Minnesota officer fired after hit in video now reinstated
RICHFIELD, Minn. – An arbitrator has reinstated a Minnesota police officer who was fired after a Twitter video appeared to show him hitting a Somali-American teen last year.
Richfield police say the arbitrator reversed Nate Kinsey’s termination Wednesday.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and a special prosecutor reviewed the case and declined to charge Kinsey. But the 10-year department veteran was fired after an internal investigation.
Police Chief Jay Henthorne says the city’s weighing appeal options.
Sean Gormley, executive director of Law Enforcement Labor Services, the union representing Kinsey, says he’s pleased with the arbitrator’s decision and that the incident “illustrates the pitfalls of jumping to conclusions based on partial video and audio recordings.”
In the cellphone video on Twitter, an officer tells a 19-year-old to leave Adams Hill Park. The teen says the officer pushed and hit him.
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