A Minneapolis police officer fired a rubber bullet from atop the Minneapolis Police Department Third Precinct station on E. Lake St. during unrest following the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody. (David Joles, Star Tribune file)

The Minneapolis City Council signed off Thursday on a nearly $1 million settlement with several journalists who sued in federal court after they were injured by police while covering protests that followed George Floyd’s murder in 2020.

“We must protect journalists,” said attorney Kevin Riach, who worked with the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU-MN) to reach the agreement. “Their work is critical to the health of our democracy.

“This settlement is an important step forward in holding the Minneapolis Police Department accountable for its unconstitutional conduct and ensuring that journalists can feel safe reporting in our city.”

The $950,000 settlement, which was approved unanimously by the council, will be divided among lead plaintiff Jared Goyette, seven other journalists who were attacked by police, and the NewsGuild’s Communications Workers of America (CWA), the ACLU-MN said.

The settlement does not require the Police Department to change how it treats journalists in the field.

City officials declined to explain why they chose to pay the journalists rather than go to trial or seek to have the suit dismissed. Previously, the city had contended that its police did not intend to injure two of the journalists who were named in the lawsuit and said the officers’ actions were merely reckless.

“While this settlement is a crucial step toward protecting freedom of the press, we are troubled that the city of Minneapolis was unwilling to acknowledge any wrongdoing despite [the Police Department’s] long history of excessive force,” ACLU-MN Legal Director Teresa Nelson said.

“There clearly is more work to be done. Journalists who are covering police brutality should never be met with more police brutality.”

The suit was first brought by Goyette, a freelance journalist. Others who joined the suit were news photographer Craig Lassig; photojournalists Tannen Maury, Stephen Maturen, Tim Evans, Ed Ou and Chris Tuite; and Katie Nelson, a journalist, photographer and videographer.

According to the lawsuit, Goyette was “shot in the face with less-lethal ballistic ammunition” by police on May 27, 2020, two days after Floyd’s death under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Goyette was documenting protests near the Third Precinct police station.

The suit also cited several instances in which Star Tribune reporters were detained or injured by law enforcement projectiles, although none was a plaintiff.

“I do not feel a sense of victory, “ Goyette, who is now reporting in Ukraine and Croatia, said in a statement after the settlement. "... There remains significant work to be done in terms of policy.”

The ACLU-MN said law enforcement officers tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed and shot media members in the face with hard foam bullets, often without warning. The suit also alleged that police arrested journalists without cause and threatened them at gunpoint — even though they identified themselves as media members and were clearly reporting.

“This is a major victory for journalists covering protests in the United States of America,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “We joined this lawsuit to support America’s journalists, who were brutally attacked by police while doing their job. We are proud to support and fight for journalists defending a free press in our democracy.”

Star Tribune staff writer David Orrick contributed to this report.