The City of Atlanta agreed to a $105,000 settlement with a photojournalist who was arrested while shooting pictures of a protest in May 2020, just days after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd.
The University of Georgia (UGA) School of Law’s First Amendment Clinic and civil rights attorneys Gerald Weber and Leigh Finlayson secured the settlement with the City of Atlanta on behalf of Sharif Hassan.
George Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020, sparked protests in cities across the U.S., including Atlanta.
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In response to the protests, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms ordered a blanket curfew in the city on May 29, 2020, that began at 9 p.m., and unlike similar curfew orders, it did not provide an exception for members of the media.
On June 1, 2020, Hassan was photographing the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in downtown Atlanta.
According to a press release from the UGA School of Law’s First Amendment Clinic, Hassan was “forced to the ground and handcuffed” seconds after he started taking pictures of police arresting someone on a public street.
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The release said Hassan repeatedly identified himself to police as a working journalist, yet he was still placed under arrest for violating the mayor’s curfew.
Still, members of other media outlets were able to gather news in the area after 9 p.m., and without police interference.
Hassan was jailed for several hours while still handcuffed, the release noted, and he faced criminal prosecution for more than six months. Then, the City of Atlanta dropped the charges against Hassan for what it said were “evidentiary reasons.”
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In response, Hassan sued the city for violating his First Amendment right to record…
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