MINNEAPOLIS — A former Minneapolis police officer is suing the city of Minneapolis and Chief Brian O’Hara for defamation.
Tyler Timberlake was hired by the MPD in January on the heels of a high-profile assault trial at his previous department in the state of Virginia.
KARE11 reports that Timberlake was previously charged with three misdemeanor counts of assault and battery in 2020 for an arrest he made as an officer in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Body camera video of the arrest, which happened just days after the murder of George Floyd, showed Timberlake using a Taser on an unarmed Black man twice, striking him on the head, and placing his knee on the man’s back.
The video caused a national outcry; however, a Fairfax County jury found Timberlake not guilty in 2022.
Despite Timberlake’s acquittal, MPD Chief Brian O’Hara told the media in April that the body camera video alone immediately raised concerns for him. He added that the incident should have been flagged in the hiring process, and a full investigation into the department’s hiring practices should have been ordered.
“The individual in question will not be deployed or serve in a law enforcement capacity in any way until we conclude a full investigation into this matter,” O’Hara said in a statement in April. “We will get to the bottom of this and take whatever measures are necessary to ensure we are always hiring officers who meet our standards and that we are ultimately placing only the most qualified and competent police into the service and protection in the City of Minneapolis.”
Timberlake’s last day at the MPD was at the beginning of July.
In Timberlake’s lawsuit filed on Thursday, it states that O’Hara and the city of Minneapolis are both being sued for defamation.
Timberlake is also suing the city of Minneapolis for wrongful termination, violating the Minnesota Whistleblower Act and violating the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.
“In this lawsuit, Timberlake seeks to recover damages for the loss of his reputation and career caused by wrongful conduct of the Defendants,” the lawsuit states. “Specifically, Defendants induced Timberlake to resign his civil-service-protected job as a police officer in Virginia, and to accept a comparable position with the severely understaffed Minneapolis Police Department (“MPD”), in part by assuring him that a use-of-force incident in Fairfax, Virginia would not affect his employment with the MPD.”
