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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

A man who became an unintended victim of random police brutality has received a $100,000 settlement from the city of Seattle [seattletimes.com]:

The city of Seattle has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought by a Seattle high-school teacher who was pepper-sprayed by a police officer after giving a speech at the city's Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally and march last year.

Jesse Hagopian, a history teacher at Garfield High School, said in his complaint [seattletimes.com] that he was walking on a sidewalk and talking to his mother on his cellphone when a female officer pepper-sprayed him on Jan. 19, 2015.

The incident was recorded on video [youtube.com], which showed the officer waving a canister and screaming at passers-by to back up before spraying some of them.

Seattle PD's internal affairs department recommended a one-day suspension for Officer Sandra Delafuente, but the Seattle Police Chief gave a "verbal reprimand" instead [seattletimes.com], and later praised Delafuente as a "wonderful role model" with "a great record" to The Seattle Times.

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