Man agrees to $50K settlement for his ‘walking while Black’ arrest in Willmar

A 39-year-old man has agreed to a $50,000 payment to settle his lawsuit accusing a Willmar, Minn., police officer of an unlawful arrest based on race, the man’s legal representative announced Tuesday.

Christopher Flatten and the city were sued in June by Derrick Gilbert of Willmar on allegations that he was illegally arrested two years earlier.

The “walking while Black” arrest, as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called it, occurred when Flatten assumed Gilbert, who was walking to work, was another man, despite Flatten being unable to see Gilbert’s face, the suit alleged.

The ACLU said Flatten assumed Gilbert was another Black man he knew who was seven years younger, 4 inches shorter, 90 pounds heavier and has a much lighter complexion. The ACLU also alleged that Flatten knew the other man through “multiple interactions [and] knew what he looked like.”

In response to the suit at the time it was filed, the defense said Flatten “was acting in his official capacity as a ... police officer and performing discretionary acts in the scope of his duties with a good faith belief his conduct was lawful, constitutional, proper and pursuant to probable cause.”

Gilbert said in a statement released Tuesday by the ACLU that “it was horrible to be walking to work and be accused of being a completely different Black man. I hope this will stop other officers from doing this to other Black men in Minnesota.”

ACLU attorney Ian Bratlie also issued a statement Tuesday that read, “We’re happy to have helped Derrick and sorry that he had to go through this. Black men should not have to worry about being over-policed in our society. It’s unjust, evil and un-American.”

The attorney representing the city and Flatten has been asked why the defendants chose to settle the suit, rather than go to trial.

Flatten, 40, left the police force and joined the Kandiyohi Sheriff’s Office in April. He was charged with drunken driving in connection with an on-duty wreck of his squad on July 18 east of Willmar in Gennessee Township. He was put on “critical incident leave” at the time of the crash and resigned on Oct. 7, said Sheriff Eric Tollefson. He was sentenced earlier this month to two years’ probation in Kandiyohi County District Court.