Fort Lauderdale commissioners to vote on whether to settle lawsuit from BLM protester shot by rubber bullet in 2020

A woman who was shot in the eye by an officer’s rubber bullet during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020 set to settle her lawsuit with the City of Fort Lauderdale.

City commissioners are expected to vote Tuesday night on whether or not to settle the lawsuit with LaToya Ratlieff.

Ratlieff was shot by a rubber bullet back in May of 2020 while protesting the death of George Floyd in downtown Fort Lauderdale..

Cellphone video captured Ratlieff, her face bloodied, as she was held up by two other protesters.

If approved, the settlement will pay her nearly $2 million.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis spoke with 7News earlier on Tuesday.

“It should have been $2 million less, but the reality is that it’s a number that we came up with in negotiation,” he said. “They wanted more, and hopefully, the commission will make a decision today, and we’ll move forward with this.”

An investigation determined that during the protest, someone picked up a tear gas canister and hurled it toward police officers.

Ratlieff was on the street and was accidentally hit in the eye by the rubber bullet..

She spoke with 7News in the following weeks.

“I still have some vision issues, specifically, some of my my upper vision,” she said at the time. “I still have trouble with driving at night.”

Trantalis said Ratlieff initially wanted changes made to the police department, adding the city complied with the plaintiff’s requests.

“We removed the police chief. We changed the rules of engagement. We had sensitivity training sessions with our police officers,” he said.

But then Ratlieff filed a lawsuit. The city, not wanting to risk a trial, agreed to bring the settlement to a commission vote.

“I guess it’s just a part of running the city,” said Trantalis. “We don’t appreciate having to suffer this burden, but we support our police department, and we’re hopeful we can do better in the future.”