Sacramento reaches settlement with Black Lives Matters protesters

Mathew Miranda, The Sacramento Bee on Mar 21, 2025

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The city of Sacramento has agreed to pay $350,000 to people who alleged they experienced police brutality during the Black Lives Matters protests and were treated differently compared to white supremacist groups.

The settlement was reached earlier this month and comes more than three years after it was filed in Sacramento federal court. It stems from a group of six community activists who participated in 2020 racial justice protests and alleged they were “targeted and brutalized” by the Sacramento Police Department.

Among the allegations was that officers bruised them, shot them with impact munitions and verbally harassed them. These actions occurred while officers treated white supremacist groups such as the Proud Boys differently, according to the lawsuit.

“It’s a really significant step for our clients and for the community to know that when there is harm — police violence against members of the community — there are consequences,” said Nisha Kashyap, an attorney who represented the protesters.

The Sacramento Police Department declined to comment on the settlement, citing that the process hadn’t fully concluded. Attorneys for the city and police department had previously denied the allegations in court documents.

The legal battle will continue Monday with plaintiffs seeking injunctive relief in hopes of changing the department’s “discriminatory and violent policies.”

They are seeking that department limit its use of certain weapons during protests including batons, bean bag shotguns and tear gas. The department is also being asked to adopt a policy to provide guidelines for “police response to members of the public who exercise their first amendment rights.”

The department will be required to make these changes within 180 days if the plaintiffs win.

“We also want to make sure what happens to clients doesn’t happen again,” Kashyap said.