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Minneapolis, MN

Analysis: Ex-Minneapolis cops rack up $26M in payouts amid surge in PTSD claims

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Analysis: Ex-Minneapolis cops rack up $26M in payouts amid surge in PTSD claims


Because the homicide of George Floyd, a whole lot of Minneapolis law enforcement officials have left the power whereas claiming post-traumatic stress dysfunction to hunt incapacity advantages. 

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No less than 155 officers have obtained employee’s compensation settlements totaling almost $26 million, in response to a FOX 9 Investigators evaluation of metropolis council minutes and police information. Lots of those self same officers have questionable histories of misconduct. 

Hogtied and ‘disinterested’

Surveillance video obtained by the FOX 9 Investigators depicts a troubling incident involving now-former MPD Sgt. Joseph Will. The video reveals an April 2017 incident the place two rookie cops tried to restrain a DWI suspect who was in custody after the person turned agitated and started hitting his head in opposition to the wall.

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The 2 inexperienced officers positioned the person right into a “hogtie” along with his arms and ankles sure and tied behind his again. A hogtie is an “unauthorized hobbling method,” which is a maneuver that violated Minneapolis Police coverage. 

Will was the supervisor on-site on the time; nevertheless, surveillance video reveals he did nothing because the unapproved hogtie maneuver was utilized by the rookie cops. Inner affairs investigators famous in disciplinary information that Will appeared “disinterested” along with his arms crossed as he appeared up towards the ceiling earlier than he merely walked away. 

Will was disciplined and suspended for 20 hours with out pay. He’s additionally certainly one of a rising record of now-former MPD officers who’ve lately walked away with a employees’ compensation settlement totaling $160,000. 

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FOX 9 evaluation

The FOX 9 Investigators analyzed a whole lot of metropolis council minutes, police and disciplinary information to establish at the least 155 now-former MPD officers who’ve had employees’ compensation settlements authorized. No less than $25.9 million in settlements have been authorized with a median payout of $167,000 per officer.

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Lawyer Ron Meuser and his agency, which makes a speciality of PTSD, have shepherded greater than 85% of the settlement instances analyzed by the FOX 9 Investigators. 

His agency declined to take part on this story however Meuser beforehand spoke publicly about law enforcement officials he represents who he says encountered life-changing trauma in the course of the civil unrest. 

“If these people have signs legitimately according to PTSD, it isn’t protected, for my part to have them must be out on the road,” Meuser mentioned weeks after the civil unrest. 

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“I can inform you that [the officers] got here from all types of angles and have been at totally different places all through the civil unrest over that point interval,” Meuser mentioned. “A substantial amount of them have been really bodily contained in the third precinct the day that it was deserted by the Metropolis of Minneapolis.”

Questionable histories

Amid the surge of officers claiming PTSD, some have been important of the development. 

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“Whereas sure that was a traumatic occasion for some law enforcement officials, the quantity of PTSD from that appears actually extreme,” mentioned Dave Bicking who’s a board member of the watchdog group Communities United In opposition to Police Brutality. 

Of the 155 MPD officers analyzed, at the least 95% of them had some type of misconduct declare filed in opposition to them. About 12% of these officers have been disciplined by MPD brass.

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“We do see that lots of these officers have an extended historical past of complaints in opposition to them and even of lawsuit settlements,” Bicking mentioned. “There may be a lot much less historical past of self-discipline as a result of there’s little or no historical past of self-discipline throughout the Minneapolis Police Division to start with.”

Former Officer Dustin Dupre is one instance. He was charged with slashing a lady’s tire exterior a Goal in Cottage Grove in 2017 in an obvious ‘street rage’ incident. 

Dupre managed to maintain his job and final yr walked away from the division with a $175,000 payout. 

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Managing threat

Submit-traumatic stress is a medically acknowledged situation. Nonetheless, it wasn’t till 2019 that the Minnesota Legislature handed a regulation making it simpler to get work-related PTSD claims authorized. It eliminated the requirement that first responders present proof it really occurred on the job.

As a way to declare PTSD, an officer should be evaluated by a city-appointed psychologist. Nonetheless, an officer or their lawyer can nonetheless usher in one or two of their very own docs to make an opposing case. The method may be prolonged and convoluted. 

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For the Metropolis of Minneapolis, agreeing to a settlement typically comes right down to what’s cheaper – giving a payout or the price of combating it in courtroom. 

“The aim of settlement is all the time to economize for town in the long term, so the hope is even when we’re paying extra money upfront, we gained’t be paying extra over time,” Minneapolis Director of Threat Administration and Claims Emily Colby beforehand mentioned throughout a metropolis council assembly. 

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Whereas an officer’s disciplinary document doesn’t issue into whether or not their PTSD declare is authorized or not, CUAPB’s Dave Bicking nonetheless questions the depth of the method. 

“I imagine that town might be combating these claims far more successfully. However it’s inconceivable for us to know, as a result of all of that is protected by attorney-client privilege and it is protected by medical privateness on prime of that,” Bicking mentioned. 

PTSD functions surge

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The opposite telling piece to the story is the sheer variety of MPD officers claiming incapacity advantages by means of the state’s retirement system (MPERA). 

A month-by-month assessment of functions reveals a dramatic spike in PTSD claims following the homicide of George Floyd and a large drop in functions in the summertime of 2021. 

About 90% of all incapacity claims made by MPD officers to MPERA have been PTSD incapacity claims versus 10% non-PTSD claims since Jan 2019. 

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Minneapolis, MN

Country star hit in the face onstage with X-rated item

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Country star hit in the face onstage with X-rated item


Celebrities often deal with unruly fans at their concerts, so it’s not the first time Wallen has had something thrown at him. Last year, an irritated fan chucked a boot at the country singer as they waited for him to sign an autograph. Instead of signing it, he turned to throw it away from where it came from.

