Way back in 2k4 (was it seriously that long ago?) some cops tried to break up a house show via the ever subtle Pepper Spray Grenade Technique. Nineteen dagum kids where pepper sprayed in the process. The cops where later heard joking “Man, we got to use the pepper spray, that’s always fun.” I remember it being a pretty big deal at the time amongst certain circles.

Well, three years later it turns out that tossing a pepper spray fogger into a small, unventilated, crowded room is not the best course of action:

Richmond Police will pay each of the plaintiffs $2,500 apiece, for a total of $47,500, says Richmond attorney Steven Benjamin, who represented the plaintiffs. Also as part of the settlement, all of the charges against those attending the party will be dropped.

And also, because Richmond is awesome:

As a final statement, most of the 19 people who filed the lawsuit will donate their settlement checks to an undetermined charity.