Minneapolis agrees to pay $1.2M to people injured by police

The City Council approved the two settlements Thursday.

May 28, 2022

The Minneapolis City Council has approved $1.2 million in legal settlements with two people injured by police during protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of officers two years ago.

The settlements with St. Paul resident Virgil Lee Jackson Jr. and Nashville freelance photographer Linda Tirado mean the city has agreed to pay a total of $5.4 million to settle federal civil rights lawsuits over injuries caused by police in May 2020, Minnesota Public Radio reports.

Protesters and police face each other during a rally for George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020. Almost two years after George Floyd died at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers, Minnesota’s Department of Human Rights was set Wednesday, April 27, 2022, to announce findings from its investigation into whether the city police department had a pattern or practice of racial discrimination in policing. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)

The City Council approved the two settlements Thursday.

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The council agreed to pay Jackson $645,000. His lawsuit said that a Minneapolis police officer repeatedly shocked him using a Taser’s “drive stun” mode, pressing the electrodes directly onto his skin. He was in a parking lot at the time.

Tirado lost the sight in her left eye after an officer fired a rubber bullet while she covered protests outside a police station. The City Council agreed to pay her $600,000.

Just think of how much more we could pay teachers with the tens of millions Minneapolis has paid out in settlements for MPD violating citizens rights.

Eduction and opportunity are the best crime prevention long term.
— Ryan (@PirateFish256) March 22, 2022

Floyd, 46, who was Black, died after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pinned his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as Floyd was handcuffed and pleaded that he couldn’t breathe.

Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison for murder and manslaughter.

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