Irlbeck Settles Case for $365,000 Against City of Minneapolis
/Minneapolis to pay $365,000 for police shooting man in the head with rubber bullet during George Floyd protests
Abdi Adam, then 56, said he was waiting for a bus and had nothing to do with protests outside the Third Precinct the day before it was set ablaze by a mob.
By Dave Orrick Star Tribune
June 27, 2024 — 6:10pm
David Joles
A police officer fires a rubber bullet from atop the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct station during unrest following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
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Minneapolis will pay $365,000 to a man who was struck in the head by a rubber bullet fired by police during the unrest following George Floyd's murder more than four years ago.
Abdi Adam, then 56, said he was waiting for a bus and had nothing to do with protests outside the Third Precinct police station the day before it was overrun and set ablaze by a mob on May 28, 2020.
The payment settles a lawsuit Adam filed last year and was approved 8-0 by the City Council on Thursday afternoon after a closed-door meeting with attorneys. Council members made no public statements before the vote.
It's the latest in a string of payments totaling millions of dollars that the city has made to people, including journalists and bystanders, who were injured by police during the protests and riots in actions that have since been described as a pattern of unconstitutional behavior by the U.S. Department of Justice.
According Adam's lawsuit, peaceful protests were taking place outside the south Minneapolis police station at dusk four days after Floyd was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin. Police had given no order to disperse as Adam, a math tutor who had fled Somalia as a refugee around 1994, was "peacefully waiting for the bus."
Without warning, a police officer fired a 40-millimeter rubber projectile from the roof of the station, striking Adam in the forehead. A photograph accompanying the lawsuit shows protesters helping Adam, who is holding a bandage to his head and face, en route to a hospital.
The identity of the officer who fired the projectile hasn't been made public, according to the court file. According to Adam's complaint, which refers to officers as John Does, no reports were made by officers, and no police came to Adam's aid.
But Adam's attorney said his team determined who the officer was.
"We know who they are, but we settled before we added them to an amended complaint," attorney Paul Applebaum said in an interview Thursday.
Applebaum said his team spent hours poring over videos, including police body camera footage, as well as police audio, to "triangulate" the moment the shot was fired that struck Adam. "It took us a year," he said.
"There were no officers named in the lawsuit, and there is no public personnel data," Greta Bergstrom, a spokeswoman for the city, said Thursday when asked whether any officers involved had been or would be disciplined.
According to the lawsuit, Adam sustained a concussion and neurological injuries, among other trauma and medical bills. "A horrible indentation is still on the center of his forehead," Applebaum said.
Among other payments Minneapolis has made over excessive force claims:
$2.4 million to Soren Stevenson, who lost his eye after he was struck by a 40mm projectile while standing with other protesters on a closed ramp near Interstate 35W.
$1.5 million to Jaleel Stallings, who was struck by a rubber bullet fired from an unmarked police van during the unrest. When Stallings fired back, not realizing the vehicle's occupants were police officers, he was beaten despite his immediate surrender.
$1.8 million to two women who said police shot them in the face with projectiles while they peacefully protested.
$600,000 to freelance journalist Linda Tirado, who was blinded in one eye by a police projectile while covering protests of Floyd's killing. She's now in hospice.
$500,000 to Jaime Bunkholt, a photographer from Atlanta, who alleged an officer fired a rubber bullet from the roof of the Third Precinct that hit her in the back of the head.
$57,900 to Graciela Cisneros, who suffered an eye injury when a police officer fired a projectile at her as she and her partner were walking home after a demonstration.
$32,314 to Ericka Khounedaleth, who said police officers yanked her from her car at gunpoint and pushed her to the pavement.
Staff writer Kim Hyatt contributed to this report.
Dave Orrick covers Minneapolis city government for the Star Tribune.
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