Minnesota DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin falsely claimed that Republican Senate candidate Jason Lewis is “denouncing the need for police reform.”
Lewis, a former congressman who’s running against Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), hosted a press conference Monday outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct to express his support for the “good men and women of law enforcement,” and condemn Democratic efforts to abolish the police.
Read More
A second former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd is out of jail after posting bail.
Read More
Several schools across the nation have launched memorial scholarships in honor of George Floyd, including the University of Minnesota and its law school.
The University of Minnesota Law School announced the creation of a George Floyd Memorial Scholarship in Law on Monday.
Read More
A 911 dispatcher who was apparently watching in real time as a Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into the neck of George Floyd called a supervisor to tell him what she saw, not caring if it made her look like a “snitch,” according to a recording of the call made public Monday.
In the call, the dispatcher calls a police sergeant and says what she was seeing on live video looked “different” and that she wanted to let him know about it. The dispatcher was in a 911 call center at the time and was watching video from a surveillance camera posted at the intersection where police apprehended Floyd, according to city spokesman Casper Hill.
Read More
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) was unable to provide details on who will respond to violent crimes in her city without a police force, but said the Minneapolis Police Department is “rotten to the root” during a Sunday interview.
“What takes its place?” CNN host Jake Tapper asked the congresswoman. “Who investigates crimes? Who arrests criminals? What happens?”
Read More
At least seven Minneapolis police officers have quit and another seven are in the process of resigning, citing a lack of support from department and city leaders as protests over George Floyd’s death escalated.
Read More
Federal authorities charged a St. Paul man this week with aiding and abetting arson for his involvement in the destruction of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct.
The Third Precinct was one of the hundreds of buildings destroyed by rioters in the wake of George Floyd’s alleged murder by police officers on Memorial Day. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has faced substantial criticism for his decision to give up the Third Precinct on the night of May 28.
Read More
The Minneapolis Police Department will withdraw from police union contract negotiations, Chief Medaria Arradondo said Wednesday, as he announced initial steps in what he said would be transformational reforms to the agency in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Faced with calls from activists and a majority of City Council members to dismantle or defund the department, Arradondo also said he would use a new system to identify problem officers and intervene if there are early warning signs of trouble.
Read More
Two members of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday in favor of removing the county’s medical examiner because they didn’t like the results of his autopsy in the case of George Floyd.
Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Baker released a 20-page autopsy report last week with the permission of Floyd’s family and concluded that Floyd’s heart stopped while being restrained by officers. The report revealed that Floyd tested positive for the coronavirus, had fentanyl and meth in his blood, and had a number of underlying health conditions.
Read More
A judge on Monday kept bail at $1 million for a former Minneapolis police officer charged with second-degree murder in George Floyd’s death.
Derek Chauvin, 44, said almost nothing during an 11-minute hearing in which he appeared before Hennepin County Judge Denise Reilly on closed-circuit television from the state’s maximum security prison in Oak Park Heights.
Read More
Anoka County Sheriff James Stuart said “many agencies” have “no appetite” for helping Minneapolis in the future if its leaders follow through on a plan to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).
“The members of the Minneapolis City Council should be mindful that numerous other law enforcement agencies have responded to support them, to restore order, to protect their citizens and to return peace to their city during recent tragic days. We did this while joining our communities in disgust over the way in which George Floyd lost his life and in hopes of a stronger, unified future,” Stuart said in a statement released on Facebook Sunday night.
Read More
Several institutions plan to cut ties with the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) in response to the alleged murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while in police custody on Memorial Day.
University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel informed students last week that the school will no longer contract with the MPD for large events, like football games and concerts, or specialized law enforcement services, such as K-9 explosive detection units.
Read More
DFL lawmakers want the state and federal governments to chip in to help repair the estimated $55 million in damage caused to Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) and the Legislature’s People of Color and Indigenous Caucus called for “immediate legislative funding for Minneapolis and St. Paul rebuilding efforts” in a joint statement.
Read More
A class-action lawsuit was filed this week against the leaders of the Minneapolis Police Department, the Minnesota State Patrol, and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety for their “attacks” on journalists during last week’s riots.
“The press is under assault in our City. Over the past week, the Minneapolis Police and the Minnesota State Patrol have tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed, shot in the face with rubber bullets, arrested without cause, and threatened journalists at gunpoint, all after these journalists identified themselves and were otherwise clearly engaged in their reporting duties,” states the lawsuit.
Read More
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner released a full autopsy Wednesday in the case of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was allegedly murdered by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day.
The 20-page report was released with the permission of Floyd’s family and determined that Floyd’s heart stopped while being restrained by officers. A summary of the findings released earlier this week listed the “manner of death” as a homicide, but the coroner’s office said that a manner of death classification is “a statutory function of the medical examiner.”
Read More
Prosecutors charged a Minneapolis police officer accused of pressing his knee against George Floyd’s neck with a new more serious charge of second-degree murder on Wednesday, and for the first time leveled charges against three other officers at the scene, according to criminal complaints.
The updated criminal complaint against Derek Chauvin says the officer’s actions were a “substantial causal factor” in Floyd’s death.
Read More
Minneapolis Council Member Steve Fletcher said Tuesday that he and his colleagues are looking into “what it would take to disband” the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and “start fresh.”
In a lengthy statement posted to Twitter, Fletcher said the behavior of Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis President Bob Kroll demonstrates that “the department is irredeemably beyond reform.” Kroll was widely condemned this week after a letter to his fellow officers was leaked to the press. In the letter, Kroll said the officers involved in the death of George Floyd were fired “without due process.”
