$4.5 Million Settlement for Anti-War Veteran, Occupy Activist Injured by Oakland Police

In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011, Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen lays on the ground bleeding from a head wound after being struck by a by a projectile during an Occupy Wall Street protest in Oakland,Calif. Olsen suffered a fractured skull while marching with other protesters attempting to reestablish a presence in the area of the disbanded camp, said Dottie Guy, of the Iraq Veterans Against the War. Police Chief Howard Jordan says an internal reviewboard and local prosecutors have been asked to determine if officers on the scene used excessive force. (Photo: Jay Finneburgh, AP )

$4.5 Million Settlement for Anti-War Veteran, Occupy Activist Injured by Oakland Police

Scott Olsen was shot in the head with a projectile at close-range by officers during an Occupy Oakland protest in 2011

Scott Olsen, the protester and a memebr of Iraq Veterans Against the War who was gravely injured during a public march in Oakland at the height of the Occupy movement in 2011, has been awarded a $4.5 million settlement by the city.

The San Francisco Chroniclereports:

Olsen, 26, was among more than 1,000 demonstrators protesting the police clearing of an Occupy Oakland encampment outside City Hall when he was struck by the beanbag Oct. 25, 2011.

"We're very pleased that Scott is finally getting some compensation," Rachel Lederman, one of Olsen's attorneys, said Friday. "He was very seriously injured and sustained some serious brain damage as a result of being shot at close range" with the beanbag.

Jim Chanin, another attorney representing Olsen, called it "a very sad day, not only for Scott, who's going to have to start his life all over, but for the city of Oakland, which has been hit with yet another unnecessary lawsuit with a very large settlement that could have been used for the public good while Scott went on with his life, without his injury."

Olsen appeared on Democracy Now! on Friday to discuss his case and the settlement:

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