Name: Minneapolis cops, State Patrol targeted journalists, protesters with violence, lawsuits say
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Minneapolis cops, State Patrol targeted journalists, protesters with violence, lawsuits say

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By | and | Pioneer PressTwo separate lawsuits seeking class-action status allege law enforcement officers targeted journalists and used unnecessary force against protesters during demonstrations in Minneapolis over the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody.The American Civil Liberties Union and freelance reporter Jared Goyette filed a lawsuit Tuesday night in U.S. District Court in Minnesota alleging First Amendment violations by the city of Minneapolis, city police leaders and the heads of the State Patrol and Minnesota Department of Public Safety.The complaint alleges officers specifically targeted journalists with violence and arrest and used excessive force in retaliation for their reporting.“Over the past week, the Minneapolis Police and the Minnesota State Patrol have tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed, shot in the face with rubber bullets, arrested without cause, and threatened journalists at gunpoint, all after these journalists identified themselves and were otherwise clearly engaged in their reporting duties,” the complaint reads.“These are not isolated incidents. The past week has been marked by an extraordinary escalation of unlawful force deliberately targeting reporters.”Goyette, a freelance reporter who covered the protests for the Washington Post, alleges a Minneapolis police officer drew his gun on him. Separately, he says, a police officer on May 27 shot him in the face with a less-lethal ballistic while he was standing alone and carrying a notepad, camera and monopod.Goyette was shot, he said, while trying to document what had happened to a man who was more seriously hurt.When I was hit by a police projectile, an incident that is now part of an class-action lawsuit against the MPD, I was trying to document what was happing to this man, and the efforts of people like to keep him alive. Never got a chance to finish.— Jared Goyette (@JaredGoyette)Goyette said in an interview Wednesday that he hopes the lawsuit will bring to light why law enforcement officers have threatened and harmed journalists.“I am hoping that with this case, we can understand more … about what went into people’s decisions and ultimately hold them accountable for those decisions as needed,” he said. “That’s very much in the spirit of what I try to do as a journalist. It turns out that when you have a lawsuit, you cannot only interview people, but interview them on the stand and make them swear under oath.”Goyette said he was reluctant to sue but the ACLU told him they were taking action on behalf of protesters, as well.“Hopefully, the lawsuit may make it safer for journalists to do their jobs,” he said. “But other people are also being impacted, and this is part of an overall process to seek answers.”The complaint alleges numerous other incidents in which officers arrested or used force against journalists.It alleges that on May 29:On May 30:On May 31:The complaint alleges Minneapolis police and state troopers fired both Skat Shells and Direct Impact Rounds at journalists despite warnings that they can cause “serious injury or death.”Defendants in the lawsuit include Lt. Bob Kroll, who heads the Minneapolis police union. The complaint calls Kroll the department’s “de facto policymaker” and cites his recent letter to rank-and-file officers complaining about the “liberal media.”Gov. Tim Walz at a Sunday news conference called the officers’ treatment of journalists “unacceptable.”In a statement Wednesday, the State Patrol said it “recognizes the importance of the media in covering the civil unrest” and that “it can be difficult for officers to distinguish journalists from those who are violating a curfew order or not complying with commands to leave an area.”The agency said it’s “reviewing the incidents involving our troopers in an effort to prevent similar incidents in the future.”The city of Minneapolis did not respond to a request for comment.Separately, attorney David Madgett and protester Annette Williams filed a federal class-action lawsuit Tuesday night against the city of Minneapolis on behalf of any peaceful protesters who were injured and now are reluctant to “speak out against police violence against citizens.”That complaint, too, details incidents in which police officers used tear gas and percussion grenades and fired projectiles at protesters.“This ‘corral and combat’ strategy has no tactical purpose other than injuring otherwise peaceful protesters,” the complaint reads.Williams, an African American woman from St. Paul, says she was peacefully protesting on a public sidewalk May 28 when a chain of police vehicles rode by and an officer sprayed a chemical irritant out the window at Williams and her daughter.Well THAT was uncalled for.— Jennifer Brooks (@stribrooks)We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. 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By | and | Pioneer PressTwo separate lawsuits seeking class-action status allege law enforcement officers targeted journalists and used unnecessary force against protesters during demonstrations in Minneapolis over the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody.The American Civil Liberties Union and freelance reporter Jared Goyette filed a lawsuit Tuesday night in U.S. District Court in Minnesota alleging First Amendment violations by the city of Minneapolis, city police leaders and the heads of the State Patrol and Minnesota Department of Public Safety.The complaint alleges officers...

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Minneapolis cops, State Patrol targeted journalists, protesters with violence, lawsuits say

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