Civil rights teams, CMPD attain settlement in lawsuit filed after controversial remedy of protesters in 2020

By Jason Wilson Last updated Jul 23, 2021

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, the City of Charlotte, and several civil rights groups have reached an agreement on a lawsuit filed after the contentious handling of a peaceful protest in 2020 against police brutality and the murder of George Floyd .

[Thousands attend Charlotte NAACP protest against injustice, police brutality]

Civil rights groups filed lawsuits last year on behalf of the NAACP, the Charlotte Riot, Team TruBlue, the Southeast Asian Coalition Village, the North Carolina ACLU, and four Charlotte residents.

The terms of the contract include extensive revisions to the CMPD guidelines, including a ban on the use of CS tear gas during protests; a ban on the use of chemical weapons to “boil down” or trap protesters; an agreement that crowd dispersal orders must be communicated clearly and repeatedly in English and Spanish to allow adequate time for demonstrators to disband and to designate at least two escape routes for demonstrators to safely disband; and a provision prohibiting the CMPD from placing pepperballs on the head and neck of protesters.

The agreement also states that the CMPD will not use bicycles as weapons during protests unless someone poses a security threat. The settlement agreement is for four years and provides a mechanism for the CMPD to enforce violations.

The lawsuit alleged that the CMPD orchestrated a deliberate and violent attack on peaceful demonstrators on June 2, 2020, trapped them from the front and back in a city block using a military maneuver called “kettling” and then attacked them without an escape route Shot down with rubber bullets, tear gas, stinger grenades and pepper balls from a parking deck next to the block.

A video from Queen City Nerve first drew attention to the Ministry’s use of chemical ammunition during the protests that night.

[CMPD to release video of June 2 tear gas incident]

Body-worn camera footage appeared to show a plan by the leaders of the CMPD bicycle unit to target and tear apart gas demonstrators on both sides on Fourth Street.

“Wave goodbye, they’ll all be gassed,” one official said in part of the video.

[Charlotte council bans CMPD from buying tear gas for crowd control]

The agreement also states that the CMPD will not use bicycles as weapons during protests unless someone poses a security threat.

That same night an officer was recorded saying, “Rory has a train on Tyron, out of sight, Dan’s train is in college, out of sight. We’re going to slide her a ** right up. As soon as we get them on the fourth, we now have a bottleneck. Rory’s squad will get out and hit their a **. And when they start running down, Dan’s train will pound on their ass. “

[CMPD releases video, disciplines sergeant over ‘inappropriate comments during June 2 tear gas incident]

More than 100 hours of footage was collected from at least 50 sources.

“People should not be treated brutally when exercising their right to protest. This agreement is a step in the right direction, but it is not enough to anticipate the violence and trauma that protesters have suffered from police across the state over the past year, ”said Kristie Puckett-Williams, national manager of the ACLU of North Carolina’s Campaign for Smart Justice.

The settlement agreement is for four years and provides a mechanism for enforcing violations by the CMPD.

“We appreciate the points that the NAACP has drawn our attention to, as this constructive criticism makes us better and better,” said CMPD boss Johnny Jennings

Read the full explanation from CMPD below:

Following the June 2, 2020 events, CMPD reviewed and revised several of its policies, guidelines, and standard operating procedures, including the Civil Emergency Unit’s SOP, as we identified several areas where we could improve. We have made these changes accordingly, including the removal of CS as a chemical agent used to control crowds, escape routes, order procedures for distribution, use of counterinsurgency agents, and more. The NAACP provided input on some diffusion order terms and added some new language on the use of public order bicycles and dual sports. We appreciate the points that the NAACP made us aware of, as this constructive criticism always makes us better. We are a learning agency and are always looking for opportunities for improvement, as we owe this to the city of Charlotte, the Mecklenburg district and everyone we serve, because it is the right thing to do.