(C) Minnesota Reformer This story was originally published by Minnesota Reformer and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Court: Minneapolis not on the hook to defend some cops sued for conduct during Floyd protests • Minnesota Reformer [1] ['Mike Mosedale', 'Deena Winter', 'More From Author', 'October', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img'] Date: 2025-10-28 The city of Minneapolis does not need to provide a legal defense for five police officers who are being sued over brutal crowd control tactics following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday. Under state law, municipalities are obligated to defend and indemnify employees in most instances, but that duty comes with exceptions: cases involving “malfeasance in office, willful neglect of duty, or bad faith.” “There is evidence in the records for these appeals — in particular the footage from multiple officers’ body-worn cameras — to support the city’s determinations that [the officers] ordered and used excessive and indiscriminate force in violation of the police department’s policies and that, in doing so, intentionally or recklessly failed to exercise due diligence in the performance of their official duties,” Judge Elizabeth Bentley wrote for the three-judge panel. The five cops — Sgt. Matthew Severance, Sgt. Andrew Bittell, Sgt. Ronald Stenerson, Officer Christopher Cushenbery and Officer Kristopher Dauble — are currently being sued in federal court for firing pepper spray and multiple rounds of 40 mm “less lethal” ammunition at a group of people who were gathered in the parking lot of the Stop N Shop gas station on Lake Street in south Minneapolis on the night of May 30, 2020. At the time, a city curfew order was in place, owing to the widespread protests, riots and arson fires that erupted in the wake of the killing of Floyd. According to the federal lawsuit, the six plaintiffs were friends and family members of the owner of the Stop N Shop, which had already been looted. While they were standing guard over the premises, they say, police rolled up in an unmarked van and, without warning, began firing. Immediately prior to the encounter, Bittell, who was leading a “chemical agent response team,” offered an instruction to his fellow officers: “Alright, we’re rolling down Lake Street. The first f***ers we see, we’re just hammering ‘em with 40s.” Stenerson, meanwhile, was recorded spraying a chemical agent in the face of a reporter for Vice News, even though the reporter had identified himself as press. Following an internal investigation into the incident, Stenerson was fired. The same night, Bittell was involved in the beating of Jaleel Stallings, who settled with the city for $1.5 million to compensate for his ordeal. Stallings got a fractured eye socket and an attempted murder charge, of which he was acquitted. While cities rarely refuse to defend an employee against a lawsuit, it’s not without precedent. Earlier this month, the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from another former Minneapolis cop, Alexander Brown, who wanted the city’s backing in a lawsuit over his use of a chokehold on a looting suspect. While the appeals court’s decision may come as a relief to Minneapolis taxpayers, it’s likely a setback for the individuals who are suing the city. That’s because it is typically more difficult to collect settlements from private citizens, who may have limited assets, than from the government. Eric Rice, the attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Reformer in a statement that he would “continue our lawsuit to hold those responsible accountable.” “We hope that the city will use its efforts to discipline those responsible and change the policies and culture that led to these violent and dangerous actions by its officers,” he added. “Without those corrections, the city’s refusal to indemnify would merely be passing the buck to avoid the cost of the harm done by its officers.” Rice said his clients would continue to pursue a separate claim against the city in connection with the incident. [END] --- [1] Url: https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/10/28/court-minneapolis-not-on-the-hook-to-defend-some-cops-sued-for-conduct-during-floyd-protests/ Published and (C) by Minnesota Reformer Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/MnReformer/