Yet another resolution to end Gov. Tim Walz’s peacetime emergency declaration was rejected Friday, but this time the proposal received bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.
The resolution passed the Republican-controlled Senate in a vote of 38-29, with three Democratic senators joining Republicans in voting to end the governor’s emergency powers, which first took effect March 13 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Read the full story
A fifth former correctional officer pleaded guilty this week to using unlawful force on an inmate and then conspiring to cover it up while working as an officer for the Tennessee Department of Correction.
Jonathan York, 33, faces up to 10 years in prison for the civil rights offense of using unlawful force and up to five years for the conspiracy offense.
Read the full story
Edina Realty fired one of its agents last week after she posted on Facebook about removing Black Lives Matter signs from light poles outside her apartment building.
The real estate agency was informed via a Facebook comment that Babette Gillet Bean, a longtime employee of the company, had “actively participated in the removal of BLM signs that have been posted in her neighborhood.”
Read the full story
A DFL lawmaker revealed on Twitter this week that she’s “tried a bunch of times” to get a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln removed from the Minnesota House chamber.
State Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein (DFL-New Brighton) said it’s “hard to look at” House Speaker Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) when she’s “standing in front of Lincoln.”
Read the full story
The protesters and activists who tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus outside the Minnesota Capitol Wednesday faced virtually no resistance from state leaders or law enforcement.
In fact, after the statue was toppled over, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said Minnesota “is long overdue for a hard look at the symbols, statues, and icons that were created without the input of many of our communities.”
Read the full story
The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners expressed its “alarm and concern” regarding the state’s recent purchase of a commercial facility in St. Paul for the storage of deceased COVID-19 patients.
“On behalf of the Ramsey County Board, we are writing to express our alarm and concern regarding your decision to purchase the former Bix site for use as a morgue during the COVID-19 emergency. We fear that this location will only exacerbate the challenges facing the surrounding community, which is already one of the poorest, most vulnerable, and most disinvested in Minnesota,” the board said in a letter sent last week to Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Joe Kelly.
Read the full story
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee called on Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson to resign in a statement released Wednesday.
“Over the last ten days, tens of thousands of Nashvillians have stood together in peaceful protests to express their outrage over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. These powerful protests highlight the outrage over the enduring and deep-rooted problem of racist policing and structural racism in the United States,” the group said in its statement.
Read the full story
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 the full story
A Democratic PAC that has spent millions attacking Republican Senate candidate John James took donations from the United Auto Workers (UAW), whose former president pleaded guilty to embezzlement last week.
Former UAW President Gary Jones pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $1 million in union dues in addition to charges of racketeering and tax evasion. He is one of 14 former UAW officials convicted in an ongoing federal corruption investigation.
Read the full story
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 the full story
Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender made several appearances on cable news programs Monday and was unable to articulate who would respond to violent crimes if her city’s police department is actually abolished.
Read the full story
One of Minnesota’s most influential pro-life organizations has called on Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm to resign for failing to address the crisis in the state’s long-term care facilities.
As of Tuesday, COVID-19 fatalities among nursing-home residents accounted for 79 percent of Minnesota’s 1,217 total deaths. Under the threat of a legislative subpoena, Malcolm revealed in a 74-page letter to lawmakers that dozens of long-term care facilities have allowed COVID-19 patients to return to a congregate-care setting after being discharged from the hospital.
Read the full story
A recent letter issued by the Tennessee Democratic Party in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis calls for “abolishing all voter ID laws.”
The letter was posted on the website of the Tennessee Democratic Party on Friday.
Read the full story
President Donald Trump announced on Twitter Monday that he recruited McLaughin & Associates, a “highly respected pollster,” to explain why two recent polls from CNN and NBC are “fake.”
A Monday CNN poll had President Trump trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden by 14 points, while an NBC poll claimed Trump was down by seven.
Read the full story
Ohio House Democrats called on Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) to publicly condemn the threats of violence made against their leader and provide “additional security measures” for lawmakers.
“As Speaker and in recognition of your leadership role in the Ohio House of Representatives, you are granted additional security while in the statehouse,” House Democrats said in a letter to Householder last week.
Read the full story
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 the full story
Thales Academy, a college preparatory network of independent Pre-K-12 schools, will be hosting a parent interest meeting Tuesday night regarding its new campus in Franklin, Tennessee.
The informational meeting is scheduled for June 9 at 6:30 p.m. at The Gate Community Church, the address of which is: 3835 Carothers Parkway, Franklin, TN 37067. Thales Academy is a secular school and is not affiliated with The Gate Church.
Read the full story
Two Pennsylvania men were arrested Friday for traveling to Cleveland, Ohio on May 30 to participate in riots in response to the death of George Floyd, whose alleged murder by a Minneapolis police officer sparked unrest across the nation.
