Hundreds of protesters cited for curfew violations during the 2020 racial justice demonstrations will receive portions of a $4.7 million settlement approved Monday by the Denver City Council.

The payment to resolve a class-action claim is the largest settlement to date in a series of cases related to Denver Police Department officers’ actions during protests motivated by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, city officials confirmed. It’s an offshoot from a set of cases that separately resulted in a $14 million jury verdict against the city last year over claims of excessive force — a damages award that, if it stands, would dwarf Monday’s curfew settlement.

The class-action claim was simpler. It sought compensation for more than 300 people who were arrested for violating an emergency curfew in late May and early June 2020.

Plaintiffs alleged that the emergency curfew, enacted by Denver’s then-Mayor Michael Hancock, was used by Denver police as a pretext to exclusively target people protesting police brutality. Attorneys for the plaintiff asserted that the alleged targeting violated protesters’ First and 14th Amendment rights. That factor helped make the settlement one of Denver’s largest ever involving a public safety agency, even though the claim didn’t involve the use of force.

Loevy & Loevy, a Boulder-based civil rights law firm that represented the class, obtained text messages by Denver public safety officials that appeared to confirm the targeting of protesters.

“The U.S. Constitution does not allow police to clear the streets of protestors simply because they do not agree with their message,” Elizabeth Wang, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement Monday.

In the settlement agreement, the city makes clear that it denies officers targeted protesters after the curfew went into effect. But the agreement goes on to state the city will not use “any future emergency curfew order against individuals engaged in First Amendment or protest activity.”

The City Attorney’s Office dropped 320 criminal cases related to the curfew order just weeks into the protests in June 2020. At the time, then-City Attorney Kristin Bronson called the decision “a non-punitive, restorative approach outside of the court system.”

By then, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued, significant damage had already been done.

The people arrested for breaking the emergency curfew were kept in a city detention facility for two or more days, according to Loevy & Loevy. That put them at risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus at the height of the pandemic. It prevented some detainees from getting medical care, caused some to miss work and even resulted in suicide attempts, according to the firm.

“The city has agreed to pay for this one instance of violent suppression of free speech, while they continue to brutalize and imprison people every day,” said one of the plaintiffs, Claire Sannier, in a statement. “Our message is that Black Lives Matter is as necessary now as it was in 2020.”

The council unanimously approved the agreement Monday as part of its consent agenda.

In a statement released after the vote Monday night, the City Attorney’s Office reiterated that Denver denies the curfew order was enforced in a way that violated the Constitution.

City officials say the settlement total will be divided up with between $3 million and $3.5 million expected to go to class members and the remaining amount going toward attorneys fees, administration expenses and other costs. The settlement is pending approval by a federal judge.

The class-action claim was lodged in a set of cases that also included the excessive force claims by 12 protesters who took the city to trial. In March 2022, a U.S. District Court jury found officers violated the civil rights of demonstrators who were hit by pepper balls and a bag filled with lead.

That $14 million jury award and portions of that case, which include now-state Rep. Elisabeth Epps as a plaintiff, are still pending further potential appeals by the city after the judge denied the city’s request for a retrial.

The city has paid more than $4 million in settlements to resolve other cases related to the 2020 demonstrations, including a combined $1.6 million in payments approved by the council in March to settle suits filed by seven people injured by police. The largest sum, $575,000, went to Gabriel Schlough, who had a portion of his chin severed when a Denver officer shot him in the face with a rubber bullet.

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.