The City of San Antonio will pay $118,800 to settle an excessive force lawsuit filed by a man shot twice with crowd-control rounds by a San Antonio police officer during a 2020 protest against the murder of George Floyd.
Alexander Lance sued the city in 2021, alleging a San Antonio SWAT officer shot him in the arm and leg with “less-lethal” rounds after he shouted to the officer that his rifle should have its safety on. Lance claimed he was a bystander and not even participating in the demonstration, which took place during a summer of unrest over Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
In the settlement agreement approved Thursday by City Council, the city said the officer thought Lance was “about to throw an object at the officer.” The document described the incident as an “accident” and the ammunition fired at the plaintiff as “sponge rounds.”
Lance spent three days in the hospital to treat his injuries, which included a broken arm, according to the suit’s allegations.
City attorney Andy Segovia was unavailable to provide a comment Friday morning.
The incident was captured on video and widely circulated in the wake of the May 30, 2020, protest. While the demonstration was largely peaceful, rioters caused property damage to downtown storefronts, and police used tear gas to disperse crowds and made several arrests.
The clip of the officer targeting Lance was one of more than 400 shared by T. Greg Doucette, a criminal defense attorney from Durham, N.C., who compiled a spreadsheet of videos showing police use of force against Black Lives Matter protesters during the summer of 2020.
In the San Antonio video, someone is heard calling to officers in riot gear as they traverse a downtown street. One of the officers breaks from the ranks, approaches and fires at Lance at close range with a long gun.
As Lance curses, showing off his bloodied arm, the officer seen in the clip fires again. The second shot, which also appears to come after no physical provocation, strikes Lance in the leg. Blood seeps through his pants after the injury.
Lance’s suit alleged that other police rushed in with flashlights after the shooting. “Not to provide medical attention to the badly injured plaintiff but to surround [the firing officer] and use flashlights in an attempt to blind the cell phones of other citizens recording the aggravated assault,” the suit states.
The lawsuit accused the city of being “deliberately indifferent” to Lance’s injuries and for providing lax oversight of police personnel. Lance asked for unspecified damages to cover medical expenses, lost wages and physical and mental injury.
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This article appears in May 1-14, 2024.
