Connect with us

Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis ordered to pay more than $700,000 to protesters for excessive force claims

Published

on

Minneapolis ordered to pay more than $700,000 to protesters for excessive force claims


Minneapolis Metropolis Council accredited a number of settlements that exceed greater than $700,000 to resolve complaints filed in opposition to police for extreme pressure throughout 2020 and 2021 protests.

The most important settlement included a complete of $600,000 to 12 individuals who filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court docket, claiming the police division used inhumane ways whereas they had been peacefully protesting instantly following George Floyd’s homicide.

Every plaintiff named within the aforementioned swimsuit receives $50,000, amongst them Minneapolis civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. It centered across the police response following a protest on I-35W that infamously noticed a tanker truck barrel in direction of the group on Could 31, 2020.

Different lawsuits settled on Thursday embrace a lady who was arrested whereas strolling on an Uptown sidewalk following the police killing of Winston Smith; a lady who was shot with a rubber bullet that required surgical procedure in the course of the Floyd protests; and one other girl who was arrested whereas recording a protest however not collaborating in it on a Fb Reside.

Advertisement

They signify the newest in a rising variety of authorized settlements the town has accredited due to the actions of police throughout civil unrest in 2020 and 2021, with greater than $6 million in settlements accredited by the town, not together with the $27 million settlement the town agreed with the household of George Floyd.

Particulars of every settlement:

$600,000 settlement

  • Nekima Levy Armstrong, Marques Armstrong, Dr. Max Fraden, Terry Hempfling, Rachel Clark, Jamal Samaha, Lauren Coleman, Jordan Meyer, Andy Delany, Mary Grace, Bonnie Brown and Jonathan Mason had been the plaintiffs within the case.
  • They claimed the Minneapolis Police Division used extreme pressure in opposition to peaceable protesters, such because the deployment of pepper spray, tear gasoline and rubber bullets.
  • Courtroom paperwork say on Could 31, 2020, a majority of the plaintiffs named had been protesting on the Interstate 35W bridge when a tanker truck got here barreling in direction of the group, forcing individuals to “run for canopy.” Noting that, police had been accused of focusing solely on the motive force’s situation and never checking for any accidents amongst the protesters.
  • Police had been additionally seen on recorded video “spraying tear gasoline and pepper spray indiscriminately out of their squad automobile home windows whereas driving by peaceable protests.”
  • The lawsuit claimed a violation of individuals’s 1st, 4th, and 14th Modification rights, which embrace freedom of speech and meeting; to be free from extreme pressure and false arrest; and to not be topic to official governmental insurance policies which violate their constitutional rights.

$100,000 settlement

  • Brenda Smith filed a lawsuit in opposition to the town for a extreme damage to her foot sustained by a rubber bullet, which required ankle surgical procedure.
  • She was protesting together with her daughter following the demise of Floyd.
  • Smith claimed that she developed PTSD when she was shot by the rubber bullet on Could 30, 2020.
  • Smith acknowledged her 14th Modification rights had been violated, as she stated police didn’t determine themselves previous to taking pictures the rubber bullets on the underpass of Interstate 35W and Lake Avenue.

$13,000 settlement

  • Deeqa Hussein filed a lawsuit after she was unlawfully arrested a day after police killed Winston Smith in Uptown.
  • Hussein was strolling on a sidewalk within the West Lake Avenue and Hennepin Avenue space on June 5, 2021, not conscious that police had been telling individuals to go away the world as she was inside a constructing on the time of the bulletins.
  • She was arrested whereas standing on a sidewalk speaking with buddies.
  • Mass arrests had been made within the space on the time with none possible trigger, court docket paperwork state.

$10,000 settlement

  • Laura DeShane filed a lawsuit after she was arrested for recording a Fb Reside video of a peaceable demonstration in a public park on Nov. 3 2020.
  • DeShane claimed that police tried to arrest everybody concerned within the march, “whether or not officers had possible trigger to arrest every particular person.”
  • DeShane wasn’t part of the protest however was arrested with none warnings given.
  • She additionally was subjected “to unduly tight handcuffs” by the arresting officers. She suffered an damage to one in all her arms consequently.

The Minnesota Division of Human Rights discovered by a two-year investigation the police division had engaged in an illegal “sample or apply of race discrimination” over a interval of not less than a decade, and located the metropolis’s response to the civil unrest of 2020 to be uncoordinated, disorganized and plagued with poor communication.

Hennepin County prosecutors stated MPD officers are “a lot much less skilled and respectful than officers from different police departments” within the report, launched in April.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Minneapolis, MN

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

Published

on

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.

Advertisement

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.

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

“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.

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.





Source link

Continue Reading

Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis’ contested housing development plan plows forward

Published

on

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.

Advertisement

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.”

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Minneapolis, MN

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

Published

on

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending