Star Tribune
Fired Minneapolis police officer sues for defamation
A former Minneapolis police officer is suing the city and Chief Brian O’Hara for defamation and wrongful termination after his separation from the department in 2022 left his reputation “in tatters,” according to court documents.
Attorneys for Tyler Timberlake, who was hired away from a police department in Fairfax County, Va., say the public spectacle surrounding his firing has made it impossible for him to find work.
The attorneys also say the city violated the Minnesota Whistleblower Act and the state’s Government Data Practices Act for repeatedly and publicly saying he was under investigation.
“In short, O’Hara and the (Minneapolis Police Department) told the public exactly what Timberlake was accused of, and then terminated his employment,” they wrote in the lawsuit.
Timberlake was terminated in Minneapolis in July after reports surfaced that as an officer in Virginia he was accused of assaulting a Black man in 2020. A jury found him not guilty.
The episode sparked protests and criticism of O’Hara, who signed off on Timberlake’s hiring even though he knew about the case.
Timberlake seeks back pay and that the termination be scrubbed from his record. He also wants the ability to be reinstated to the force and at least $250,000 in damages.
Minneapolis police referred requests for comment to the city. Spokesman Casper Hill said the city attorney’s office “is reviewing the complaint.”
Timberlake’s attorneys say he was defamed this year in two news releases issued by the city in which O’Hara said he was ordering a full review of the Police Department’s hiring processes. Those assessments, the suit says, implied that O’Hara didn’t know about the Virginia incident and that it was “an error in the [department’s] hiring process that led to Timberlake’s hiring.”
The suit also says O’Hara and the Police Department implied in statements that Timberlake tried to conceal the incident. However, Timberlake argues he was forthcoming about the case.
His attorneys say the city violated the state whistleblower act by firing him after he alerted several city officials that O’Hara’s comments were defamatory.
In their argument for wrongful termination, Timberlake’s attorneys say O’Hara “made a clear and definite promise” that the Virginia incident would not affect his employment in Minneapolis.
“It was reasonably foreseeable to O’Hara and the City that Timberlake would rely on that promise in resigning from his civil service protected job with the (Fairfax County) PD and accepting employment with MPD,” the suit states.
Two men are dead and one woman was injured in a shooting at a homeless encampment in south Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, police said. It was the second shooting at a Minneapolis encampment this weekend.
At about 2:20 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a reported shooting in the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue near the railroad tracks at the small encampment between Snelling and Hiawatha avenues. At the scene, officers found two men with fatal gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Garrett Parten Minneapolis Police spokesman. Responders rendered aid, but both men died at the scene.
A woman was found at the scene with life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital where she was being treated Sunday night, he said. Police have yet to say whether the three were living at the encampment.
Officers detained three people, who Parten said have since been released after police found they were not believed to be involved in the shooting. No suspects had been identified as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
The shooting is the second at a southside homeless encampment this weekend. One man died and two were critically injured early Saturday at an encampment shooting near E. 21st Street and 15th Avenue S. On Sunday, the man was identified as Deven Leonard Caston, 31, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“We don’t know if there’s a connection between this homeless encampment shooting and the one that occurred yesterday,” Parten said on Sunday. “That is a consideration of the investigation. We can’t rule it out.”
Ward 12 Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, who represents the area and lives nearby, was at the site of the shooting Sunday afternoon. She said officials need information about what happened to better understand how to address situations like this long-term.
“This is an absolute tragedy, and this type of violence should never occur within our city,” she said. “It really makes me think about how we need to look at this more systemically and not just take a whack-a-mole approach and expect the problem to go away.
During Sunday’s Twitch stream, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez played Madden while discussing making homebuying more accessible, building affordable housing, eliminating student loan debt and raising the federal minimum wage.
After the match, Walz showed off his Sega skills in a round of “Crazy Taxi,” the Y2K-era racing game where gamers play as a taxi driver picking up passengers and taking them to their destination for cash.
Walz called himself a “first-generation gamer” and recalled playing “Crazy Taxi” when he bought a Sega Dreamcast. He also mentioned the Minnesota Star Tribune’s coverage of how his old game console was sold and ended up with a Plymouth resident, who still has it.
Afterward, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez watched a short clip of Trump denying on Rogan’s podcast that he lost the 2020 presidential election. Democrat Joe Biden won that year.
Ocasio-Cortez during the livestream also showed viewers her farm on the cozy, indie game Stardew Valley. Walz said the game reminded him of Minnesota: “You’ve got mining,” he said. “You’ve got agriculture. You’ve got snow.”
Before Walz headed out to a rally in Nevada, he pleaded with viewers to vote. More than 12,000 viewers tuned into the livestream on Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitch channel. More watched from Harris’ channel.
”Hey guys, they’re now scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s attorneys, who draped a sparkly ”MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke. ”And you know what they’re claiming, guys? It’s very scary. They’re claiming we’re going to go after them and try and put them in jail. Well, ain’t that rich?”
Declared Hogan in his characteristic raspy growl: ”I don’t see no stinkin’ Nazis in here.”
Trump has denounced the four criminal indictments brought against him as politically motivated. He has ramped up his denunciations in recent weeks of ”enemies from within,” naming domestic political rivals, and suggested he would use the military to go after them. Harris, in turn, has called Trump a ”fascist.”
The arena was full hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were overflowing with Trump supporters in red ”Make America Great Again” hats. There was a heavy security presence. Streets were blocked off and access to Penn Station was restricted.
In the crowd was Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump backer from Queens, the borough where Trump grew up. The 64-year-old said it was appropriate for Trump to be speaking at a place bills itself as ”the world’s most famous arena.”
”It just goes to show ya that he has a bigger following of any man that has ever lived,” D’Agostino said.
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