The Justice Department and civil rights groups reached a settlement on Wednesday partially resolving a series of lawsuits stemming from a 2020 protest outside the White House.
According to The Hill, the Secret Service and U.S. Park Police, which are now under the direction of the Biden administration, agreed to make changes when handling large protests in a confined area.
The lawsuit had been in flux for more than two years, dating back to former President Donald Trump's time in office.
"The federal government is committed to the highest standards for protecting civil rights and civil liberties in any federal law enforcement response to public demonstrations," said Vanita Gupta, the Justice Department's third-highest-ranking official, in a statement. "These changes to agency policies for protest responses will strengthen our commitment to protecting and respecting constitutionally protected rights."
In the early evening of June 1, 2020, at the height of George Floyd-related protests taking place throughout the United States, a tense encounter occurred outside the White House, near Lafayette Square.
At the time, then-Attorney General William Barr ordered law enforcement officers to clear out the protesters, allowing President Trump to cross the street for a photo opportunity at Saint John's Church.
Federal officers were accused of using tear gas on the protesters. Others argue the law-enforcement officials were alternatively using flash bangs and pepper pellets as a means of pubic dispersal.
Regardless, per the new settlement agreement, U.S. Park Police officials must now allow protesters to "safely withdraw" from demonstration areas.
"Federal officers' shocking and unprovoked attack against civil rights demonstrators raising their voices in front of the White House to oppose police brutality and racism was a frontal assault on the fundamental American ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and racial justice," said Scott Michelman, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union's D.C. chapter, in a statement.
Michelman added: "We are pleased that the Biden Administration is taking an important step to protect protesters' rights, so that what happened on June 1, 2020 doesn't happen again."
Radiya Buchanan, a lawsuit plaintiff who was present at the 2020 demonstration, applauded the settlement changes.
"When they began to shoot what I believe were tear gas canisters into the crowd, it sounded like bombs were exploding, and the scene quickly resembled a war zone," Buchanan said in a statement.
"People were running over each other, looking for anything to pour into their eyes to stop the burning all while trying to dodge flares and gas canisters. It did not feel like we were in America."
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