The 2020 Denver George Floyd protests resulted in a number of police brutality lawsuits that have required the city to dish out millions in settlement payments. The latest settlement will cost the city of Denver and others $485,000 in taxpayer dollars after protestor Trevor Hughes filed a lawsuit blaming the police for the injuries he suffered.

Along with millions of other protesters across the nation, local resident Trevor Hughes took to the streets to document the uprising following Floyd’s death. Floyd was an unarmed Black man who later died at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020.

Hughes details in his lawsuit that during the protest he was struck after police shot him with a projectile. He was left with injuries that nearly severed his finger. Andy McNulty, the lawyer representing Hughes, shared that Hughes, a professional photographer, had joined the protest in order to document the moment. McNulty explained that Hughes was with a group of protestors at an intersection before they were subsequently blocked by officers. “Some of the protesters kneeled in front of the officers, who started shooting projectiles,” McNulty explained. “Trevor backed away and started recording what was happening, and that's when his camera was blown out of his hand."

McNulty explained that his client had to undergo surgery to reattach his finger. “It's held together with a screw and he's rehabbing it to this day. And all this happened because he was part of a largely peaceful march — but officers still decided to inflict brutality on the protesters, including someone who was filming them and had no intention of doing anything wrong."

His lawsuit argued that the officers who shot him violated the Denver Police Department’s rules regarding less-lethal projectiles. By aiming these projectiles at an individual's head, officers acted with the use of deadly force, the lawsuit said. According to the Department’s guidelines, less-lethal projectiles should only be used if an individual is threatening to injure someone.

Following his lawsuit, the named defendants agreed to a $485,000 settlement. Named defendants in the settlement included Denver, Golden, Arvada, and Jefferson County. The city of Denver will pay $350,000, and the other counties will foot the rest of the bill.

This latest settlement is one of several that have transpired over the past year. Over $15 million in settlements have been paid out to protestors and other individuals who were hurt due to police brutality. Last spring saw the largest payment after a grand jury awarded a payout of $14 million to twelve protestors who were represented by the ACLU.

A college student, and another one of McNulty’s clients, Michael Acker, also received a $500,000 payout in his settlement after he was shot in the eye with a projectile.

In a similar case, Megan Matthews was also struck with a rubber bullet and had her case settled for $575,000.

It is expected that there will be more settlement payouts in the future. However, because of Colorado's two-year statute of limitations, the window for filing a lawsuit has passed.