I Had Some Help recently enjoyed five undisrupted weeks at the top of the charts, allowing the Cowgirls singer to take the crown for the most weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in the 2020s from Taylor Swift.

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Wallen is currently in the North American leg of his One Night at a Time World Tour, performing at stadiums around the globe. He’ll be performing at shows across the US until August 9, before jetting off to Europe for a slew of more shows from August 28.

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Many of Wallen’s North American concerts had to be cancelled and rescheduled last year after the singer needed to treat vocal fold trauma, which the National Institute of Health explains is “caused by excessive or improper use of the voice”.

He was able to return to the stage a month later after being given the all-clear by his doctors.

On April 7, Wallen was arrested on three felony counts after he allegedly threw a chair off the bar roof of a six-storey building in Nashville.

A group of police officers were on the ground outside the building when the chair landed about 1 metre away from them. They entered the building and went up to Nashville’s Chiefs Bar, and staff identified Wallen as responsible for throwing the chair.

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Later that month, the country singer addressed concerned fans by sharing a statement accepting fault for the incident on X.

Morgan Wallen’s One Night at a Time tour is taking him across North America and Europe over the next few months for a slew of stadium shows. Photo / AP

“I didn’t feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks. I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility,” Wallen wrote.

“I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe. Regarding my tour, there will be no change.”

Despite his apology, Wallen’s arrest has landed him in hot water with the Nashville Metro Council. In a 30-3 vote last month, Nashville council members rejected an application to install a billboard sign atop Wallen’s under-construction This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen in central Nashville, reported People.

Explaining her decision, Councilwoman at Large Delishia Porterfield pointed to the singer’s controversial past.

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“We want to make sure that Nashville was a supportive place for everyone, so I don’t want to see a billboard with the name of a person who’s throwing chairs off balconies and who is saying racial slurs, using the n-word, so I’m voting no,” Porterfield said.

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Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis’ contested housing development plan plows forward

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Minneapolis’ contested housing development plan plows forward


Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other government officials celebrated moving forward with the city’s housing development plan, the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, on Tuesday.

The plan had been in a years-long court battle. Opposing organizations alleged that the city should have conducted an environmental review before approving the plan. 

The 2040 plan aims to establish more densely built and affordable housing for Minneapolis’ future development. 

“This is a day that has been six years in the making, in that when Minneapolis recognized that we had an affordable housing shortage, we recognize that we like so many other cities throughout the country needed to increase our supply of housing. The 2040 plan helped us get there,” Frey said.

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Legislation in the 2024 session clarified the bill, allowing for stalled housing projects to begin again. 

“Our legislative intent was very clear that this was a bill to end this lawsuit and to defend the Minneapolis 2040 plan,” said Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis. “We believe in this plan. We took huge steps this year to defend it and we will continue to do so as necessary.” 

Jack Perry, the attorney for opposing groups like Smart Growth Minneapolis and Minnesota Citizens for the Protection of Migratory Birds, said their fight is far from over. They filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. 

“Almost every project is financed and it is pretty hard to finance something when the authority is based upon a 2040 plan that is tied up in litigation,” Perry said. “The mayor says they’re going forward. That’s all fine but the actual developers will have to worry about this litigation. He may not because it’s not his pocketbook that’s being opened up to build things based upon a foundation of a plan that is highly suspect.”

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The press conference celebrating the 2040 plan was held at Wakpada Apartments, a new complex that’s a product of the 2040 plan.

One of the apartment’s developers, Sean Sweeney, said the 2040 plan has allowed him to be creative and “do things that benefit the community.”

“I’ve worked in several markets around the country, and I can say without a doubt that being a developer in Minneapolis, especially now with the 2040 plan, is an absolute dream,” Sweeney said. 

The plan began in 2018. Since then, Minneapolis has invested over $360 million into affordable rental housing and homeownership programs.

“Minneapolis is being seen around the country as a leader in the affordable housing space, we’re seen as a leader in this push to desegregate cities. And we’re seen as a municipality to copy and to replicate in the work that we’re having right now,” Frey said.

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Minneapolis, MN

32-year-old charged with hiding body of Minneapolis woman

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32-year-old charged with hiding body of Minneapolis woman


A 32-year-old Iowa woman was charged on Tuesday with concealing the body of Liara Tsai, 35, of Minneapolis.

Court records show that Margot Lewis made her first appearance in Olmsted County Court Tuesday morning.

According to a criminal complaint, authorities were called to a one-vehicle crash at the intersection of I-90 and Highway 42 in Olmsted County on Saturday.

Based on tire tracks, authorities believe the driver, identified as Lewis, was speeding eastbound on I-90 when she went into the median.

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Bystanders told responding deputies there appeared to be a deceased or injured person in the car.

Inside, deputies found a body wrapped in a bed sheet, a blanket, a futon-style mattress and a tarp, court documents state. The person, later identified as Tsai, was obviously deceased and authorities said she didn’t seem to have been killed in the crash. She was cold to the touch and there was dried blood on the blanket.

Investigators later found a large wound on the right side of Tsai’s neck.

Lewis was medically cleared at the hospital and then booked into Olmsted County Jail. She did not respond audibly to law enforcement.

Lewis’ mugshot is not yet available on the Olmsted County Jail roster. This article will be updated when it becomes available.

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The Medical Examiner confirmed on Sunday that Tsai was killed before the car crash.

Monday evening, Minneapolis police and members of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension executed a search warrant of Tsai’s home on 16th Street East and found a scene “indicating violence.”

Investigators have not announced any arrests for Tsai’s death.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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