Denver is paying $36,000 to Thomas Yannuzzi, who was arrested during a counter demonstration to a pro-Donald Trump rally in 2021. City Council approved the payment Monday.
The claim is the latest in a series of claims involving Denver police and protesters dating back to 2020 and 2021 alleging police misconduct.
According to Yannuzzi's lawyer, Adam Frank, Denver Police searched rally goers and counter protesters showing up for a Stop the Steal rally in support of former President Trump and unfounded claims of election fraud.
"My client was walking with someone else who was wearing all black and was carrying a backpack and he was wearing black as well, and based on that they ordered him to stop and searched him without his consent, with absolutely no legal basis," Frank said.
Yannuzzi was carrying brass knuckles, which are illegal to carry in Colorado. They were confiscated and Yannuzzi was put in jail. But Frank said Denver Police did not have a legal reason to search Yannuzzi to begin with, and that officers were targeting people who looked like protesters for searches. The original charge for the brass knuckles was later dismissed.
Denver Police Department declined to comment on the claim brought by Yannuzzi.
It's not the first time protesters have brought cases against the Denver Police Department claiming officers targeted protesters.
In 2023 the city settled a large class-action case for $4.72 million. That case involved more than 300 Black Lives Matter protesters arrested during the 2020 protests. The lawyers in that case argued that Denver Police Officers selectively enforced a city curfew by specifically targeting people who looked like protesters, violating their First Amendment rights.
In 2020, Denver's former Independent Monitor, the city's top police watchdog, released a damning report about how Denver Police managed that summer's racial justice protests. Frank said Yannuzzi's case showed not much changed a few months later in 2021.
"What we see in the next round of protests that happened is, we're not dealing with excessive force in this situation, but we are dealing with an explicit plan by Denver to respond to protests by violating protesters rights en masse, and Denver has to get the message that that is not an acceptable thing to do," he said.
Frank said he and his client are pleased with the settlement outcome.
"Nobody shot him in the eye with a rubber bullet, he wasn't subjected to extreme pain like many other protesters," Frank said. "But the fact remains that Denver decided the way it was going to respond to protests was by violating people's rights, and there has to be a consequence for that."