Read More
An Illinois man who allegedly traveled to Minneapolis to participate in riots after the death of George Floyd has been arrested and charged with federal counts, after prosecutors say videos posted to his Facebook page showed him handing out explosives and damaging property.
Read More
Gov. Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights announced Tuesday that the state will begin a civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department after one of its officers was charged with murder in the death of George Floyd.
The state agency has also filed a human rights complaint against the police department in relation to Floyd’s death.
Read More
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during an interview Sunday morning that he believes African-Americans in Minneapolis have reason to distrust and fear their local police.
“Sadly, yes. There is a history that has been repeated time and time again. I want to say that many officers are great people. I know so many of them and I think the chief is an extraordinary person, and the mayor and the council deserve a lot of credit for appointing Mr. Arradondo, but it is an endemic problem in the Minneapolis Police Department,” Ellison said on Fox News Sunday.
Read More
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota – More than 200 businesses across the Twin Cities have been vandalized, looted, or burned in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was allegedly murdered Monday night by a Minneapolis police officer.
After setting fire to the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct Thursday night, rioters made their way to the Fifth Precinct Friday, reducing a nearby Wells Fargo and U.S. Post Office to rubble.
Read More
Officers with the Minneapolis Police Department were reportedly attacked with rocks and paintballs Tuesday night as protesters rioted in response to the death of George Floyd.
Video from the tragic Monday night incident shows a Minneapolis police officer pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed Floyd, who repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. Floyd was pronounced dead shortly after he was taken into custody.
Read More
Mayor Jacob Frey called on the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to pursue charges against a Minneapolis police officer involved in a viral incident that led to the death of George Floyd.
The global community erupted in outrage after video showed a Minneapolis officer, who has been identified in some reports as Derek Chauvin, pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed Floyd, who repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe.
Read More
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey crashed a Monday press conference called by House Republicans who unveiled a package of bills aimed at addressing an increase in violent crime in the Twin Cities.
Read More
Two people were shot Thursday night in Minneapolis on a Metro Transit bus, the Minneapolis Police Department has revealed.
Read More
All Minneapolis police officers are now required to complete a two-day “dog sensitivity” training to prevent the use of lethal force on hostile animals.
Read More
Officers in the Minneapolis Police Department were required to sit in on a lecture about the “infinite number” of gender pronouns, a source told The Minnesota Sun.
Read More
An organization called “Reclaim the Block” is circulating a petition that calls on the Minneapolis city government to “divest” from its police force.
Read More
The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis is now selling “cops for Trump” t-shirts after the Minneapolis Police Department changed its political endorsement policy.
Read More
The Minneapolis Police Department recently announced a new policy that prohibits off-duty officers from wearing their uniforms at political events or for the purpose of a political endorsement. The policy change was announced by Police Chief Medaria Arradondo just a day after President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign revealed plans for an October 10 rally at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Read More
Minneapolis Police have arrested more than a dozen suspected gang members involved in a string of violent robberies and beatings in the downtown area.
Read More
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey requested the funds for 14 additional law enforcement officers in his 2020 budget, even though Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said his department needs 400 new officers by 2025.
Read More
Business owners in downtown Minneapolis are speaking out on the wave of violent crimes hitting the area and the overall “decline” of the bustling city.
Read More
Two Minneapolis police officers responsible for hanging offensive decorations on a precinct’s Christmas tree last December have been fired, the Minneapolis Police Department recently revealed.
Read More
Former Minneapolis Police Officer Mohamed Noor’s Tuesday guilty verdict marked an unprecedented moment in Minnesota’s legal history. He was the first officer in the state’s history to be convicted of murder for a shooting committed in the line of duty. The Noor case flipped the racial narratives surrounding police…
Read More
by Whitney Tipton Minneapolis police officers will no longer be allowed to attend training based on the “warrior style” philosophy, Mayor Jacob Frey announced Thursday. The controversial instruction, available through private seminars, teaches officers to be aware of the threats around them and overcome the fear of taking a…
Read More
Violent crimes increased by more than 50 percent in 2018 in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, nicknamed “little Mogadishu,” which authorities attribute to Somali gang activity in the area. Buried in a recent Star Tribune article was the fact that violent crimes jumped from 54 in 2010 to 84 in 2018, an…
Read More
A ranking member of the Minneapolis Police Department was fired Monday after he was found responsible for decorating a precinct Christmas tree will allegedly racist ornaments. Images of the tree, located at the department’s north side precinct, began to surface on social media Friday and showed a tree decorated with…
Read More
A former Minneapolis police officer “intended” to kill Justine Ruszczyk Damond when he shot the Australian woman multiple times last year, prosecutors argued as they seek a more serious murder count, KID Newsradio said. Prosecutors said they plan to charge Mohamed Noor with intentional second-degree murder in the death of Damond,…
Read More
Minneapolis is now beginning to install placards in its squad cards with a list of rights illegal immigrants have when interacting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and city police. Mayor Jacob Frey announced the proposal during his inaugural “State of the City” address in May, saying he believes…
Read More
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party is forwarding its investigation into Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN-05) on to local authorities as a final step in the process, but so far nobody has agreed to undertake the review. Earlier this week, The Associated Press obtained a leaked copy of the DFL’s final report on…
Read More
A Minneapolis city ordinance prevents local police officers from inquiring “about immigration status” when conducting their policing. The policy made local headlines in early August when Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey disparaged Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis President Bob Kroll and his colleagues for appearing in a campaign mailer for Tim…
Read More