Father of child pepper-sprayed during Seattle BLM protest settles lawsuit

Mike Carter, The Seattle Times on Jun 11, 2026

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SEATTLE — The father of a child who was doused with pepper spray by Seattle police during the early days of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in Downtown Seattle has settled a federal civil rights lawsuit for $150,000.

The incident sparked national outrage after video and photos showed volunteer medics and other protesters pouring water and milk on the screaming child’s face in an effort to relieve his suffering. Police accountability officials say the highly publicized incident generated nearly 13,000 complaints against the department.

“The young man who received pepper spray in his face would like to move forward in a positive direction,” said attorney James Bible. “He is a good kid who seeks to treat others with respect and dignity. This settlement allows him and his family to move forward. The family hopes that the city will learn from this and improve how they interact with crowds that include children.”

In a statement, Seattle city attorney spokesperson Alan Pyke said, “The City is thankful to bring this matter to a close.”

Following a three-month investigation, Seattle’s civilian-run office of police accountability determined the boy’s injuries were “inadvertent” and that the incident was not an excessive use of force or a violation of Seattle Police Department policy. The officer was trying to direct a stream of pepper spray at another protester and struck the child instead, according to the OPA.

The boy’s father, Armand Avery, alleged in a lawsuit filed in April 2022 in U.S. District Court that he and his son — who was 7 years old at the time and is identified in the suit by the initials A.J. — “decided to participate in a peaceful rally and protest” near Westlake Center with members of their family and church congregation on May 30, 2020. The demonstration came five days after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, shocking the nation’s conscience and sending thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters into the streets.

Vandalism and violence — including the torching of police cars — resulted in Seattle officers resorting to force, including the use of tear gas, pepper spray and batons against protesters, most of whom were peaceful and not breaking any laws. A federal judge later found the police uses of force likely violated the civil rights of thousands who had gathered to peacefully and legally protest police violence and brutality.

According to the OPA investigation, a police sergeant had rushed to reinforce riot armor-clad officers stretched across Third Avenue after police had pulled a man behind the police lines to arrest him for an earlier incident.

The crowd, while mostly nonviolent, jostled the officers, and a masked woman wearing a bike helmet is seen in body camera footage grabbing an officer’s baton and shoving him. That’s when the sergeant — who had a blast ball in one hand and a large canister of pepper spray in the other — unleashed a stream of the blue-dyed irritant at the woman.

Body camera footage showed the child and his father were right behind the woman in the bike helmet, and the internal investigation concluded that it was unlikely the sergeant could see the child, who was dwarfed by the adults around him. The boy got a dose of the powerful irritant as the woman ducked and scrambled away.

“Videos and pictures were taken of the aftermath of A.J. being sprayed with (Oleoresin Capsicum) spray,” a powerful irritant that causes a burning sensation, pain and temporary blindness, the lawsuit alleged. “In the videos, A.J. can be seen crying out in pain and shaking.”

The lawsuit said the child was in agony much of that evening and was treated at a hospital for chemical burns.

The lawsuit also claimed the city and its officers violated the law against discrimination because Avery and his son are Black and the protest “was intended to address disproportionate excessive force used unjustly against African Americans and other people of color.”

“The use of noxious gases against individuals exercising their constitutional right to speak out about issues of inequity in support of members of a protected class constitutes a violation of the Washington State Law Against Discrimination,” the lawsuit claimed.

The lawsuit alleged outrage, negligence and violations of the father and son’s Fourth Amendment protections against illegal seizure.