Muslim men incarcerated in Missouri were awarded $667,000 by a federal jury on Monday in a case stemming from allegations that they were pepper-sprayed by state correctional officers while praying. The decision was issued in U.S. District Court in eastern Missouri, where the lawsuit challenged the officers’ actions and what the men said followed after they were sprayed.

According to the case described by the Associated Press, the plaintiffs alleged they had been permitted to pray together in their housing unit before the chapel was locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic. The complaint said the restrictions changed the circumstances of how they practiced their faith within the facility.

The jury’s ruling came after the suit described events at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre. The plaintiffs alleged that on Feb. 28, 2021, the men were handcuffed, pepper-sprayed, and placed in solitary confinement after praying in the housing area, according to the report of the claims presented at trial.

The AP account also said that the men placed in segregation at the 2,684-bed facility were left without access to soap or running water to wash off the pepper spray, and some resorted to using toilet water on their faces. The jury ruled in favor of the incarcerated men on all counts.

The lawsuit described the men being initially charged with a major conduct violation for “acts of organized disobedience” by three or more offenders, a charge later reduced to a minor violation. The men were found guilty and released from segregation on March 10, 2021, the AP report said.

The AP said the civil lawsuit was filed in 2023 by the CAIR Legal Fund and the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Missouri, alleging that the correctional officers used excessive force, violated the men’s constitutional right to practice their religion, and showed deliberate indifference to serious medical needs.

Nadia Bayado, an attorney for the plaintiffs with the CAIR Legal Defense Fund, said: “Being a Muslim in America should not lead to one being subjected to excessive force or religious persecution,” and added, “I am overjoyed for our clients, and I hope this verdict brings them and their families solace.”

The Missouri Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday evening, according to the report.