Trump rally attendees who claim San Jose police and city officials stood in the way of their free speech and free assembly rights, and directed them into a crowd of protesters who allegedly threatened and assaulted them, have agreed to drop their suit against the city. 

Plaintiffs agreed to dismiss the class action with prejudice in a joint stipulation and proposed order filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. 

Harmeet Dhillon of the Dhillon Law Group, whose firm represented the plaintiffs, said in an email that the dismissal comes in the face of settlement discussions, two judicial settlement conferences, and a meeting between named plaintiffs and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, as well as a public statement of regret from the city. "Through the lawsuit, we learned that in the wake of these assaults and the city's grossly deficient response to the organized political violence on its streets, the San Jose Police Department has provided its officers with additional training and resources to ensure that such a situation is never repeated again in the future," said Dhillon.

The lawsuit, filed in July 2016, withstood an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit in 2018. A unanimous panel affirmed U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California's 2017 ruling denying the city of San Jose's motion to dismiss the suit against seven of its police officers. Class members had alleged they were punched and hit with eggs as officers funneled them into a violent crowd of protesters. 

As part of the settlement, police have ramped up training on crowd control following the rally. The city has also designated 15 officers who have received specialized training to instruct police units on a quarterly basis.

Deputy City Attorney Matthew Pritchard said the San Jose City Attorney's Office is happy to have resolved the case on the terms of the settlement.

Liccardo also released a statement assuring the public that the city and its police force is committed to protecting all political rally participants, "regardless of political affiliation or point of view." "Physical violence—such as what occurred after the June 2, 2016 rally—has no place in civil society. It is all the more reprehensible when used to intimidate or dissuade others from free speech or political expression," he wrote in the statement. "We regret that, despite the San Jose Police Department's efforts at the rally, we were unable fully to prevent the assaults that did happen and that some people who were lawfully exercising their First Amendment right were injured as a result."

The mayor also noted that the San Jose Police Department gathered statements to issue criminal charges against 22 individuals. 

Parties will be footing the bill for their own attorneys fees, according to the joint stipulation. 

Dhillon said her firm remains committed to the principle that no citizen should experience violence or government interference in pursuit of their First Amendment right. 

"We continue to reject the proposition that a government has carte blanche, under the judicially created qualified immunity doctrine, to place citizens in harm's way as a result of their political viewpoints/speech/free association and escape the consequences," she said. "We trust that San Jose's commitment to the safety of all its citizens to peacefully assemble and express their views, its consistent with its public statement of regret, and that citizens will be safe in political rallies in this and coming election years, whether they support Donald Trump or any other candidate for public office."