Journalist who was shot by Minneapolis police in 2020 is now in hospice care: "I don't feel lucky or unlucky"

Recently, a photojournalist who was shot by Minneapolis police during the George Floyd protests has entered hospice care.

Linda Tirado, 42, sustained a traumatic brain injury and became blind in one eye after being shot in the face with a rubber bullet by police while covering the unrest following the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, who died while being restrained by Minneapolis police.

"In June 2020, Tirado wrote in an NBC op-ed that he felt his face explode while lining up a photo. His goggles came off, and his face began to burn and leak liquid. The gas mixed with the blood."

Noah Berlatsky, Tirado's friend, wrote on Substack that Tirado lost her eye and has been deteriorating slowly since. Now, she is reportedly dying due to the injuries sustained during the protest.

Tirado received a $600,000 settlement from the city after she was injured by police who ignored her press credential, marked her with a tracking round, and shot her with foam bullets while taking photos outside the precinct building in south Minneapolis.

Emily Wilkins, President of the National Press Club, stated in a lengthy post on X that most of the money has been used for medical expenses.

"Linda Tirado, a freelance photojournalist, has entered a hospice in Tennessee. We send our love and admiration to her, and are also providing funding to support her care."

Tirado recently shared on her Substack that she is "preparing for death" and discussed her emotional journey without disclosing her diagnosis.

She wrote, "I am fortunate to have been diagnosed early, allowing me to write another book or organize my journals so that if I pass away unexpectedly, someone can compile and publish them."

"However, I don't feel fortunate or unfortunate," she stated. "I feel like the melodic notes in the Flower Song, Nessun Dorma, any composition by Vivaldi. I experience a range of emotions - joy, peace, pain, and fear - all at once, so that they blend into one another and can only be described as raw, pure, beautiful, and perfect, yet transient."

In 2021, protests erupted in Minneapolis and other major cities across the country following the death of George Floyd. The officer who restrained Floyd by kneeling on his neck, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of his murder. Floyd's death sparked nationwide protests and riots, as well as calls by progressives to "defund the police."

In November 2023, Chauvin was stabbed 22 times inside a library at the Tucson penitentiary by an inmate who once served as an FBI informant. He was later released from a local hospital and returned to prison for follow-up care.

In September 2023, the Minneapolis City Council approved Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey's proposed 2024 budget after examining the police department following George Floyd's death. The budget included an additional $7.6 million in costs for new jobs, including 34 full-time positions across four city departments for roles such as lawyers, IT personnel, body-worn camera footage reviewers, counselors, and police officer trainers, as well as overtime, according to the Associated Press.

Planet Chronicle Digital has reached out to the Minneapolis police for comment.