Gaylord, Sibley County Settle Racial Profilling Lawsuit

ST. PAUL (AP) - Officials in the south-central Minnesota city of Gaylord have agreed to pay tens of thousands of dollars to a Mexican immigrant to settle a lawsuit that alleged racial profiling.

Gaylord and Sibley County agreed to pay $20,000 apiece to Jesus Manuela Mendoza Sierra. She alleged that officers unlawfully detained her and searched her home without a warrant in 2012.

Gaylord officials had long disputed allegations that police heavily targeted minorities for traffic and other stops in a town where Latinos account for, at most, a quarter of the population of about 2,300.

They still deny that their officers use race or ethnicity in determining whether to stop or question someone.

But Mendoza says her experience left her with no doubt that they do.