LINCOLN - Even after the city settled a federal lawsuit with a protester who was injured during racial justice protests in May 2020, the last pending litigation related to the demonstrations, Lincoln will not release body-worn camera footage from officers who policed the demonstrations.

The state denied the Journal Star's public record request for body-worn camera footage from the 2020 demonstrations under the state's open records statute. Law enforcement agencies are allowed to withhold records they deem "investigatory" in nature.

Elise Poole was struck by a rubber bullet during the 2020 demonstrations following George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis at the hands of police. The newspaper sought four nights' footage from the incident after the city's $497,500 settlement with Poole.

Body-worn camera footage is considered public record, but due to the aforementioned investigatory exception, "state law effectively prohibits disclosure of all body-worn camera footage to the public," said Max Kautsch, an attorney who focuses on First Amendment rights cases in Kansas and Nebraska.

City Attorney Yohance Christie said the requested footage "includes a time period where litigation is currently pending," adding that there are "other claims that are pending" from the same time period.

Lincoln Police Capt. Todd Kocian, a department spokesman, said the decision of whether to release the footage would be up to Chief Teresa Ewins. He added that "it's not likely to be released in the near future."

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