US photographer ‘is dying’ after police attack

LINDA TIRADO, a photojournalist hailing from the US state of Tennessee, has checked into terminal palliative care - four years after she lost an eye and part of her brain to a "sponge bullet" fired by a police officer. That happened while she was covering a "Black Lives Matter" protest in the US city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 29 May 2020. That protest was occasioned by a Minneapolis police officer murdering George Floyd on 25 May 2020.

Linda sued Minneapolis City Council, and settled for $600,000 with no non-disclosure agreement (NDA). The Council denies wrongdoing. No police officer has faced sanctions for shooting Linda.

A judge noted in an early hearing on the case that "numerous other journalists experienced similar, seemingly unjustified incidents involving less-lethal munitions and other measures... the allegations plausibly suggest an unconstitutional custom carried out by [Minneapolis Police] officers of targeting journalists for unlawful reprisals."

Linda wrote, in response to a Tweet noting that the settlement resulted from her being "injured":

Injured. And a number of dollarydoos, which doesn’t even start to pay for my actual medical bills.

I was merely injured. Like a bruise or a sprain. Injured.

And I ain’t even close to the highest settlement; I just refused to sign an NDA so it’s on record.

The Minneapolis CBS affiliate TV news reported that Linda was giving one fifth of the award to people and projects in the city: "I did the math, realized that every resident of Minneapolis has given me $1.46, and I pledged 20 per cent back to the community."

‘We’ll just get our hearts broken’

Linda Tirado came to prominence with an October 2013 blog post "Poor people don’t plan long-term. We'll just get our hearts broken." This was widely reprinted - for example in the Guardian in September 2014. That led to a book, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America.

She quit working in a diner and started covering unrest on the streets. An early assignment was to cover protests over police killing Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on 9 August 2014. She went on to win awards, including the National Press Club Press Freedom Award after she was shot in Minneapolis.

On 13 June she posted on SubStack: "Getting ready to die is just as dramatic as it seems in the movies..."

Friends and colleagues are certain that her brain injury is caused by the bullet.

Linda also gained online fame fund-raising for people in need - often strangers.

On 14 June her friend Sav Adler wrote:

Linda usually does this bit but this time it’s for her so I’m doing it.

Dying is expensive especially when you can’t work.

Help her out here:
Venmo: Linda-Tirado-3
PayPal: Bootstrapindustries@gmail

Bill McCarren, press freedom consultant at the National Press Club, wrote on 18 June:

Linda Tirado, @PressClubDC John Aubuchon Press Freedom Honoree, has entered hospice and she and family need some financial help. Linda was blinded in right eye with foam (non-lethal) bullet while covering Minneapolis riots. Now this.

everythingishorrible.net [Noah Berlatsky]:
Please Help Journalist Linda Tirado

2 July 2024

Linda Tweeted: "Hey folks quick update: two surgeries and five transfusions later plus heavy meds seem to have at least slapped some duct tape on it and rubbed some dirt in. Not much more they can do for me here until my organs start failing again. And I want to die at home anyway."

5 August 2024

We've tracked it down. On 7 December 2023 Andrew Braun, the Minneapolis police officer widely alleged to have shot Linda, was awarded a workers' compensation settlement. He had sought $130,000 for post-traumatic stress disorder. Since 1 June 2020 city police employees had filed 864 workers' compensation claims and as of 7 7 December had paid out $33 million. As of 9 June 2023 the city had paid $70 million to those affected by police action, including $27 million to the family of George Floyd.

National Press Club Statement on 2020 Aubuchon Honoree Linda Tirado on prnewswire.com