Minneapolis to pay more than $700,000 to protesters over police brutality

Minneapolis City Council approved settlements that exceed more than $700,000 to resolve complaints filed against police for using excessive force on peaceful demonstrators during protests against the killings of George Floyd and Winston Smith in 2020 and 2021.

The largest settlement included a total of $600,000 to 12 people who filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court, claiming the police department used inhumane tactics while they were peacefully protesting immediately following Floyd's murder.

Each plaintiff named in the aforementioned suit receives $50,000, among them Minneapolis civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. It centered around the police response following a protest on I-35W that infamously saw a tanker truck barrel towards the crowd on May 31, 2020.

Other lawsuits settled on Thursday include a woman who was arrested while walking on an Uptown sidewalk following the police killing of Winston Smith; a woman who was shot with a rubber bullet that required surgery during the Floyd protests; and another woman who was arrested while recording a protest but not participating in it on a Facebook Live.

They represent the latest in a growing number of legal settlements the city has approved because of the actions of police during civil unrest in 2020 and 2021, with more than $6 million in settlements approved by the city, not including the $27 million settlement the city agreed with the family of George Floyd.

Details of each 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 were the plaintiffs in the case.
• They claimed the Minneapolis Police Department used excessive force against peaceful protesters, such as the deployment of pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets.
• Court documents say on May 31, 2020, a majority of the plaintiffs named were protesting on the Interstate 35W bridge when a tanker truck came barreling towards the crowd, forcing people to "run for cover." Noting that, police were accused of focusing solely on the driver's condition and not checking for any injuries amongst the protesters.
• Police were also seen on recorded video "spraying tear gas and pepper spray indiscriminately out of their squad car windows while driving through peaceful protests."
• The lawsuit claimed a violation of people's 1st, 4th, and 14th Amendment rights, which include freedom of speech and assembly; to be free from excessive force and false arrest; and not to be subject to official governmental policies which violate their constitutional rights.

$100,000 settlement

• Brenda Smith filed a lawsuit against the city for a severe injury to her foot sustained by a rubber bullet, which required ankle surgery.
• She was protesting with her daughter following the death of Floyd.
• Smith claimed that she developed PTSD when she was shot by the rubber bullet on May 30, 2020.
• Smith stated her 14th Amendment rights were violated, as she said police did not identify themselves prior to shooting the rubber bullets at the underpass of Interstate 35W and Lake Street.

$13,000 settlement

• Deeqa Hussein filed a lawsuit after she was unlawfully arrested a day after police killed Winston Smith in Uptown.
• Hussein was walking on a sidewalk in the West Lake Street and Hennepin Avenue area on June 5, 2021, not aware that police were telling people to leave the area as she was inside a building at the time of the announcements.
• She was arrested while standing on a sidewalk talking with friends.
• Mass arrests were made in the area at the time without any probable cause, court documents state.

$10,000 settlement

• Laura DeShane filed a lawsuit after she was arrested for recording a Facebook Live video of a peaceful demonstration in a public park on Nov. 3 2020.
• DeShane claimed that police attempted to arrest everyone involved in the march, "whether officers had probable cause to arrest each person."
• DeShane wasn't a part of the protest but was arrested without any warnings given.
• She also was subjected "to unduly tight handcuffs" by the arresting officers. She suffered an injury to one of her hands as a result.

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights found through a two-year investigation the police department had engaged in an unlawful "pattern or practice of race discrimination" over a period of at least a decade, and found the city's response to the civil unrest of 2020 to be uncoordinated, disorganized and plagued with poor communication.

Hennepin County prosecutors said MPD officers are "much less professional and respectful than officers from other police departments" in the report, released in April.