Judge wipes out $1 million city payout to protester injured by officer

A federal judge has dropped a lawsuit filed by a protester who police shot with rubber bullets at a 2020 protest, erasing what was previously the most costly civil verdict against the city of Salem in recent history.

The dismissal comes six months after a jury unanimously found that a Salem police officer used excessive force against the protester while trying to disrupt a downtown demonstration. 

But U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut ruled earlier this…