Deray Mckesson, Protesters Settle Federal Suit Stemming From Alton Sterling Demonstrations

Black Lives Matter protestors who were arrested last summer while demonstrating after Alton Sterling was shot and killed by police in Baton Rouge, La., will receive financial compensation from local and state authorities for $100,000. 

The 92 protestors, including DeRay Mckesson, accused them of excessive force and violating their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly, according to The Baltimore Sun.

The Baton Rouge metro council settled the federal class action lawsuit Tuesday because the price is much smaller than if even a single one of the 92 plaintiffs were to prevail in court by proving that they had been wrongfully arrested, Parish Attorney Lea Batson said.

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Mckesson said in a tweet that the settlement would cover the protestors’ arrest-related expenses and automatically wipe the arrest from their record.  Batson told the Advocate the city will pay $230 to each of the 92 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, and the remainder of the money under the $25,000 cap will go toward bonding fees, attorney’s fees, and other costs.
Of course, there were those who did not agree with the settlement:

“To me, this encourages that type of behavior to happen in the future,” said John Delgado, one of the two members on the 12-member council who voted against the settlement. “I have no interest in paying $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to people who are coming into our city to protest.”

Protests erupted in Baton Rouge after officers’ shot and killed Sterling, while they had him pinned to the ground on July 5.