Jesse Scheckner
Broward County’s most populous city has agreed to settle a lawsuit with LaToya Ratlieff, whom police tear-gassed and shot in the eye with a rubber bullet during a 2020 protest over the murder of George Floyd.
The sum — $1.975 million.
Fort Lauderdale Commissioners unanimously approved the settlement, ending a two-year legal battle over the 2020 incident. Ratlieff sparked a federal civil rights complaint in 2022, which later joined a class action complaint.
As part of the settlement, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department agreed to adopt or maintain policies to prevent a repeat of what Ratlieff suffered. The agreement (see below) specifies that the city must use SWAT and tactical and training policies for crowd management and control “consistent with the standard promulgated by the National Tactical Officers Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).”
Ratlieff, 36, said in a statement Tuesday evening, shortly after the City Commission vote, that her life “has changed dramatically” since her encounter with the Fort Lauderdale police on May 31, 2020.
“What I once considered as normal is now replaced with ongoing trauma and disability. Through this process, there were moments when, both mentally and physically, I was ready to give up. But I’ve tried to focus on the fact that this was important, not just for me but for everyone who seeks to use their voice to create meaningful change,” Ratlieff said.
“After 1,647 days, I close this chapter and begin the process of moving forward. But for others, this is just the beginning. I stand ready to support other victims in seeking justice through the pending class action suit. Just as so many members of the community extended their support to me during this challenging time, I encourage you to support them, too, as this journey can be both difficult and isolating.”
Ratlieff thanked her attorneys, Michael Davis, Ben Kuehne and Stuart Ratzan, whom she called “first-class lawyers, civil rights advocates, and human beings.” She thanked former Miami Herald reporters Sarah Blaskey and Nicholas Nehamas, who now work for the Washington Post and New York Times, respectively, for their reporting that “elevated my voice.”
Ratlieff added that Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Ben Sorensen — a pastor and third-generation member of the U.S. Armed Forces currently serving as a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve — is the only city official to have apologized to her.
He’s also the only person from the city, she said, “who treated me with respect and dignity.”
Sorensen, a pastor and lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, told Florida Politics that he contacted and met with her when he learned of what happened to Ratlieff.
Her focus was “always” on police reforms, he said.
“I said I’d love to work with her on this, so we worked with the chief of police on improving policing in Fort Lauderdale, and I feel like we made some really good progress on that end,” he said. “I’m not privy to any of the other conversations she had with other elected officials, but I wanted to say that I was sorry for what happened to her and work together to turn a really difficult experience into something positive by improving our city.”
A bystander’s video shows Ratlieff being struck by a rubber bullet made of collapsible, hollow foam that has an initial velocity of 200 mph while choking on tear gas, officers fired into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters. Fort Lauderdale Detective Eliezer Ramos fired the bullet, which is supposed to be aimed at the legs and buttocks, as they can be lethal if they hit the head or chest.
Ratlieff suffered a broken right eye socket, nerve damage to that eye, and a 20-stitch gash to her forehead that left a scar. Her attorneys said she also suffers from migraines and mental trauma.
A police department investigation in December cleared Ramos of wrongdoing, saying he was aiming at a man who had thrown a tear gas canister back at officers when Ratlieff walked into his line of fire. The department’s then-interim chief also issued an apology to Ratlieff. A department spokesman said this week it does not comment on pending lawsuits.
The police investigation blamed the violence on some of the protesters, saying they had come to the city looking to start a confrontation with officers. Some bottles and rocks were thrown at officers — but Ratlieff’s attorneys say that only began after an officer pushed a kneeling woman to the ground.
Ratlieff told reporters her “heart dropped” after hearing of Ramos’ exoneration. She called the department’s apology “disingenuous and disheartening,” likening it to something she’d hear “if I had a bad dinner at a restaurant.”
The lawsuit alleged Fort Lauderdale Police did not train its officers on how to use the weapons in crowd-control situations and that state law bans the firing of tear gas or rubber bullets into a crowd without first giving a warning to disperse and then ample time to leave.
Ratzan, the lead trial attorney in the suit, said the protest had been peaceful and lawful for several hours until police fired without warning.
“To open fire on American citizens who are asking you to stop using violence against them?” he said. “There is no excuse for that.”
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Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Republished with permission.
