Protester Shot in Eye With Rubber Bullet by Fort Lauderdale Cop Wins $2M Settlement

During a protest over the killing of George Floyd in 2020, a Fort Lauderdale police officer shot LaToya Ratlieff in the face with a rubber bullet — leaving her with a fractured eye socket, a large gash on her forehead, and nerve damage.

Four years later, Ratlieff has won a $1.975 million settlement, closing the books on her 2022 federal civil rights lawsuit against the city. The Fort Lauderdale City Commission approved the settlement during its December 3 meeting.

"Today is a celebration of justice for all America, as the City of Fort Lauderdale was finally held accountable for its unconscionable police brutality and excessive force directed against peaceful demonstrators seeking to empower the community to demand police accountability," Ratlieff's attorneys, Michael Davis, Benedict Kuehne, and Stuart Ratzan, said in a statement following the vote.

As part of the settlement agreement, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department must implement tactical and training policies that are consistent with standards set by the National Tactical Officers Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

"While the financial settlement is important for the city to know that it cannot sweep these injustices under the rug, the corrective requirements will make sure that what happened to me must never happen to anyone else," Ratlieff said in a statement.

On May 31, 2020, Ratlieff joined a Black Lives Matter demonstration in downtown Fort Lauderdale over Floyd's murder at the hands of white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, holding a sign reading, "Stop killing us!" As the group passed a downtown parking garage, police deployed tear gas without warning and Ratlieff "joined with peaceful participants who were taking a knee and peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights," according to her lawsuit.

Officer Eliezer Ramos struck Ratlieff in the eye with a "kinetic impact projectile" — commonly known as a rubber or plastic bullet — as she fled, choking from the tear gas. She fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from her face. A stranger brought Ratlieff to a hospital where she was treated for severe facial injuries, which left her barely recognizable.

In December 2021, 15 months before Ratlieff filed her lawsuit, a Fort Lauderdale Police Department internal affairs investigation cleared Ramos of wrongdoing, finding he had not intended to strike her. But after she filed suit against the city, the police department, and nine officers, including Ramos, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz threw out Ramos' claim of qualified immunity, rejecting his claim that he was simply following supervisors' orders to fire the bullets at the crowd.

Ratlieff has said the incident has left her with ongoing trauma and disability, including partial vision loss, migraines, and a scar on her forehead.

A class-action lawsuit against the city on behalf of other demonstrators present that day is pending.

"After 1,647 days, I close this chapter and begin the process of moving forward," Ratlieff said in her statement. "But for others, this is just the beginning. I stand ready to support the victims of indiscriminate police violence in seeking justice through the pending class action suit. The many other peaceful demonstrators who were terrorized by the out-of-control Fort Lauderdale police will make certain the city understands that its duty is to protect and serve, not attack and harm for no valid reason."