Minneapolis woman alleges 2 MPD officers caused brain injury in lawsuit

A lady is suing two Minneapolis law enforcement officials, claiming they induced a mind damage by knocking her to the bottom throughout a protest over the police killing of Winston Smith in 2021.

Amy Bligh, a licensed drug and alcohol counselor, alleges she was shoved by officers Nicholas Anderson and Andrew Ruden on June 4, 2021 within the Uptown neighborhood, hitting her head on the pavement. She suffered a gash to her head that needed to be stapled shut, and led to hundreds of {dollars} in medical bills and misplaced wages.

The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in federal courtroom on the 46-year-old’s behalf, claiming extreme pressure was utilized by Anderson and Ruden. Bligh additionally claims the 2 violated her civil rights.

In accordance with the courtroom submitting, Bligh purchased round $300-worth of pizza and bottled water for protesters and was taking part in a “peaceable protest.” Shortly after the pizza arrived, a swath of MPD officers confirmed up on bicycles. 

The officers lined up and commenced to advance in direction of protesters, “demanding they transfer again and bodily transferring them again,” the lawsuit reads.

Bligh tried to seize her issues, which included the water and pizza. Nevertheless, the officers bought between her and the objects and ignored her requests to retrieve them. The submitting claims Bligh complied and continued strolling away from the officers.

Bligh rotated to say one thing whereas strolling and “each Anderson and Ruden pushed Bligh within the chest or higher arms inflicting her to topple backwards, fall down and strike her head exhausting, knocking her unconscious and leaving her bleeding on the road.”

The lawsuit reiterated that Bligh wasn’t a risk in the course of the interplay with authorities.

Bligh additionally wasn’t given quick support whereas she was on the bottom. The damage required about 12 staples and Bligh was identified with a traumatic mind damage. She was hospitalized for 2 days and discharged from the Hennepin County Medical Heart on June 6, 2021.

In accordance with the lawsuit, Bligh incurred over $23,000 in medical payments referring to the incident.

Anderson and Ruden allegedly filed “false and deceptive” police experiences on the matter, claiming “Bligh raised her proper hand in a fist and someway appeared threatening to them.” Regardless of the report, no costs had been filed towards Bligh.

Bligh and her attorneys are looking for to say punitive damages attributable to the 2 officers. An official quantity shall be decided later as a jury trial has been demanded within the case.

“This swimsuit is about holding the defendant officers accountable for utilizing pressure towards a peaceable protester — there was merely no cause for them to push Ms. Bligh down. Sadly, now we have seen a sample of the Minneapolis Police Division magnifying native tragedies by injuring people peacefully demonstrating towards police injustice,” stated Ryan Vettleson, one of many attorneys representing Bligh.

A metropolis spokesperson supplied the next assertion to Convey Me The Information on Friday:

“The Metropolis Lawyer’s Workplace simply discovered of the lawsuit and is reviewing the Criticism.”

Town and its police division have confronted a large number of lawsuits relationship again to 2020-2021 over protests surrounding the police killings of Smith and George Floyd. The newest settlement reached was $600,000 to 12 protesters injured on the Floyd protests in 2020.

The Minnesota Division of Human Rights discovered via a two-year investigation the police division had engaged in an illegal “sample or follow of race discrimination” over a interval of a minimum of a decade, and located town’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 2022.