Jury awards more than $2 million to protester shot in face with nonlethal projectile

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury has awarded at least $2.2 million to a protester who was shot in the face with a less-lethal munition by a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy during a demonstration against police brutality in 2020.

In the verdict last week, the jury found LA County liable for the injuries sustained by the man, Cellin Gluck, and determined that he suffered $3.5 million in damages. They also awarded his daughter, who was there with him that day, an additional $300,000 for emotional distress.

LA County lawyers said in a statement that because the jury found that Gluck and other protesters at the scene were partly at fault for what happened, the court would reduce the awards by 35%, which comes out to about $2.27 million for Gluck and $195,000 for his daughter.

“The County is exploring all of its options in this case, including the possibility of an appeal,” the statement said.

Gluck, a director known for films such as “Oba: The Last Samurai” and “Persona Non Grata,” alleged in the lawsuit that he and his daughter were subject to excessive use of force during a peaceful protest in May 2020 in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

While returning to their car after leaving the protest, they approached a protester who appeared to be in distress, who told them he had been hit in the face with a beanbag, according to the complaint. Then Gluck was shot in the face with a nonlethal projectile, the only thing in his hands a camera, the complaint said.

“The force of the impact snaps his head backwards causing him to fall backward onto the ground,” plaintiffs wrote in their trial brief. “He is unarmed, is not engaged in any violent or assaultive conduct.”

The complaint said the projectile “traveled up his nasal cavity, where it remained lodged for almost an entire year, until it was surgically removed,” causing Gluck permanent disfiguring injuries, traumatic brain injury, and other lasting consequences.

Carl Douglas, his attorney, said he was Gluck has been able to “receive some measure of justice,” but the verdict is about half of what he originally asked for.

“He is a 67-year-old man whose doctors have said he will have to manage the consequences of his injury for the rest of his life,” Douglas said. “This amount of money will not adequately compensate him for the injuries he continues to endure everyday.”

Douglas said the training for law enforcement officers teaches them that they should not target someone above the shoulder unless they presented a deadly threat.

He said the fact that officials were unable to identify the specific deputy who shot Gluck was a “tremendous indictment on the county and the system.”

“Until they are held accountable for their actions, there will continue to be verdicts by the people of Los Angeles trying to send a message to their law enforcement agencies to do better,” Douglas said.

The LA County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

The use of less-lethal munitions by law enforcement to control crowds has come under scrutiny again recently after protests in downtown LA against the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration and the presence of federal agents in the city.

Journalists and other members of the media have been shot, leading to a federal judge granting a temporary restraining order that blocked LA police from using rubber projectiles and other less-lethal munitions against journalists.

One protester filed a civil rights claim against the city of LA and county sheriff’s department after losing his finger from a less-lethal munition fired at him during a demonstration that was part of nationwide “No Kings” protests.

In California, a claim must be filed before a civil rights lawsuit can be lodged against a city or county over police misconduct.