City to Pay Settlement to Journalists and Legal Observers Hurt by Police

The Portland City Council on Wednesday approved a $938,000 settlement with seven journalists and two legal observers who alleged police attacked them with flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets, and tear gas while they covered the 2020 George Floyd protests downtown.

The nine plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, included photojournalist John Rudoff, who has regularly contributed to WW.

They sued the city in June 2020, alleging that police officers’ effort to “intimidate the press and suppress reporting on the police’s own misconduct offends fundamental constitutional protections and strikes at the core of our democracy.”

The lawsuit alleges police officers used unlawful force against a slew of local journalists, including reporters from The Oregonian and the Portland Mercury as well as freelancers, some of whom covered the protests for Willamette Week.

The council approved the settlement by a 11-1 vote.

Plaintiff Rudoff tells WW he’s happy the case is settled.

“I think the amount of settlement was paltry compared to similar settlements across the country, but it’s still a substantial amount of money. But it’s not enough to cause any institutions any pain. As is obvious, it’s coming out of the city’s pockets, not the police pockets,” Rudoff says. “But it is a message to the police that if you interfere with the constitutional rights of a journalist, it’s not going to go well for you.”

Correction: A previous version of this story said there were six plaintiffs. That’s incorrect. In fact, it was seven journalists.