Des Moines to pay $50,000 to settle another George Floyd protest arrest lawsuit

Des Moines has agreed to pay $50,000 to a man tackled and arrested during the George Floyd protests in 2020, officials say.

Approved this week, the settlement is in addition to $25,000 Jacob Sahr received from Polk County in 2022, according to a report by Axios. Sahr, who now lives in Waterloo, sued both city and county, alleging false arrest and First Amendment retaliation by sheriff's deputies and police.

According to court filings, Sahr, who is Black, attended a protest near the Iowa Capitol on the evening of May 30, 2020, but had left that area and was walking on the Court Avenue bridge with a friend when police fired tear gas and charged a line of protestors.

The filings said Sahr was tackled by a large group of officers, although his friend, who is white, was not. He was charged with rioting while his friend was charged with misdemeanor failure to disperse. The rioting charge was later dismissed.

The city had asked the court to grant its officers immunity, but a federal judge declined, ruling in March 2023 that it should be up to a jury to decide whether the protestors near Sahr were acting violently; whether officers clearly told them to disperse; whether Sahr, by walking away from officers, was in fact dispersing; and whether Sahr resisted when officers sought to arrest him. A federal appellate court dismissed the city's pretrial appeal and the case was set for trial in June.

City officials and Sahr's attorneys did not respond to messages Wednesday seeking comment.

Sahr is among a number of protestors or bystanders who have accused police of unlawful arrests or use of force during the Floyd protests. The city previously settled one case for $150,000 and has won dismissal or paid minimal settlements in several more. But multiple cases remain pending, and courts have repeatedly refused to grant officers immunity for their actions in responding to the demonstrations.

Related: U.S. Supreme Court rejects DMPD appeal in photographer's lawsuit over 2020 protest arrest

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines settles George Floyd protest lawsuit for $50,000