PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland man is waiting to see if the city will pay him $400,000, after he said that a former Portland Police officer purposely shoved him during a protest more than four years ago.
The 40-year-old still remembers that night like it was yesterday. On Sept. 28, 2020, Dustin Ferreira was part of a group in North Portland who were part of the months-long protests over the death of George Floyd and to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
"That night was different than other nights," Ferreira said. "Portland police had just been federally deputized, which gave them a crazy level of power."
In court documents, Ferreira said he was targeted by police — in particular, by now-former Portland Police officer Sergeant Justin Damerville.
“Officer Damerville follows me as the group was trying to separate; he comes behind me — you can see in the video — and shoves me as hard as he could,” recalled Ferreria.
The video shows Ferreria outside the 7-11 as Damerville talks to him.
“He says, 'Go home.' I say, 'I live with you,' and me saying that in that moment was me saying that you have done nothing but focus on me for the last three months of the protest,” said Ferreria.
According to court documents, Damerville "violently grabbed (him) by the right arm," which lifted him and part of his wheelchair off the ground, later zip-tying him before arresting him.
Damerville said he suffered injuries to his shoulders that night and spent a night in jail. His attorney, Greg Kafoury feels what they are asking for from the city is a fair amount.
“Under the tort claims act, the most we could possibly recover in this case would have been $800,000 dollars, so to settle for $400,000 without a trial, it's not that tough of a call,” said Kafoury.
Kafoury added, "He was targeted not despite his disability but because of it."
KGW reached out the city of Portland attorney Robert Taylor, who said in a statement, "The City Attorney’s Office believes this mutually agreed upon settlement is in the interest of all parties.”
The city council will make a final decision Wednesday.