Freelance photojournalist arrested while covering Minneapolis protest

Photojournalist Craig Lassig and multiple other journalists assaulted or arrested by law enforcement during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020–21 will receive a $950,000 settlement from the City of Minneapolis. The city council approved the agreement on Feb. 8, 2024.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota had filed the class-action suit in June 2020 on behalf of lead plaintiff Jared Goyette against the city and various members of law enforcement, including officials at the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota State Patrol.

Over the following year and a half, the Communications Workers of America union and eight other journalists joined the suit; one later withdrew. The union will receive a portion of the settlement award.

Journalists who covered the protests in Minnesota over the police killings of George Floyd in 2020 and Daunte Wright in 2021 reported being violently attacked by law enforcement at the demonstrations, including with rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas.

Lassig was arrested while documenting a May 2020 protest in Minneapolis and charged with breaking a city curfew order that specifically exempted members of the media. The charge was dropped three months later.

The plaintiffs reached an earlier settlement with the Minnesota State Patrol in February 2022, winning $825,000 and a permanent injunction barring state troopers from arresting or assaulting journalists.

Separately, the city and police department are bound by a consent decree with the Department of Justice, which reported in June 2023 that its multiyear investigation into the MPD had exposed a number of civil rights violations.

In the latest settlement, however, neither the city nor the police department agreed to any policy changes.

“While this settlement is a crucial step toward protecting freedom of the press, we are troubled that the city of Minneapolis was unwilling to acknowledge any wrongdoing despite MPD’s long history of excessive force,” said Teresa Nelson, legal director for the ACLU of Minnesota. “There clearly is more work to be done. Journalists who are covering police brutality should never be met with more police brutality.”

Lassig did not respond to a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

The journalists’ suit against a former sheriff and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office continues, according to the ACLU, which said oral arguments are expected this May or June in an appeal over the sheriff’s bid for qualified immunity.

Journalists represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota reached a settlement with the Minnesota State Patrol on Feb. 8, 2022. In addition to an award of $825,000, the agreement includes a permanent injunction barring MSP troopers from arresting or assaulting journalists.

The ACLU filed the class-action lawsuit in June 2020 on behalf of freelance journalist Jared Goyette. The Communications Workers of America — the largest journalist union in the country — and eight other journalists, including freelance photojournalist Craig Lassig, were added as plaintiffs over the next year and a half.

According to the ACLU, the settlement agreement includes a 6-year injunction prohibiting:

• Arresting, threatening to arrest, and/or using physical force or chemical agents against journalists;
• Ordering journalists to stop photographing, recording or observing a protest;
• Making journalists disperse; and
• Seizing or intentionally damaging equipment such as photo, audio or video gear.

The settlement also includes amending MSP policy so that allegations of aggressions against the press are considered “serious misconduct,” triggering an Internal Affairs investigation, and that independent experts review all complaints alleging mistreatment of journalists during Black Lives Matter protests from 2020 to 2021.

“The Court’s ground-breaking injunction will hold state law enforcement accountable and require them to respect the First Amendment, rather than use violence and threats that deter the media from covering protests and police conduct,” ACLU-MN Legal Director Teresa Nelson said in a statement released by the organization. “We need a free press to help us hold the police and government accountable. Without a free press, we don’t have a free society, and we can’t have justice.”

The settlement resolved the complaints against MSP; the allegations against the City of Minneapolis, former Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, former Minneapolis Police union head Robert Kroll and the Hennepin County Sheriff are still ongoing.

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented 97 assaults and 41 arrests of journalists in Minnesota while covering protests sparked by the police killings of George Floyd and Daunte Wright. At least 12 journalists also had their equipment damaged. Find all of these cases here.

The City of Minneapolis dropped the misdemeanor charge brought against freelance photojournalist Craig Lassig following his arrest on May 30, 2020.

Lassig was arrested for being out past curfew alongside two other photojournalists while documenting protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 26.

City spokesperson Casper Hill told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that around July 22, the staff in the City Attorney’s Office were tasked with dismissing all curfew violations and unlawful assembly charges in cases where there were no additional criminal charges.

Hill said that letters notifying individuals of the dropped charges were mailed to counsel for those who had it, with the assumption that the attorneys would notify their clients, and directly to those without counsel.

Lassig shared with the Tracker a copy of an Aug. 3 letter that he received from the City Attorney’s Office notifying him that the charge against him had been dropped.

Freelance photojournalist Craig Lassig joined the ACLU of Minnesota’s lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis and law enforcement following his arrest on May 30, 2020.

The ACLU filed the initial complaint on June 2, naming as defendants the city, Police Officers Federation President Lt. Robert Kroll, police chief Medaria Arradondo, Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington and Minnesota State Patrol Col. Matthew Langer, as well as two John Does.

Lassig, who was arrested for being out past curfew alongside two other photojournalists while documenting protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, joined the suit on June 8, according to an amended complaint reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.