Mitch Kahle and colleague Kevin Hughes are $100,000 richer, thanks to a settlement in their favor regarding a lawsuit against the state Senate sergeant-at-arms, staff and state sheriff’s deputies.

“We’re pleased with the settlement, primarily because it sends a message to government that peaceful protest cannot be treated violently,” he told Civil Beat Tuesday (March 13). “And now that the sergeant-at-arms and sheriff’s deputies have received training as a result of our lawsuit, we hope that this type of experience never happens again.”

Kahle and Hughes sued the state after both say they were roughed up by Capitol security after they filmed a Senate invocation in April 2010. The exchange was also caught on tape.

The Senate has since dropped invocations, though the House has kept the tradition. Meanwhile, a House bill that gives security authority to deal with “disorderly” behavior at the Capitol — aka the “Stop Mitch Kahle” bill — has a hearing this week.