The Lincoln City Council has approved a settlement agreement with a Lincoln woman who was severely injured by a law enforcement officer during a 2020 protest. The ACLU alleged in the lawsuit that untrained law enforcement officers used excessive force by indiscriminately shooting impact munitions at peaceful demonstrators.
Elise Pool says she was peacefully protesting following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis when she was struck by a rubber bullet and nearly lost her nose. “When officers used impact munitions and chemical agents on people gathered in civil disobedience of a curfew, one of the projectiles struck Poole and severed her nose from her face,” the ACLU said in a statement.
Poole’s injury required emergency reconstructive surgery. Poole will need future procedures to regain breathing functionality. In the approved settlement agreement, the City of Lincoln agreed to provide Poole with damages to close the case.
Poole hopes her lawsuit and the settlement will impact how officers respond to future protests. “If my case protects just one other person from going through what I experienced, it was worth it,” Poole says “Our protest was about protecting Black lives and calling out police violence. Those messages are just as important today and I hope my case plays a small role in making our city safer for everyone.”