UPDATE
VICTORY! November 30, 2022: The ACLU-MN settled the case with the city of Minneapolis on behalf of protesters mistreated by police. The settlement includes a $600,000 payment for plaintiffs and numerous police reforms.
March 12, 2021: People injured by police while peacefully protesting George Floyd’s murder will get their day in court. A federal judge ruled that the ACLU-MN's lawsuit filed on the protesters’ behalf can continue.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and Fish & Richardson filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of protesters who were injured during peaceful demonstrations over the murder of George Floyd.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota against the City of Minneapolis, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, police union head Bob Kroll, Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington, and Minnesota State Patrol Colonel Matthew Langer.
The lawsuit alleges that the Minneapolis Police and the Minnesota State Patrol used unnecessary and excessive force to suppress people’s First Amendment rights to assemble peacefully and speak out against injustice. Peaceful protesters were teargassed, pepper-sprayed and shot with foam bullets and flashbangs to intimidate them and quash the protests. Law enforcement often fired without warning or orders to leave.
