After an MPD less-lethal round took her eye in 2020, journalist invests part of her settlement into community
MINNEAPOLIS – A permanent injury from the 2020 riots landed a journalist with a big payment from the city of Minneapolis, but she's not keeping the settlement for herself.
Linda Tirado, a freelance journalist from Tennessee, uses a walker because she gets dizzy spells ever since an officer's less-lethal round hit her in the eye.
She was in Minneapolis in 2020 to cover the civil unrest. This spring, she was awarded $600,000 from the city in a settlement.
"I did the math, realized that every resident of Minneapolis has given me $1.46, and I pledged 20 percent back to the community," Tirado said.
Tirado is in Minneapolis this week to finish distributing $120,000.
"It's largely [going to] people that help out the community, small businesses that were impacted, folks who have gone out of their way to make a difference," Tirado said.
So far, Tirado says she's given about $50,000 to a couple hundred recipients. They're mostly smaller gifts of a few hundred dollars, which she believes can make or break neighborhood efforts.
"Very often, people are overlooked. I think that often, people who need the help the most are the ones that don't get it," Tirado said. "I'd rather have my left eye, but as long as I don't, it's good that some good can come out of it."
Tirado spent Monday afternoon retracing her steps of covering the 2020 unrest. She said what was most striking to her was how normal everything seemed.
"The last time I was at this corner [of Hennepin Avenue and 27th Street] everything was broken, everything was burning," Tirado said. "So for me, it's heartening to come back and see that it's been rebuilt."
Now, she feels a responsibility to continue helping the community recover. Tirado feels it's what the people of Minneapolis are owed.
Tirado is relying mostly on word-of-mouth to choose who she gives to. She's also responding to Twitter messages to her account @KillerMartinis.
