A federal grand jury has charged a Minneapolis police officer with a civil rights violation for allegedly assaulting a juvenile during an arrest.
The indictment accuses 33-year-old Officer Jason Andersen of kicking the juvenile during his arrest in 2008. Andersen is charged with willfully depriving the juvenile of his constitutional right to be free from unreasonable use of force by a police officer. The officer’s attorney, Mark Larsen, says Andersen is not guilty and looks forward to defending himself. Andersen is on home assignment after a Hennepin County judge blocked Minneapolis police from firing him over his refusal to take a drug test. In 2006, Andersen fatally shot a 19-year-old suspect. Fong Lee’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit, but a federal jury determined Andersen did not use excessive force.
