Politics
Pay Activist Miracle Boyd, Struck by Cop at 2020 Grant Park Protest, $280K, City Lawyers Recommend
Miracle Boyd (Good Kids Mad City)
Chicago taxpayers should pay $280,000 to activist Miracle Boyd, who was struck by a Chicago police officer during a protest in Grant Park near the Christopher Columbus statue in July 2020, city lawyers recommended.
The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee is scheduled to consider settling Boyd’s lawsuit on Monday, which would add to the toll to defend and settle lawsuits alleging Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct during the protests and unrest during the summer of 2020 triggered by the police murder of George Floyd. A final vote of the City Council could come Wednesday.
In all, Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $7 million to defend and settle lawsuits tied to the unrest and protests in the summer of 2020.
The city’s inspector general concluded that the Chicago Police Department botched nearly every aspect of its response to the protests and unrest, while the independent monitoring team charged with enforcing the federal court order requiring CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers found the department was “unprepared for the level of sustained protests and unrest downtown and throughout its neighborhoods.”
Boyd was an 18-year-old activist with the group Good Kids Madd City and planning to attend DePaul University during the summer of 2020.
While protesting the presence of the Columbus statue in Grant Park, Boyd was filming an arrest when an officer knocked her phone out of her hand, sending it into her face and knocking out one and a half teeth. The pictures of a bloody Boyd went viral, adding to the outrage over the way CPD officers responded to the protests.
Then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered the Columbus statue removed shortly after the protest, and it remains in storage.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the agency charged with investigating police misconduct, concluded the officer used excessive force against Boyd, tried to prevent her from recording police and made false, misleading or incomplete statements in his report of the incident. The officer resigned after COPA urged the superintendent to fire him.
In addition to the loss of her front tooth, Boyd said she suffered nerve damage and pain — even after she underwent reconstructive dental surgery — and had to drop out of DePaul University, where she had a scholarship.
Boyd told WTTW News in April 2024 that she does not expect a financial settlement or jury award to repair the physical and emotional damage she suffered.
“I believe no amount of money can repair harm once it is caused,” said Boyd, adding that it could help her pay for college.
Boyd said the protest where she was injured was a defining moment of her life.
“It messed me up mentally for a long time,” Boyd said. “Today, I can watch the video and just brush it off my shoulder as if I just have to get over it. Because things happen like this. CPD, sometimes, they escape accountability. This is what happens. This is what we see. This is what’s been happening. So it wasn’t a shock.”
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
