From [HERE] and [HERE] A Black woman is suing Minneapolis and its police department after she was allegedly assaulted by white Minneapolis police officers last summer.
Lenell McKenzie claims she was punched in the face, choked and slammed to the ground last July.
According to the criminal complaint, Minneapolis police officers David Robins and Charles Cape followed a car. The driver eventually pulled over and Robins approached the car. McKenzie was inside the car when a conversation began between her and Robins. She eventually gave Robins her license.
Nervous as to why she's been stopped, McKenzie called 911.
"I'm on 39th and Bloomington. I have two officers who illegally pulled me over and are running my plates right now," she told the dispatcher.
When Officer Robins returned, he asked McKenzie to get out of her car. She does get out, but this is when her lawyer said things went awry.
"Then they grabbed her, they threw her against the squad car, they threw her on the ground against the pavement, they punched her in the face, they choked her," Attorney Zorislav Leyderman said.
Leyderman said McKenzie's phone was recording the entire time; screams can be heard on the call.
McKenzie was eventually put in the back of the squad car. The officers then transported her to the Hennepin County Jail and charged her with obstruction of the legal process.
"The officers are claiming that they had the right to do what they did. that the stop was legal, the forces was legal," Leyderman said.
Since the incident, McKenzie said she's been unable to work.
Right now, attorneys for both parties are waiting for a court date for the trial.
"We have just removed the case to federal court, are gathering all relevant evidence and will be defending against this lawsuit," City Attorney Susan Segal said in a statement.