Federal Court Approves Settlement With 5 BLM Protesters

(Des Moines, IA) — A federal court has approved a settlement that was reached with five Black Lives Matter protesters who were banned from the Iowa State Capitol grounds. The state will pay each protester five thousand dollars and 45 thousand will be paid to their attorney. The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa filed the suit last October. It accused the Iowa State Patrol of violating the protesters’ constitutional free speech rights with the ban. It had been issued after violence broke out between troopers, protesters, and Des Moines police in July 2020. The A-C-L-U says most of the charges filed then have been dropped.