Portland is writing a very expensive coda to its 2020 protest era. On March 5, 2025, Portland City Council signed off on an emergency ordinance that will pay nearly $1 million to settle a federal civil-rights lawsuit brought by journalists and volunteer legal observers who say they were injured while covering the George Floyd protests in 2020. The case centered on allegations that reporters and observers were struck by rubber bullets, hit with flash-bangs and sprayed with chemical irritants while documenting demonstrations downtown. Mayor Keith Wilson introduced the ordinance, and the council adopted it as an emergency measure so the payment could go out immediately.
The ordinance orders a payment of $938,327.64 and passed on an 11-1 roll call, according to Portland.gov. City risk-management officials told council members they recommended settling to avoid the uncertainty and expense of taking the case to a jury. The ordinance also authorizes the mayor and auditor to draw and deliver payment to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, formally closing the case on the city’s end.
What the suit said
The federal suit, filed June 28, 2020, alleged that Portland police repeatedly targeted journalists and legal observers with force, including rubber projectiles, tear gas and flash-bangs, while they covered protests, according to the ACLU of Oregon. As part of the deal, the ACLU said the city agreed to keep its existing policy protections for journalists and legal observers in place through December 31, 2028.
ACLU legal director Kelly Simon underscored why those protections matter, saying, “Our right to record the police in public is a critical part of police accountability.”
Who gets paid
City documents and news coverage show the payout will be divided among nine plaintiffs, a group that includes seven independent journalists and two volunteer legal observers. The list includes Tuck Woodstock, Sergio Olmos, Justin Yau, Brian Conley, Alex Tracy, Mathieu Lewis-Rolland and John Rudoff, as well as ACLU observers Doug Brown and Kat Mahoney, according to Portland Mercury…