Crime, Law and Justice

Two sue MPD, Chauvin for kneeling on their necks years before George Floyd's murder

People sit at a table
Attorney Bob Bennett, center, appears at a news conference with his clients John Pope, at left, and Zoya Code, right in Minneapolis on May 31, 2022.
Matt Sepic | MPR News

Two people who allege that Derek Chauvin kneeled on their necks nearly three years before he killed George Floyd filed suit Tuesday against the former officer and the Minneapolis Police Department. In separate federal lawsuits, John Pope, 19, and Zoya Code, 39, who are both Black, claim that the white officer violated their civil rights by using excessive force.

Both incidents happened in 2017, and both started with calls to police about domestic disputes from the plaintiffsโ€™ mothers.

On June 25 of that year, Zoya Codeโ€™s mother called 911 and said that Code had tried to choke her with an extension cord. Code has disputed this, telling the news organization the Marshall Project last year that her mother was swinging the cord, and she merely tried to grab it.

Two Minneapolis officers responded, Derek Chauvin and Ross Blair. Inside the house, they grabbed Code and handcuffed her. Chauvin wrenched Codeโ€™s handcuffed arms up behind her head and carried her outside that way, as Blair carried her feet. Chauvin then allegedly slammed Codeโ€™s head to the ground and kneeled on her neck for nearly five minutes. In Codeโ€™s civil complaint, her attorney included a photo of an officer holding her handcuffed hands straight up and behind her back.

In the second incident around two months later, John Popeโ€™s mother called 911 over a domestic dispute involving phone chargers. Chauvin and Officer Alexander Walls responded. The officers spoke with Popeโ€™s mother for nearly a half hour and had her fill out paperwork before going to Popeโ€™s room. Pope was 14 years old at the time and did not resist arrest.

Chauvin struck Pope in the head with a flashlight multiple times before putting him in a chokehold, then pinned him to the floor for more than 15 minutes with his knee on Popeโ€™s upper back and neck, according to the lawsuit.

Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to violating Popeโ€™s civil rights. This was part of the same plea agreement in which he admitted violating George Floydโ€™s civil rights by using excessive force.

Attorney Bob Bennett, who represents Pope and Code, said heโ€™s seen video of both incidents. He included still images in Codeโ€™s lawsuit. But Bennett said he was only able to view the footage from Popeโ€™s encounter with Chauvin at the U.S. Attorneyโ€™s Office in part because Chauvin has not been sentenced in the federal criminal case.

โ€œTo anybody who watched the George Floyd murder, that seemed in and of itself incomprehensible,โ€ Bennett said. โ€œBut if you look at the allegations of John Popeโ€™s and Zoya Codeโ€™s lawsuits, it is not only incomprehensible, it is a pattern.โ€

While neither suffered long-lasting physical injuries, both say theyโ€™re still living with the psychological trauma. Pope โ€” who was hospitalized โ€” said at Tuesdayโ€™s news conference that heโ€™d hoped that the Minneapolis Police Department would have disciplined Chauvin.

โ€œWhen I was in the hospital, I told the supervisor, somebody thatโ€™s supposed to hold the officers accountable, that I didnโ€™t feel safe riding with that officer, and that I feared for my life,โ€ Pope said. โ€œAnd he told me that it was out of his hands, that he couldnโ€™t do nothing.โ€

And Code recalled a question that she asked Chauvin as he was arresting her.

โ€œWhat happens the next time you do this? Are you just going to kill a Black man in the street like a dog? And thatโ€™s what happened. So we have a long road ahead of us. This is just the starting point,โ€ Code said.

Without indicating how much he would be seeking on behalf of his clients, Bennett compared the cases to past lawsuits against the Minneapolis Police Department, including the $20 million he won on behalf of Justine Ruszczykโ€™s family after an officer fatally shot her in 2017.

In a statement, the Minneapolis city attorneyโ€™s office calls the incidents disturbing, and that they hope to negotiate a โ€œreasonable settlement.โ€