Portland, Oregon, could pay $100,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed against police by a man who said he was pepper sprayed, thrown to the ground and unlawfully arrested during a September 2020 protest. Forty-year-old Dmitri Stoyanoff sued the police, saying he was arrested because he refused to relinquish the “Vote Register Here” sign he was holding during a demonstration in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
To elaborate, Stoyanoff said police on Sept. 28, 2020, tried to take his sign “for no legal reason,” and when he struggled to hold on to it, he was sprayed in the face and eyes, thrown to the ground, kicked, handcuffed and accused of interfering with police.
The charge was dropped at his initial arraignment, according to court records. Stoyanoff was holding his homemade sign, which was mounted on a lightweight three-quarter-inch PVC pipe, over his head. City attorneys initially responded to the lawsuit, saying the officers were authorized to temporarily seize the pole from Stoyanoff’s sign for safekeeping, citing it as a dangerous and deadly weapon. They argued the police acted lawfully in responding to or attempting to prevent a civil commotion or riot.
City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the settlement, which is the latest in a string of payouts this year stemming from police actions during protests dating back to 2016.
