Columbus Settles Final 2020 Protester Lawsuit
Columbus, Ohio – The City of Columbus has reached a final settlement in lawsuits connected to the 2020 racial justice protests. On September 29, Columbus City Council unanimously approved a $125,000 payout to Gaige Treadway of Licking County, marking the last civil rights lawsuit filed against the city over police actions during the demonstrations.
With this agreement, Columbus has now paid a total of $6.775 million to protesters since 2020, according to Councilmember Emmanuel Remy, chair of the Public Safety Committee.
Remy noted that the city has implemented changes in police policies to learn from past mistakes. “This is an important step forward,” he said.
Treadway filed his lawsuit in 2022, alleging that during a May 30, 2020 protest, an officer attacked him from behind and ripped off his gas mask after he had neutralized a tear gas canister. He was briefly jailed and charged with assaulting an officer, but prosecutors dropped the charges after video evidence supported his account.
Attorney Sam Shamansky, representing Treadway, said the settlement was fair, pointing to video footage that contradicted the officer’s claims. The officer involved has since retired.
While the city received over 800 complaints about police conduct during the protests, no officers were convicted. A few faced misdemeanor charges, but none resulted in guilty verdicts.
This settlement officially closes all civil rights lawsuits stemming from the 2020 protests in Columbus.
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