LOS ANGELES – A man who was wounded by a Los Angeles Police Department officer who fired a projectile at his face during a May 2020 demonstration in the Fairfax district to protest the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has reached an $860,000 settlement with the city, his attorneys announced Monday.
In March, a federal jury in Santa Ana awarded Deon Jones, 31, a Los Angeles performance artist and entrepreneur, $375,000 in medical and punitive damages. According to Jones’ attorneys, a second phase of the trial was likely to go to trial next year over alleged civil-rights violations.
But on Monday, his attorneys said the city had agreed to pay $860,000 to resolve all claims in the case. That amount incorporates the original $375,000 jury verdict.
“I am proud and relieved that this multi-year fight for justice has concluded in such a momentous, historic outcome,” Jones said in a statement released by his attorneys.
“The jury verdict in this case affirmed my faith in humanity and what it means to stand in one’s truth and power — indeed, that’s how change is always made. And, during a time where we see our rights being stripped away, I am grateful that my efforts to challenge and transform the status quo have moved the needle in the right direction for all people around the country who exercise their rights to peacefully protest.”
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the settlement.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed three years ago, Jones was leaving the area when Los Angeles police Officer Peter Bueno, wearing riot gear, fired the rubber bullet that struck him.
Following a seven-day trial in Santa Ana federal court, the jury found that the shooting was “malicious, oppressive, or in reckless disregard of Mr. Jones’ rights,” according to Orin Snyder, Jones’ attorney.
Snyder on Monday said the verdict “sent a message to law enforcement throughout the country that misconduct like shooting peaceful protesters cannot be tolerated in a free and decent society. This case is now over, but the work continues.”
The trial utilized police body-cam footage and testimony from eyewitnesses as well as LAPD officers and others who testified that the officer violated LAPD’s use of force policies, Snyder said.
The lawsuit states that when Jones fell to the ground, he cried out, “Why did they do this to me?”
The city and LAPD are also being sued in federal court by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and the National Lawyers Guild in a proposed class-action lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of protesters. That suit seeks to ban the police use of “less lethal” projectile weapons at such gatherings.
Dozens of other lawsuits have been filed by individuals who were injured by police at the demonstrations.
In the Jones case, the jury awarded the plaintiff $250,000 in damages for the injuries he sustained and $125,000 in punitive damages, according to Snyder.
The projectile that struck the plaintiff caused a fracture and lacerations to Jones’ cheek. The lawsuit says an ophthalmologist told Jones that if the bullet had struck millimeters from where he was actually hit, Jones could have been blinded or killed.
