DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two young black men filed a lawsuit Friday alleging that they were racially profiled by two white Des Moines police officers who pulled over their car for no apparent reason and handcuffed one of them while searching the vehicle without a warrant or probable cause.

The stop and search were captured on squad car and body camera video , which has been viewed more than 9 million times since being released to a public advocacy group on Aug. 15 and posted online. It shows Officer Kyle Thies take an aggressive tone from the outset, telling the driver, 23-year-old Montray Little, to get out of the car or he’d go to jail and then handcuffing him even though Little was fully cooperating.

As Thies searches the car, Officer Natalie Heinemann questions 21-year-old passenger Jared Clinton. The search found nothing and the men were eventually allowed to drive away. Clinton’s mother, Laural Clinton, said she cried when she saw the video. She said she’s taught her sons to empty their hands and comply with police orders. “I thank God my son listened. He made it home that night, but I just really felt they were trying to provoke him in a negative manner that could have endangered his life,” she said.

Little and Clinton’s attorney, Gina Messamer, said Friday that they’re suing the police department and the city of Des Moines, which already faces several lawsuits alleging constitutional violations against citizens, including several cases in which officers acted violently but were permitted to remain on the force.

The lawsuit, which names Thies, Heinemann, police Chief Dana Wingert and the city, alleges that the plaintiffs’ civil rights were violated, that they were illegally searched and that the police engaged in illegal racial profiling. It names Wingert and the city for “failing to monitor and address racially-disproportionate actions taken by City of Des Moines police officers and “failing to adopt a system to identify, track, and monitor problematic police behavior and patterns of unconstitutional conduct.”

Bridget Fagan-Reidburn, an organizer with the group that obtained the videos, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, said police records show that Thies arrested 236 people last year. She said 49 percent of the people he arrested were black, in a city where blacks make up slightly more than 10 percent of the population.

“We can’t let this style of policing continue,” said Fagan-Reidburn, whose group focuses on civil rights, immigration and environmental issues. “We need a policing system that builds relationships with our communities, not tears them apart.”
Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said the department is conducting an administrative review of the stop and others by Thies to see if allegations of racial profiling are founded. “It’s a serious allegation and it’s something we’re looking into,” Parizek said. “You can’t tell by looking at one video that it’s racial profiling. There are a lot of different things going on there.”

He said police have received 34 complaints from the neighborhood about activity in the park that Little and Clinton were leaving when the officers stopped them, and that the officers “didn’t just select that car because of the occupants.”

Des Moines City Councilman Josh Mandelbaum said the videos are troubling, but that he wouldn’t discuss them further until the police department reports on its internal investigation. “I think we need to take citizen concerns seriously and we constantly need to be working to improve throughout what we do in the city,” he said.

Des Moines police already face several lawsuits relating to the way officers have treated citizens. A man in 2013 ended up with broken teeth and injuries to his face, back, ribs, legs, and testicles at the hands of off-duty officers including Greg Wessels who has been reprimanded and suspended several times for inappropriate behavior, court documents show. A federal court trial is scheduled for November.

In a separate case, Charles Edward Young, a black 63-year-old Army veteran, sustained cracked ribs after officer Cody Grimes attacked him in a 2016 incident in his own apartment after he’d called police for help evicting unwanted guests. Grimes was fired in 2014 after he choked his girlfriend and threw her down a flight of stairs and was charged with domestic abuse. However, he was reinstated in 2015 after a civil service commission concluded the firing was too severe a punishment. A federal civil trial for his attack on Young is set to begin in December.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials say they’re giving a $344 million raise to two companies that manage the state’s Medicaid program. The state’s share is nearly $103 million, or a 7.5 percent increase. The federal government will cover the remainder.
The Iowa Department of Human Services, which oversees the health care program for 680,000 poor and disabled Iowans, said Friday the additional funding is “a manageable increase.”

Medicaid Director Michael Randol says the new contracts improve oversight of services provided by UnitedHealthcare and Amerigroup. Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen calls the increased cost a gut punch to Iowa taxpayers.

Former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad privatized the program in 2016 and Gov. Kim Reynolds supports it despite questions about whether it is saving the promised millions of dollars and complaints that services have deteriorated.

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal health officials say they’ve confirmed more than 500 cases of people who became sick with an intestinal illness after eating McDonald’s salads.
The illnesses reported earlier this year are linked to the cyclospora parasite, which can cause diarrhea, intestinal pain, nausea or fatigue. The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that 507 cases have been confirmed in 15 states and New York City.

McDonald’s stopped the sale of salads at 3,000 restaurants last month until it could find a different supplier. The FDA says it’s still investigating the supplier of romaine lettuce and carrots.

States with cases include: Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Officials also said people sickened in Connecticut, Florida, New York City, Tennessee, and Virginia had traveled in Illinois and Kentucky.

(Radio Iowa) — A young man is in custody after a deadly shooting in southeast Iowa Thursday night. Ottumwa Police were called just before 10 p.m. to a home on the city’s south side (at 137 North Ward Street) where the caller said one person had been shot and the suspect left in a car. Officers arrived to find a man found suffering from a gunshot wound. He died at the hospital. His name has not been released.

The suspect was arrested a little over two hours later. Police say 18-year-old Jacob Heckethorn was taken into custody at his home (at 311 North Birch Street) in Ottumwa. He’s charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. Heckethorn is being held in the Wapello County Jail with no bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines realty company says it has reluctantly sold prime riverfront land to the federal government under threat of having the land taken through eminent domain. Hubbell Realty Co. told the Des Moines Register on Friday that it has entered a purchase agreement with the General Service Administration for the former Riverfront YMCA land.

The federal government announced earlier this month that it planned to build a $137 million federal courthouse on the site. A day earlier, Hubbell had said it would build a $75 million, 115-unit condominium complex on the 2-acre site — a move supported by the city. Hubbell CEO Rick Tollakson says the government previously made an offer for the land that was “not realistic.”

The U.S. government can acquire private land for public use through eminent domain, as long as the landowner is fairly compensated. Hubbell bought the site in 2016 for $4.77 million. The company declined Friday to say how much the government is paying for the site.