Charges: Edith Okerlund Used Bike To Damage Car Owned By Lawyer Representing Ex-Officer In George Floyd Trial
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 24-year-old from Minneapolis is facing criminal charges in connection to damage caused to a vehicle owned by one of the lawyers representing the former police officers charged in the death of George Floyd.
Edith Nicole Okerlund is charged with first-degree property damage and third-degree riot for the incident in downtown Minneapolis on Sept. 11, following the pre-trial hearing that was the first appearance by all four ex-officers charged in Floyd's death: Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane.
According to a criminal complaint filed with the Hennepin County Attorney's office, Thomas Plunkett and Earl Gray say they were leaving the Hennepin County Courthouse with their clients -- Kueng and Lane -- after the hearing when about 20 people approached them and threatened them with violence.
Plunkett says he, Gray, Kueng and Lane got inside his vehicle, which was then surrounded by the group, who hit it with their fists, a drumstick and a bicycle. Plunkett says his vehicle sustained more than $2,000 in damage.
Gray identified who wielded the bicycle, which surveillance video corroborated. The person was later identified by Minneapolis police as Okerlund, who officers located and arrested on Oct. 7.
Okerlund is currently in the Hennepin County Jail and could face up to six years in prison if convicted.
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