In a high-profile case dealing with police misconduct, the City of Oakland has decided to settle lawsuits brought by a dozen protesters from Occupy Oakland, all to the tune of $1.17 million. The City Council voted on the settlements for the protesters who were injured in the two melees that occurred on Oct. 25, 2011 and Nov. 2, 2011. The settlements ranged from $20,000 to $500,000, with $150,000 going to photographer Scott Campbell who was one of the first to file suit, and was originally represented by the ACLU.
Campbell can be seen in the video below documenting a line of riot cops along Frank Ogawa Plaza, and at the end of the 40 second video you see one of them raise a gun and fire a rubber bullet straight at Campbell from at least 30 feet away, striking him in the leg.
As the Tribune reports, the largest setlements went to two women who were struck by flash grenades. The biggest, $500,000, went to 52-year-old Suzi Spangenberg, a divinity student who said she was trying to approach police officers to "say that she still loved them" when she had three flash grenades hurled at her, resulting in permanent hearing loss and tinnitis.
The biggest cases, however, relating to the 2011 clashes with the OPD have yet to be settled. Those are the cases of Scott Olsen, the Marine vet struck in the head by a projectile; and Kayvan Sabeghi, the second military vet who was injured while he claims he was only trying to walk back to his home near downtown Oakland.
