Seattle pays out $10 MILLION to 'summer of love' BLM, Antifa agitators

On Wednesday, the city of Seattle announced a $10 million settlement was reached with 50 BLM and Antifa protesters who sued the city and the Seattle Police Department (SPD) for injuries they claimed happened as a result of police tactics used during the 2020 riots that rocked the city. 

The list of plaintiffs includes a who’s who of activists who were protesting and rioting in Seattle following the death of George Floyd and were represented by Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore. 

In a statement the law firm said, "Among the 50 Peaceful Protesters was Aubreanna Inda who was standing still peacefully when a blast ball was launched directly at her chest, striking her and causing her to go into cardiac arrest.” 

According to Antifa Watch, Aubreanna Renee Inda “…placed herself as a meat shield between other rioters and police. Predictably, she was hit in the chest by non-lethal ammo when police were forced to use crowd control measures because rioters were throwing rocks and shining lasers in cop's eyes.” 

“She claims to have participated in every Seattle riot up to the point she was shot,” and was arrested later in 2020 for "unlawful weapon, obstructing an officer and failure to disperse.” 

She also had a California DUI in 2016 and a 2015 bond violation. 

Koehler has a podcast called the Velvet Hammer. Some episodes include titles such as "Why I let sexual microaggressions slide - and I wish I hadn't" as well as "Why I like to Sue: Case Studies."  

She also has a blog where she writes about the cases she is involved in, such as one post titled, "What it's like to represent 50 BLM peaceful protesters against the City of Seattle."

According to the city, the settlement "admits no wrongdoing in the case, which was significant in scope, with plaintiffs alleging injuries sustained during the protests." 

Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison, who was elected in 2021 following the unrest on a platform of bringing law and order back to the Emerald City said in a statement that the decision to settle “was the best financial decision for the City considering risk, cost, and insurance.” 

“The case has been a significant drain on the time and resources of the City and would have continued to be so through an estimated three-month trial that was scheduled to begin in May.” 

Since the riots, the city has spent millions settling lawsuits from those financially damaged, injured, or killed during the unrest. 

During the BLM riots in Seattle in 2020, businesses were broken into, many were injured, and the CHAZ autonomous zone had lawlessness run amuck. The city has been forced to pay millions out to business owners whose shops had been damaged and ransacked.  

Documents obtained by The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI showed that the city is budgeting almost $5 million more in 2024 towards “anticipated, pending or actual judgments, claims payments & litigation expenses while defending the city." 

Davison told Hoffman during an interview on Wednesday, “I walk into the situation as they are midstream and make decisions based upon what, how things are at the moment, things that I had no part of and decision making or advising and that's how we have to handle the situations at the time.” 

"It's a difficult decision. It's not an area that is easy to explain… but using my tenants of value, which is public safety has always been the number one thing for me, and being a good steward of public dollars is immensely important to me.”