Former Minneapolis Police Officer Christopher Reiter Found Guilty Of Third-Degree Assault

October 10, 2017

The Star Tribune calls it a “rare conviction for on-duty use of force”.

Christopher Michael Reiter. Photo Courtesy: Hennepin County

On May 30, 2016, Minneapolis police officer Christopher Michael Reiter, 36-years old, responded to a domestic abuse call. When he arrived, he found a woman badly beaten.  Other officers arrived and found the suspect, Mohamed Osman, sitting in his SUV.  Officers surrounded him and ordered him out of his car.

Surveillance video shows that as Osman was getting on the ground, one officer, Josh Domek, kicked him twice. Reiter then delivered a blow to Mohamed’s head that knocked him unconscious, broke his nose, started bleeding on the brain and caused a traumatic brain injury.

At trial in Hennepin County, state prosecutor Daniel Allard told the jury there was a conspiracy to protect Reiter.  Reiter, another officer, and the victim testified that they believed Mohamed had a knife.   However, other witnesses, including a security guard and several officers who were at the scene, said they did not see a knife.

Another officer, Luke Eckert, testified that he searched Mohamed and found a knife in his front pocket.  However, there was no mention of a knife in the official reports, nor was it taken into police inventory for evidence.  MPR News reports that when questioned at trial, Eckert said one could go through any squad car and find a number of items like keys, cellphones or pocket knives that hadn’t been inventoried.