Over a dozen current and former officers say they believe MPD’s Katie Blackwell perjured herself during Derek Chauvin trial
"Every MPD officer knows that restraint was trained, and every MPD officer knows it was trained as part of the MRT process," current and former MPD officers said in sworn declarations.
Left: Katie Blackwell making an arrest at the 2014 University of Minnesota hockey riots; Right: Blackwell testifying during Derek Chauvin's murder trial.
Fourteen current and former police officers with the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) have signed sworn declarations which say they believe MPD Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell perjured herself when testifying in former MPD officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.
Specifically, the group of former officers say they believe Blackwell perjured herself when she testified in court that the restraint method Chauvin used to subdue George Floyd in May 2020 was not a part of MPD officer training. In that trial, Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
However, many say the knee-on-neck restraint Chauvin employed was trained under the maximal-restraint technique (MRT), a restraint the MPD taught and allowed until 2023.
Those 14 statements were among dozens of declarations submitted by lawyers representing Alpha News in a defamation lawsuit brought by Blackwell last October against Alpha News, Alpha News reporter Liz Collin, producer J.C. Chaix, and a publishing company. In her lawsuit, Blackwell alleged that the Alpha News documentary film The Fall of Minneapolis and a book authored by Collin wrongly accused Blackwell of lying.
This week, lawyers for Alpha News filed a 113-page motion with 592 footnotes to have the case dismissed with prejudice.
“With this motion, 33 former MPD officers who served with Blackwell, and one who currently serves with her, have sworn that MPD trained this restraint as part of the ‘maximal-restraint technique’ (‘MRT’) and otherwise. Indeed, 14 of these officers have sworn—under oath—their belief that Blackwell perjured herself,” wrote attorney Chris Madel in this week’s motion.
These officers, according to the motion, “swore that this training was well known—indeed, common knowledge—and omnipresent.”
Photos from MPD officers that depict MPD training of knee-on-neck restraints
Photos included in the brief show former MPD office Tou Thao being trained in a knee-on-neck restraint.
Additional photos from MPD officers that depict MPD training of knee-on-neck restraints.
Photos included in the brief show former MPD office Tou Thao being trained in a knee-on-neck restraint.
“Blackwell remarkably claims that Collin and Chaix defamed her when they opined that it ‘seemed’ like Blackwell lied. In reality, this opinion was far more generous than necessary. It is a fact,” says the motion.
“The heartfelt support that numerous Minneapolis police officers, current and former, have shown our clients has deeply moved and humbled all of us,” Madel said in a statement. “It is emblematic of the courage they have shown us every day.”