Arrested, Jailed Zombies Get $165K From Minneapolis

Minneapolis learned a lesson today: Don’t mess with zombies. Police arrested seven friends dressed as the living dead in 2006, after noticing they were carrying bags with wires sticking out that apparently looked like a bomb. It turned out to be sound equipment, and the group was never charged, but they were nonetheless jailed for two days, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The city decided to settle a lawsuit filed by the group, and will pay them and their attorney $165,000.

The seven friends were walking the streets in traditional zombie style, with white face powder, fake blood, and dark eye makeup. They were carrying sound equipment—which police called simulated weapons of mass destruction—to amplify their iPod music. The group says it was protesting "mindless" consumerism and the belief that people purchase things “as a replacement for real interaction," says one. Police detained them after finding out none were carrying identification.
(More zombie stories.)