Star Tribune
City Council rejects $145K PTSD claim by former MPD sergeant involved in Jaleel Stallings beating
When a Minneapolis police officer claims post-traumatic stress disorder, they are likely to be met with a sizeable check from the city.
Elected officials have approved hundreds of such disability claims — even for cops with pending discipline related to serious misconduct on the force — at the urging of their attorneys.
But in a 4-1 vote without discussion on Monday, council members struck down the first proposed PTSD settlement by a police officer to come before the body in recent years.
Members of the Policy and Government Oversight Committee (POGO) rejected a $145,000 worker’s compensation payment to former Minneapolis police Sgt. Andrew Bittell, whose role in beating a Black man amid civil unrest days after George Floyd’s murder resulted in a costly payout by the city.
In an interview, Council Member Robin Wonsley accused some MPD officers of filing disability claims as a means to flee the embattled department amid efforts to transform policing in the aftermath of Floyd’s killing — and questioned why the city hasn’t fought harder to challenge some of the most egregious cases.
Since June 1, 2020, the city has shelled out more than $24 million in worker’s compensation settlements to roughly 150 Minneapolis police officers, according to a Star Tribune review of City Council minutes.
“There has been continuous concerns from the public around, ‘Why aren’t we challenging these claims?'” said Wonsley, who has consistently opposed the settlements. “I’m really hoping that our city attorneys use this as an opportunity to rethink their litigation approach.”
Bittell, a former SWAT leader whose unit targeted civilians out past curfew on May 30, 2020, was caught on body camera footage instructing officers to fire rubber bullets at protesters without warning.
“Alright, we’re rolling down Lake Street. The first [expletives] we see, we’re just hammering ’em with 40s,” Bittell said, referring to the non-lethal rounds.
That night, they shot at Jaleel Stallings, a 29-year-old Army veteran and legal gun owner, who returned fire at the SWAT team’s unmarked van in self-defense, not realizing they were police. A swarm of officers descended on Stallings, who surrendered once police identified themselves. But Bittell and officer Justin Stetson continued punching and kicking him as he lay prone on the ground with a fractured eye socket.
The officers testified in court that the force was justified because Stallings was actively resisting arrest. That account later proved false with the release of video evidence.
Stetson eventually pled guilty to assault and misconduct charges — but only after a Hennepin County jury acquitted Stallings of attempted murder in the case and he won a $1.5 million settlement from the city.
Following Stallings’ acquittal, the administration placed Bittell on non-enforcement duties as his own disciplinary case wound through the Office of Police Conduct Review, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. He separated from the city a few months later, on Jan. 13, 2022, when he had three open complaints against him.
Bittell was just one of dozens of MPD officers who severed ties with the department while disciplinary cases for misconduct were still pending.
City Council members have publicly and repeatedly expressed concern over the escalating settlements for officers, even as most of them have voted to approve the payouts — often with price tags ranging from $100,000 to $200,000 each. City attorneys have long advised that rejecting such claims could lead to even more costly litigation.
“These payouts are turning out to be pretty untenable,” Council Member Jeremiah Ellison told colleagues during a council meeting in April 2022. Even so, Ellison has continued to urge colleagues to approve them because he understands that “we either pay the entire claim or we pay these settlements.”
“In the spirit of saving money, that is why I vote for them,” Ellison, who chairs of the POGO committee, said last month as they weighed whether to approve another round of $1.4 million in worker’s compensation claims.
He noted that a recent state law change requiring public safety workers suffering from PTSD to undergo 24 to 32 weeks of treatment before they can be eligible for state disability pension benefits might help rein in those costs.
Minneapolis has spent nearly $34 million since June 1, 2020, to cover wage replacement, medical payments, settlements, and other claim-associated expenses for MPD employees, according to city data.
On Monday, Council members Wonsley, Jason Chavez, Emily Koski and Andrew Johnson all rejected Bittell’s claim and moved to return the matter to city staff. (Ellison was absent while attending an out-of-state conference).
Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw cast the lone vote to approve, later telling the Star Tribune that she was continuing to follow legal guidance.
“We’ve been instructed by our lawyers that this is different than a lawsuit against someone who violated Jaleel Stallings’ rights,” Vetaw said. “We’ve seen the video, we know there was a lie in this case. This officer is no longer here, but legally the council is bound to [workers’] comp settlements.”
Immediately following the roll call, deputy city attorney Erik Nilsson reminded elected officials that “prior misconduct is largely not relevant to whether an employer is obligated to pay benefits.”
Northern State 35, Concordia (St. Paul) 34: Wyatt Block’s 2-yard TD run and the PAT with 10 seconds remaining lifted the Wolves past the host Golden Bears. Block’s touchdown capped an 11-play, 72-yard drive by the Wolves, who trailed 24-7 in the second quarter. Jeff Isotalo-McGuire’s 34-yard field goal with three minutes, 32 seconds remaining gave the Golden Bears a 34-28 lead.
