ST. LOUIS -- Some of the people who were arrested during a 2017 protest over the acquittal of a white police officer in the shooting death of Anthony Smith have started receiving their share of a $4.9 million settlement the city agreed to this year.
The first checks were distributed Friday to some of the 84 people covered by the settlement. Their lawsuit claimed that the protesters' rights were violated when they were caught in a police "kettle" as officers surrounded and arrested everyone in the area. Three people who filed individual lawsuits settled for $85,000 each.
The city denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which promises payouts between $28,000 and more than $150,000.
Dekita Roberts told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that she initially thought it might be a scam when she first got the call about the settlement.
"It was just a shock and a surprise," said Roberts, adding that she wants to invest some of the money and try to set some aside for her children.
Another man who picked up his check Friday, Ali Bey, 36, said he plans to use the money to start his own construction company.
They were among the crowd of people protesting after former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley was acquitted in the Dec. 20, 2011, shooting death of Smith, a Black man.
Protesters said police surrounded more than 120 people who officers said did not follow dispersal orders. Several people claimed police used excessive force and pepper spray, including against bystanders who were not protesting.