Jan Wolfe, Ismail Shakil

(Reuters) – The U.S. government has agreed to amend some policies it uses to respond to protests against federal property. This is part of a settlement reached in part with Black Lives Matter protestors who were forced from a park close to the White House in June 2020.

The Justice Department has settled claims in four civil lawsuits brought by racial justice demonstrators who said their rights were violated in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., according to a Justice Department press release https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-civil-settlement-lafayette-square-cases issued on Wednesday.

The Justice Department announced that U.S. Park Police officers would be subject to new restrictions on non-lethal force use and will have to follow procedures for crowd dispersal.

Black Lives Matter D.C. is a plaintiff in this litigation and the partial settlement agreement allows them to drop claims for non-monetary relief from the U.S government. Some defendants continue to offer financial compensation.

As part of the settlement, the U.S. government didn’t admit to any wrongdoing.

“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,” said Scott Michelman, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties of the District of Columbia involved in the litigation.

The lawsuits alleged that federal agencies used unreasonable force to enable a “photo op” of former President Donald Trump holding a Bible outside of St. John’s Church, a historic building near the White House.

A federal judge shortened the litigation by ruling federal defendants, such as William Barr (then-Attorney General), were exempt from potential liability.

An American government watchdog refuted the claims that Trump was allowed to take a photo because protesters had been cleared by police. The U.S. government watchdog, June 2021 reported that police dispersed protesters so Trump could pose for a photograph. Interior Department’s inspector general said police dispersed protesters as part of a plan made earlier in the day for a contractor to install fencing.

The violence in clearing protestors sparked discord among White House staff. One top military official eventually apologized for walking beside Trump that day before TV cameras.

“I should not have been there,” Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a videotaped statement. “My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.”