Winona State 31, Bemidji State 28: Cade Stenstrom rushed for two TDs and passed for 150 yards and a TD to help the host Warriors outlast the Beavers. Stenstrom’s 1-yard TD run and the PAT with two minutes, 10 seconds remaining gave the Warriors a 31-21 lead. The Beavers responded with an 11-play, 93-yard drive to pull within 31-28 with 18 seconds remaining but the Warriors recovered the ensuing kickoff.
Div. I-AA
North Dakota State 59, Murray State 6: The top-ranked Bison built a 42-3 lead in the first half and went on to defeat the host Racers in Murray, Ken. CharMar Brown ran for 97 yards and three TDs for the Bison.
South Dakota State 20, South Dakota 17 (OT): Amar Johnson’s 3-yard TD run in overtime lifted the host Jackrabbits to the victory. The Coyotes opened the OT with a 40-yard field goal.
Youngstown State 41, North Dakota 40 (OT): The host Penguins went first in OT and scored and then stopped North Dakota’s two-point conversion to hold on for the victory. The Penguins sent the game into OT on a 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining.
Div. III
Augsburg 35, St. Olaf 34 (OT): The host Auggies stopped a two-point conversion in overtime to outlast the Oles. The Auggies went first in the overtime and scored on a 25-yard pass from Ryan Harvey to Tyrone Wilson. It was Harvey’s fifth TD pass — the fourth to Wilson. After the Auggies’ PAT, the Oles scored on a 25-yard TD pass from Theo Doran to Braden Menz. But the Oles’ pass attempt for the conversion failed.
After splitting their two-game West Coast trip to begin the season, the Wolves improved to 2-1 with a 112-101 win over Toronto in their home opener. It was a wire-to-wire win that featured some strong bursts of play from the Wolves and other times when their decision-making was suspect. But those moments when they were on, specifically the start of the game and most of the third quarter, were enough to carry them against a shorthanded Raptors team that was without RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown and Immanuel Quickley.
Julius Randle had 24 points while Anthony Edwards had 24 on 21 shot attempts. Donte DiVincenzo had 16 off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return, though he was in the bench area for the final minutes after going to the locker room briefly.
The Wolves’ starting lineup had its best stretch of basketball on the season after that unit started off sluggish in the first two games. Mike Conley, who was 3-for-16 to open the year, hit two early threes to set the tone, though Conley would finish 2-for-8.
Donte DiVincenzo replaced him at point guard halfway through the quarter and continued the hot shooting from the point guard slot with three threes of his own. The Wolves forced five Toronto turnovers and had a 32-18 lead after one.
Coach Chris Finch toyed with some different lineup combinations in the first half as he had Conley and DiVincenzo begin the quarter together while having Joe Ingles run the point later in the quarter. It led to an uneven second, and the Wolves led 56-44 at halftime.
But the Wolves played inspired coming out of the break. Jaden McDaniels, who didn’t take a shot in the first half, had nine points in the opening minutes of the third. Edwards hit a pair of threes as they pushed their lead to 22. The Wolves weren’t sharp closing the night, and the Raptors had the game within right inside of two minutes, but the Wolves had built enough of a cushion.
Rudy Gobert. Gobert had 15 points and 13 rebounds and was the beneficiary of some lobs from his teammates like Edwards, Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Joe Ingles. Gobert also finished with four blocks.
Gobert had two blocks on one possession in the fourth quarter that got the crowd off its feet and Gobert pounding his chest. Gobert blocked D.J. Carton and Jamison Battle.
Star Tribune
Trump denigrates Detroit while appealing for votes in a suburb of Michigan’s largest city
NOVI, Mich. — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.
”I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is ”great,” but he thinks it ”needs help.”
The Republican nominee for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that the ”whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Democrat Kamala Harris wins the presidency. That comment drew harsh criticism from Democrats who praised the city for its recent drop in crime and growing population.
Trump’s stop in Novi, after an event Friday night in Traverse City, is a sign of Michigan’s importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled for a rally in Kalamazoo later Saturday with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day that early in-person voting becomes available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters. Trump won the state in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden carried it four years later.
Michigan is home to major car companies and the nation’s largest concentration of members of the United Auto Workers. It also has a significant Arab American population, and many have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
During his rally, Trump spotlighted local Muslim and Arab American leaders who joined him on stage. These voters ”could turn the election one way or the other,” Trump said, adding that he was banking on ”overwhelming support” from those voters in Michigan.
“When President Trump was president, it was peace,” said one of those leaders, Mayor Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights. ”We didn’t have any issues. There was no wars.”
While Trump is trying to capitalize on the community’s frustration with the Democratic administration, he has a history of policies hostile to this group, including a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in office and a pledge to expand it to include refugees from Gaza if he wins on Nov. 5.
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