During unrest in 2020, Minneapolis police injured a protester with a projectile

A new federal lawsuit alleges a Woodbury man suffered a traumatic brain injury after he was shot with a rubber bullet by Minneapolis police while peacefully protesting the killing of George Floyd outside the Third Precinct in 2020.

The ordeal left Mason Hermann of Woodbury with short-term memory loss, headaches and fatigue, the lawsuit says.

Attorney Jeff Storms filed the 29-page lawsuit in court last week. She is seeking unspecified damages from the city of Minneapolis for violating Hermann’s First Amendment rights.

Minneapolis has paid nearly $50 million to settle claims of police brutality or officer misconduct since Floyd’s killing. Many large payouts went to journalists and bystanders injured by police officers during the riots. The US Department of Justice has since described this as a pattern of unconstitutional behavior.

City spokesman Allen Henry acknowledged that the lawsuit had been served on the city but declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Hermann, then 20, joined a growing crowd of protesters on Lake Street on May 27, 2020, to criticize the MPD’s actions. At this point there were no exit restrictions.

Officers in tactical gear sat for hours on the roof of the Third Precinct and outside the barricaded entrance, where some armed with “less-lethal” 40mm cartridges fired into the crowd. At about 6:50 p.m., a rubber bullet hit the left side of Hermann’s head without warning or provocation, according to the lawsuit. No orders were given before this use of force.

The unidentified officer “shot Hermann with the projectile in retaliation for Hermann’s continued speech and to deter him,” the lawsuit says, adding that Hermann “never showed aggression” toward police.