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A former St. Louis police officer was awarded over $23 million after he was beaten by his white colleagues while working undercover at a protest in 2017, The Guardian reports.
Luther Hall was pinned to the ground by officers and beaten with a baton in 2017 while he was undercover at a protest following the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white cop who fatally shot 24-year-old Black man Anthony Lamar Smith. Hall suffered permanent injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder from the incident.
Officers also allegedly falsified the incident report regarding Hall's assault, writing that he was "knocked to the ground striking the concrete” while police were making arrests at the protest.
In 2021, Hall filed a lawsuit against the city of St. Louis over the attack. He later reached a $5 million settlement in the case.
Hall also sued three of his former colleagues — Randy Hays, Dustin Boone, and Christopher Myers — in 2022 for their alleged involvement in his assault.
On Monday (April 15), St. Louis Circuit Judge Joseph Whyte awarded Hall over $23 million in a default judgment after Hays failed to respond to his lawsuit.
“Mr Hall had to endure this severe beating and while that was happening, he knew it was being administered by his colleagues who were sworn to serve and protect,” Whyte said.
Hays didn't respond to Hall's suit, which he was served while in prison over the assault. Hays was sentenced to four years and four months after pleading guilty in 2019 to using excessive force. Boone was handed down over a year in prison on a civil rights charge for his involvement in the Hall's assault while Myers received probation.
Hall previously said the officers wanted to hurt protestors during the 2017 demonstration.
“I could have been anybody, but being Black definitely didn’t help,” Hall said.
In a statement following Monday's verdict, Hall's attorney, Lynette Petruska, said: “Luther is grateful that Judge Whyte took his brutal assault by fellow officers and its life-changing consequences more seriously than the city of St Louis and the St Louis police department did.”
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