Ex-MPD officers, politicians defend 'The Fall of Minneapolis,' Liz Collin in defamation lawsuit

In efforts to throw out a defamation lawsuit filed by a top police commander against the creators of "The Fall of Minneapolis," dozens of former Minneapolis police officers filed sworn declarations this week saying former officer Derek Chauvin followed training protocol when he pinned his knee on George Floyd's neck and killed him in 2020.

The declarations are attached to a lengthy memorandum filed by attorney Chris Madel in Hennepin County District Court on behalf of Liz Collin, Alpha News, Dr. J.C. Chaix and White Birch Publishing. The defendants were sued for defamation in October by Katie Blackwell, the MPD's assistant chief of operations and No. 2 officer.

Blackwell's suit argued the defendants knowingly defamed her by questioning the honesty of her testimony at Chauvin's criminal trial in the book, "They're Lying: The Media, the Left, and the Death of George Floyd," and manipulating her testimony on departmental training of restraint techniques in the film "The Fall of Minneapolis."

Blackwell alleges their actions harmed her reputation and clouded her career prospects.

Madel's memo asks Judge Edward Wahl to dismiss Blackwell's lawsuit and make her pay the defendants' attorney fees.

"If you call any of my friends a liar, you'd better have proof," Madel told the Minnesota Star Tribune regarding his memo.

The 99-page memo and attached declarations present an argument on two fronts in seeking the lawsuit's dismissal: That the book and film are protected under Minnesota's new Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, which concerns freedom of speech around matters of public concern; and that every statement Blackwell claims is defamatory is true.

"The First Amendment is essential because it guarantees United States citizens' right to expose governmental misconduct," the memo reads. "These ideals become even more important when reporters expose senior law-enforcement officers' attempts to shift responsibility to, and scapegoat, rank-and-file officers. Such is the case here."

In a Tuesday interview with the Star Tribune, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara praised Blackwell's integrity and leadership while noting she is "an absolutely essential piece" of turning around a department that will now be under federal and state oversight. The Minneapolis City Council approved a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday that will bring sweeping reforms to address discriminatory policing.

He said he understands current and former officers who went through 2020 "and the destruction of the city" could still be feeling trauma, but he stands by Blackwell.

"We have to recognize that what she did was courageous," O'Hara said. "It is unusual for police officers to testify against other cops, especially in a murder trial. … Anytime you're someone who is out there exercising leadership like she does, you're going to piss people off. That's the reality."

Messages left with Blackwell's attorneys were not returned.

Knee-on-neck restraints

Supporting the motion to dismiss the lawsuit are 49 sworn declarations, including 33 from former MPD officers who served with Blackwell and one from an officer still on staff. They allege that the restraint technique Chauvin used against Floyd was part of departmental training. Fourteen of the officers also allege Blackwell committed perjury when she testified at Chauvin's criminal trial.

Blackwell testified for about 30 minutes, but the only part of her testimony used in "The Fall of Minneapolis" came when prosecuting attorney Steve Schleicher showed Blackwell an image with Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck.

"I'm going to ask you, officer … is this a trained technique by the Minneapolis Police Department when you were overseeing the training of it?" he asked.

"It was not," Blackwell said.

"How does this differ?" Schleicher asked.

"I don't know what kind of improvised position that is," Blackwell says. "So that's not what we train."

The declarations from MPD officers use a standard language that the officer was trained in the maximal restraint technique and it "included a knee-to-neck/upper shoulder restraint."

They include a photo used in a presentation that was taken from an MPD policy manual showing three officers kneeling around a hypothetical criminal suspect with one of the officers placing a knee on or near the suspect's neck. The memo also includes a 2005 MPD training image of an officer with his knee on the neck of a suspect and several photos from the 2010s of MPD officers trained to place their knee on a suspect's neck.

A declaration from former MPD officer Ken Tidgwell, who helped create a virtual museum of Minneapolis police history, includes a photo that shows Blackwell seemingly with her knee on or near the neck of a man during the Dinkytown riots in 2014 after the University of Minnesota men's hockey team lost the national championship.

"The U.S. Department of Justice, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, and myriad media outlets have described how MPD's policy manual not only authorized MPD officers to use knee-on-neck restraints prior to George Floyd's death, but also that MPD officers regularly did so," the memo reads.

The memo isn't a full-throated rejection of Chauvin's conviction for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for killing Floyd. It doesn't argue what Chauvin did in its entirety was part of MPD training, but it continually seeks to discredit the argument presented by senior MPD officials at trial that Chauvin's restraint technique was not part of his training.

