Portland is writing a very expensive coda to its 2020 protest era. On March 5, 2025, Portland City Council signed off on an emergency ordinance that will pay nearly $1 million to settle a federal civil-rights lawsuit brought by journalists and volunteer legal observers who say they were injured while covering the George Floyd protests in 2020. The case centered on allegations that reporters and observers were struck by rubber bullets, hit with flash-bangs and sprayed with chemical irritants while documenting demonstrations downtown. Mayor Keith Wilson introduced the ordinance, and the council adopted it as an emergency measure so the payment could go out immediately.
The ordinance orders a payment of $938,327.64 and passed on an 11-1 roll call, according to Portland.gov. City risk-management officials told council members they recommended settling to avoid the uncertainty and expense of taking the case to a jury. The ordinance also authorizes the mayor and auditor to draw and deliver payment to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, formally closing the case on the city’s end.
What the suit said
The federal suit, filed June 28, 2020, alleged that Portland police repeatedly targeted journalists and legal observers with force, including rubber projectiles, tear gas and flash-bangs, while they covered protests, according to the ACLU of Oregon. As part of the deal, the ACLU said the city agreed to keep its existing policy protections for journalists and legal observers in place through December 31, 2028.
ACLU legal director Kelly Simon underscored why those protections matter, saying, "Our right to record the police in public is a critical part of police accountability."
Who gets paid
City documents and news coverage show the payout will be divided among nine plaintiffs, a group that includes seven independent journalists and two volunteer legal observers. The list includes Tuck Woodstock, Sergio Olmos, Justin Yau, Brian Conley, Alex Tracy, Mathieu Lewis-Rolland and John Rudoff, as well as ACLU observers Doug Brown and Kat Mahoney, according to Portland Mercury.
Supporters on the council argued the agreement saves taxpayers from the higher and less predictable costs of a jury trial and also spares the plaintiffs from reliving the events in a prolonged court fight.
Why it matters now
Although the council vote took place last year, the settlement is back in the local spotlight as Portland again wrestles with how police and federal agents manage crowds. The renewed attention follows reports that federal agents used tear gas at protests near Portland’s ICE building in late January 2026, and subsequent court limits on some uses of chemical munitions, according to the Associated Press.
At the same time, city councilors have pushed Mayor Keith Wilson to enforce a new city code that would penalize agencies that deploy chemical agents in neighborhoods, Axios reported.
Legal and budgetary fallout
City staff told councilors that a risk-management review found a substantial chance the city would be held liable at trial and that settling was a "prudent" way to avoid a potentially larger jury award. They also noted that Portland has already paid heavily for its protest response, with roughly $4.5 million in paid claims and about $6.9 million in legal costs since 2020, according to reporting referenced in council discussions.
That mounting tab helped convince some councilors that compromise would be cheaper than more litigation, Portland Mercury reported.
The Woodstock et al. settlement closes one of the higher-profile cases tied to Portland’s 2020 protests while keeping policy protections for newsrooms and legal observers in place through 2028. Local outlets including KATU and the ACLU of Oregon continue to track developments around protest policing and federal enforcement in the city. The ordinance itself states that council approval will "fully settle tort claims" against the City of Portland, meaning this payout is intended to mark the end of this particular federal case.
