protest where Acker was injured came three days after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, killed 44-year-old Black man George Floyd by kneeling on his back for eight minutes and 46 seconds. The incident was captured on video. Chauvin was later convicted of murdering Floyd.
The killing triggered mass protests across the country calling for racial justice and police reform. In Denver, thousands poured into the downtown area every night for more than a week starting on May 28.
While most protesters were peaceful, there were incidents of vandalism that led to millions of dollars in property damage. Hundreds of people were arrested. As of last month, only 33 people had been convicted of crimes related to the demonstrations.
David Lane, a partner in Killmer, Lane & Newman, said the purpose of Acker suit was to force the city to change the way police officers are trained and supervised when handling mass protests. He is skeptical leaders are taking the issue seriously.
“The Denver City Council have a long history of clucking their tongues and wringing their hands and then writing big checks without much change to officer conduct on the ground,” Lane said. “What this takes in some people on City Council demanding changes in policy.”
Denver Police Department officials declined to comment on the settlement vote.
“An internal review into this incident remains open. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for us to provide a comment or interview,” officials said in an emailed statement.
McNulty noted there are other cases making their way through the courts related to Denver police conduct and the use of force during the protests. His firm has “a number of cases that … we are planning to file in the next couple of months.”
Monday’s council block vote also approved a $250,000 settlement for Lauren Flores. Flores sued the city and the department of safety in 2020 for allegedly failing to make reasonable accommodations to allow her to pump breast milk while she was working as a sheriff’s deputy.