A declaration from Bob Kroll, Collin's husband, who is a former Minneapolis police union leader and recently applied to be Minnesota's next U.S. Marshal, says he knew Blackwell for her entire career and continued to be friendly with her and her husband, former MPD officer Steve Blackwell, after Kroll retired in 2021.

Kroll highlights Katie Blackwell's impressive rise through the department, going from community service officer to assistant chief in 20 years. He also talks about the evolution of the maximal restraint technique from the days when it was called "hogtying" and says Blackwell's testimony that Chauvin putting his knee on Floyd's neck was not trained was a lie. "I am confident Katie Blackwell knows it was false at the time she said it," Kroll said.

Kroll then includes a transcript from an interview he did with Jason DeRusha on WCCO in 2020 in which he says what Chauvin did was "terrifying" and that "you're not going to find one Minneapolis cop that condones that."

A case of free speech?

On top of the declarations by MPD officers, a handful of Republican politicians from Minnesota swore to the public importance of the book and film and why they should be protected as free speech. They included U.S. Reps. Brad Finstad and Michelle Fischbach, Minnesota Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson and House GOP Deputy Leader Rep. Harry Niska.

Johnson and Niska were involved with the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, which passed the House unanimously, 129-0, before being signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz on May 24, 2024. Johnson wrote in his declaration that "The Fall of Minneapolis" and Collin's book were "exactly the type of speech" the new law was meant to protect and were "unequivocally about topics of significant public concern: policing in Minnesota and America; the criminal justice system; and trust in our institutions, notably the media and government officials."

The memo points out the book has been a best seller on Amazon and the film has been "viewed over 10 million times."

"This Court could end this analysis with the media coverage of the Book and the Documentary," the memo reads. "But when one adds the prominent citizens who have submitted declarations swearing this is a matter of public concern, it is obvious that Defendants have met their burden of showing the applicability of UPEPA."

The documentary is undeniably a work of opinionated filmmaking, claiming it will show viewers "what politicians and the media don't want you to see" about the killing of Floyd, the conviction of Chauvin and the civil unrest that caused $500 million in damage to the city.

On top of looking at Chauvin's training, the film argues that Floyd's history of drug use, criminal convictions and arrests were underplayed at trial. It highlights the autopsy performed by Hennepin County Medical Examiner Andrew Baker, who wrote that the level of fentanyl in Floyd's system was extremely high. It shows police body camera footage of the arrest of Floyd where he says he can't breathe while being put into the squad car. At that moment, the film overlays text which reads, "No one is 'kneeling on his neck.'"

There is little explanation that several of these elements were presented and argued extensively over a six-week trial that was broadcast worldwide before Chauvin was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 21½ years in prison.

"The Fall of Minneapolis" targeted several prominent officials — including Judge Peter Cahill, former Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Walz — and accused them of manipulating the public, producing misleading facts or testimony, or advancing their career via the unrest and Chauvin's conviction.

Blackwell is the only person to have sued for defamation.

Collin and Chaix say they had no specific animosity toward Blackwell and that questioning her testimony was simply part of their reporting. Chaix's declaration includes that he "dedicated more than 1,400 hours researching, analyzing court documents and evidence, conducting interviews, and handling correspondence" for the book, which was written by Collin. The book became the basis for "The Fall of Minneapolis," and Chaix "dedicated approximately another 1,200 hours" creating the film.

The memo argues that research and a litany of free speech case law and legal statutes show that Blackwell's defamation claims should be dismissed. Even if actual malice were proved, it takes umbrage with the idea that there has been harm to Blackwell's reputation since she was promoted to assistant chief of operations a year after Collin's book was released.

"Moreover, her general allegation that the speech 'clouded' her career history and hurt her reputation because she is now questioned about the veracity of her testimony is insufficient to show 'actual harm,' " Madel wrote.

The memo features a four-page table of contents, an eight-page table of relevant cases and 592 footnotes. That doesn't account for the hundreds of pages of declarations and exhibits. But it is still just one side of the argument.

"Typically you can submit these [declarations] but they are ultimately going to be subject to cross-examination because anybody can say anything, even if it's sworn to," said University of Minnesota media ethics professor Jane Kirtley. "The fact remains the other side would have the right to bring the person or put them on the stand and say, 'Are you telling the truth or not?'

"A jury or judge would have to try and judge the veracity."

If the case isn't dismissed or resolved, the lawsuit is set to go to trial on Nov. 17.