A Miami federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Fort Lauderdale police officers who unleashed tear gas and rubber bullets at Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020 can’t be held liable in a lawsuit brought forth by a woman who officers shot in the face with a foam projectile.
U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz, in a decision that was more than 100 pages long, said qualified immunity extinguishes the officers from liability. The tenet dates back to English common law and largely prevents governments from being sued without their consent.
But Ruiz’s decision allowed for the City of Fort Lauderdale to stand trial due to its “policies, procedures and officers’ conduct.” The lawsuit was filed in 2022 by LaToya Ratlieff, whose eye socket was fractured.
Ratlieff and hundreds of people gathered in downtown Fort Lauderdale on May 31, 2020 to demand justice for George Floyd, who was killed days before by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd’s murder sparked the largest racial justice protests in the United States since the Civil Rights Movement — as it spearheaded thousands of Black Lives Matter demonstrations around the country.