In more protest news, seven of the 400+ protesters unlawfully arrested in Pershing Park during the September 2002 protests against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank reached a settlement with the District of Columbia today in federal court. The seven plantiffs, including Adam Eidinger, his wife Alexis Baden-Mayer and her father Joe Mayer, will receive $48,000 each and a letter of apology from Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Charles Ramsey. (The photo is from this DC Indymedia post from 2002)
According to Eidinger, the settlement also requires MPD officers to give three warnings before any mass arrests and outlaws the infamous practice of hogtying arrestees for two years. (For more information on how MPD officers have treated protesters in the past, please see the Judiciary Committee’s Report and these photos from last week’s Inauguration protest.)
The lawsuit was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union with the local law firm Covington & Burling representing the seven individuals.
Full disclosure: This DCist is a business partner of Eidinger and Baden-Mayer.
