A jury on Wednesday acquitted a Texas man charged with felony disarming a peace officer after video showed two Minneapolis police officers tasering and kicking the man.
Anastacio Lemus Lopez, 35, traveled from Texas to Minneapolis to watch the Dallas Cowboys play the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Dec. 1 in a nationally televised game.
Lopez got drunk and was ejected from the stadium after getting into a fight, according to charges.
As officers Russell Cragin and Anthony Rodin took Lopez through a corridor in the stadium, they said he began to fight with them, grabbed onto one of their duty belts and attempted to grab a Taser, the charges alleged. Lopez was charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Security video shown to the jury shows that as the officers walked Lopez through the corridor, they took him to the ground, then tasered, kicked and punched him. The jury deliberated for about a day before acquitting Lopez.
The officers' body cameras were not turned on until after the incident.
In April, Lopez filed a federal civil suit against the officers and three others with the Police Department, as well the city of Minneapolis, the Vikings and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority.
In the suit, Lopez is seeking $75,000 in damages because he was "violently forced to the ground, struck in the ribs with a knee numerous times, punched in the face with a closed fist multiple times, repeatedly tased."