$500K Settlement Reached: Ramsey County Race Soldiers Caught on Video Beating, Torturing a Black Man Chained to a Wheelchair Begging For His Life in Jail after Misdemeanor Arrest

From [HERE] A Black man beaten while handcuffed and restrained by a group of white cops at the Ramsey County jail will receive more than $500,000 as part of a settlement reached with the county, according to a KMSP-TV  report Thursday.

A  video of the April 13, 2016, incident shows Terrell Wilson being punched in the chest and kneed in the crotch by white Ramsey County sheriff’s correctional officer Travis VanDeWiele while he was being held down by several other officers in a transport chair.

Wilson’s attorney Mike Padden said in March that the 27-year-old would pursue a claim for compensation, attempting to negotiate a resolution before possibly pursuing litigation.

Reached Thursday night, Padden said that no lawsuit had been filed and that he could neither confirm nor deny that a settlement had been reached.

An agenda for the Ramsey County Board meeting Tuesday shows the following: “Executive Session **CLOSED TO PUBLIC** Re: Claim of Terrell Isaiah Wilson.”

According to the video of the incident, while officers tried to secure Wilson into a transport chair, VanDeWiele kneed Wilson in the crotch several times and then when he pushed on the restrained man’s head and neck, Wilson complained of excessive force.

VanDeWiele responded, “You ain’t seen excessive force yet” and punched the restrained man four times in his abdomen or chest area, according to the criminal complaint against VanDeWiele.

Johnson, previously known as Terrell Johnson, was having a hard time talking, but he managed to say, “Please don’t kill me,” the complaint continued.

The video also shows that while Wilson is bent forward at the waist in the chair, VanDeWiele forcibly presses Wilson’s head down into his legs. At the time, Wilson had a “spit hood” over his mouth, which officers had placed on him earlier.

VanDeWiele resigned in February, a year after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with his treatment of the inmate.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, who was not working at the sheriff’s office at the time of the incident, called the events captured on video “extremely disturbing to me and other members of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department.”

An acting correctional sergeant recorded the incident — they’ve been videotaping at the Ramsey County jail for years to ensure only the necessary amount of force is used when responding to an uncooperative detainee, Fletcher said.

Fletcher said the video was not only troubling because of VanDeWiele’s actions: “Equally disturbing is the fact that no one else in that video, whether it was the six correctional officers or the two police officers, were willing to step forward and put a hand on Mr. VanDeWiele and say, ‘Hold on, I’ve got it from here’ and intervene in that cycle,” Fletcher said.

In addition to VanDeWiele’s departure, the sergeant on duty at the time of the Johnson case left the sheriff’s office in March 2017, a month after VanDeWiele was charged.

Fletcher said the video“demonstrated failed supervision and poor training.”

“The supervisor present and all employees witnessing these actions had a duty to intervene to stop the assaultive tactics and the use of excessive force,” Fletcher wrote in a statement. “The conduct captured on the video will not be tolerated under my watch. Misconduct will be investigated expeditiously and if personnel are found at fault, discipline will be swift and thorough.”