Vallejo city has agreed to pay $300,000 to Adrian Burrell, a US Marine veteran, who filed an excessive force lawsuit after he was tackled by a police officer for filming a traffic stop back in 2019.
Related: California city sued for First Amendment violation after cops arrested someone for filming them.
Officer David McLaughlin tackled Burrell in an attempt to stop him from filming him as he held a gun to a motorcycle rider in the driveway of Burrell’s home.
When McLaughlin saw Burrell filming, he ordered him to stop. Burrell refused and the officer approached him, and smashed his face into a wall before swinging him into a pole. McLaughlin cuffed Burrell so hard that his skin broke and his fingers went numb, according to the lawsuit.
In a statement issued through his lawyer, Burrell said that the settlement will be used to “seed the founding of a non-profit organization that will provide the families of individuals who are affected by police violence, and the survivors of community violence time and space to heal.”
We obtained a copy of the settlement agreement for you here.
Related: Judge suspends Arizona’s law limiting the filming of cops
