Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jaime Bunkholt, an Atlanta-based photographer, alleged in her federal lawsuit that an unidentified Minneapolis police officer fired a rubber bullet that hit her in the back of the head. Bunkholt sustained permanent and temporary injuries, including a concussion, from the attack. The Minneapolis City Council agreed to settle Bunkholt’s lawsuit by paying out $500,000.

Jackson Jr. and Stallings were in a parking lot in Minneapolis in May 2020 when a Minneapolis SWAT team member fired 40mm plastic projectiles which hit Stallings in the chest. Body camera video footage shows that the SWAT team drove around in an unmarked white cargo van, firing plastic projectiles at people out after a curfew imposed in the wake of protests over the murder of George Floyd. Stalling mistook the officers for white supremacists and responded to being shot at by firing back with his pistol. Stallings, an Army veteran, was acquitted of all charges and testified that he missed on purpose. The officers jumped out of the van and, even though Stallings and Jackson both tried to surrender, and video shows them on their knees with their hands up, they beat Stallings for 30 seconds, and beat and tased Jackson for two minutes. 

Tirado traveled to Minneapolis on May 29, 2020 to cover the protests sparked as a result of George Floyd’s murder. She said in her lawsuit that police targeted her as she took photos outside a police precinct in south Minneapolis. According to the complaint, officers ignored her press credentials and fired a foam bullet at her, striking her in the face and shattering her protective goggles.

In March 2021, McKizzie, who was 17 years old at the time, was working out at a gym and went outside after hearing loud noises. He was stopped, shoved aggressively, and punched by Officer William Gregory. The other officers grabbed McKizzie by his hoodie and pulled on him, and then pinned him to the ground until he was handcuffed. Officers then took him to a local detention center and later placed him in an ambulance, with two sets of handcuffs, so he could get to a hospital. He was later taken back to the detention center and never charged. This incident was recorded by the officers’ body cameras and also by a civilian, and an internal affairs investigation was launched soon after.

Minneapolis Police Department officers fired rubber bullets at protesters without warning during a protest in 2020 in Minneapolis, with one bullet shooting out the eye of Soren Stevenson, who subsequently sued the department. He bled for months and suffered permanent damage. Stevenson accepted the $2.4 million settlement in February 2022.

The payout is another act in a series of police brutality payouts by Minneapolis: it was only two years ago when the city paid out $20 million to the family of Justine Ruszczyk, a woman killed by then-police officer Mohamed Noor.

The city paid Cisneros and her attorneys $57,900. Cisneros suffered an eye injury when a police officer fired a projectile at her while she and her partner were walking home after a demonstration.

The case arose out of an incident where SWAT officers threw a flash-bang grenade into Burt’s car in violation of police department policy on the use of these devices. Officers did not announce themselves prior to encountering Burt and did not file a search warrant for Burt’s car. Burt had a friend in the vehicle who was wanted in connection with a nonviolent drug charge. Police did not find anything illegal in the car. Burt suffered severe burns when the flash-bang grenade exploded.

Officer Clinton Toles, who was off duty at the time, assaulted McDonough at a bar in 2017. Toles identified himself as a police officer to McDonough. Two city officials who approved the settlement noted publicly that similarly situated settlements had done little to curb police misconduct in Minneapolis over the years and that settlement may have come to be viewed by officials as the cost of doing business.