City attorneys have recommended that Chicago aldermen approve an $875,000 settlement with a group of more than two dozen people who accused police officers of violating their civil rights during protests in 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

The City Council Finance Committee on Wednesday will vote on that recommendation in a lawsuit filed by 26 people in connection to the Chicago Police Department's handling of a string of Black Lives Matter protests from late May to mid-August of 2020.

"The CPD has responded to these protests with brutal, violent, and unconstitutional tactics that are clearly intended to injure and silence protesters who are protesting their violence and the violence of other state actors," the lawsuit states.

Calling officers' response to the 2020 protests "extreme and outrageous," the lawsuit claims police routinely used excessive force against protesters during demonstrations in downtown Chicago on May 30 and 31, 2020; in the Uptown neighborhood on June 1, 2020; in Grant Park on July 17, 2020; and again in downtown Chicago on Aug. 15, 2020.

"The actions taken by the Defendant Officers denied Plaintiffs their state constitutional rights to be free from an unreasonable seizure and to free expression and assembly in a peaceable manner," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit accuses police of repeatedly driving squad cars through crowds of protesters, punching protesters in the face, tackling them, kneeing them in the neck and back, kicking their legs out from under them, jabbing and beating them with batons, dragging them through the streets, stomping on them on the ground, trapping them on bridges, and using tear gas and pepper spray without justification.

The lawsuit also noted that the city responded to the downtown protests in May 2020 by raising bridges over the Chicago River and blocking off streets, leaving protesters with no way to get home when ordered to leave by police.

"The Defendants' actions were rooted in an abuse of power and authority, and were done intentionally, willfully and wantonly, and/or knowing that there was a high probability that their conduct would cause Plaintiffs severe emotional distress," the lawsuit states.

If the $875,000 settlement is approved by the Finance Committee on Wednesday, the full City Council could cast a final vote on Jan. 21.