Read the full story
Due to a projected surge in coronavirus fatalities, the state of Minnesota spent $6.9 million to acquire a warehouse for the “temporary storage of human remains,” but the facility has so far gone unused.
“What’s contemplated by the purchase is to buy a building where we can properly handle with dignity and respect and safety the bodies of Minnesotans who may fall victim to the coronavirus,” Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Joe Kelly said during a press conference in early May.
Read the full story
George Floyd’s death has given new life to a leftist movement to abolish the police, an idea with broad support among the Minneapolis City Council and the progressive wing of the DFL Party.
Just a day after Floyd’s death, state Rep. Aisha Gomez (DFL-Minneapolis) released a nearly 500-word statement on “why we talk about police abolition.”
Read the full story
Michigan was home to 17 of the 25 counties with the highest unemployment numbers in the nation in April.
According to a database from Lansing State Journal, Cheboygan County led the nation in unemployment with a 41.2 percent unemployment rate. Second in the nation was Mackinac County at 38.1 percent.
Read the full story
A conservative journalist has sued Gov. Tim Walz’s administration after he was barred from participating in the governor’s daily press briefings on the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the lawsuit, Scott Johnson, an attorney and writer for PowerLine, was allowed to participate in the daily briefings until April 27, when he was suddenly “excluded from all future daily briefings without explanation.”
Read the full story
About 1,000 citizen-soldiers with the Tennessee National Guard were deployed to the nation’s capital this week to help keep the peace outside the White House.
Like many major cities, Washington has seen massive demonstrations in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was allegedly murdered by Minneapolis police. Many of the protests have taken a violent turn as Washington braced for what was expected to be its largest protest yet Saturday night.
Read the full story
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 the full story
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 the full story
The Tennessee House passed a resolution Thursday inviting the Republican National Committee to host its August convention in Nashville.
The resolution was passed after President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that he would be pulling the convention from Charlotte, North Carolina, whose Democratic governor refused to guarantee a full-scale convention amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Read the full story
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 the full story
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 the full story
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 the full story
Minnesota Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan called on Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to resign for their “failed” leadership during last week’s riots.
“Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey have been largely silent, other than a handful of unhelpful tweets and press conferences blaming everyone but themselves. Minneapolis is decimated. Minneapolis is damaged to a level we never could have imagined. The destruction caused this past week will unfortunately live in our memories forever. It’s a dark stain on our state,” Carnahan said in a statement released over the weekend.
Read the full story
A Tennessee man was charged Wednesday with malicious destruction of property using fire or explosives for his involvement in Saturday’s riots outside the Nashville City Hall.
Read the full story
Gov. Bill Lee confirmed Tuesday afternoon that GOP leaders are considering Nashville as an alternative site for August’s Republican National Convention just hours before President Donald Trump announced that he will be pulling the convention from North Carolina.
Lee’s office told WTVF that officials with the Republican National Committee will be visiting Nashville Thursday to tour the city.
Read the full story
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani called on Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to resign for failing to protect his citizens from a week of riots that left portions of his city in ruins.
In a Friday interview with Fox News, Giuliani said “progressive Democrats are incapable of keeping their people safe because they have criminal-friendly policies that are pathetic.”
Read the full story
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 the full story
Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) falsely claimed that the truck driver at the center of Sunday’s frightening incident on I-35W was a “white supremacist.”
State officials said the driver, who has been identified as 35-year-old Bogdan Vechirko, might not have realized that the interstates had been shut down in an effort to quell unrest in the Twin Cities. Vechirko was arrested on suspicion of assault and remains jailed, but Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said Monday that he didn’t seem to be acting intentionally.
Read the full story
Minneapolis Council Member Jeremiah Ellison, the son of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, “officially” declared his support for Antifa Sunday.
Ellison’s declaration of support for the extremist group came in response to President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States would be declaring Antifa a domestic terrorist organization.
Read the full story
Some pundits want the Minnesota Vikings to sign former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in order to “send a strong message.”
Read the full story
As of Monday afternoon, the “majority” of those arrested in the Twin Cities for rioting, violating curfew, looting or other similar charges had Minnesota addresses.
“That would be accurate,” Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington confirmed during a Monday press conference. During a previous briefing, he said he didn’t “have any credible evidence of any specific group being here in Minnesota.”
Read the full story
U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a Sunday statement that the regional Joint Terrorism Task Forces of the FBI have been directed to locate and apprehend Antifa leaders.
His statement was issued after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would be declaring Antifa a domestic terrorist organization for its alleged involvement in the terrorizing of major cities after the death of George Floyd.
Read the full story
The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus announced Friday that it plans to introduce legislation to declare racism a “public health crisis.”
“Our citizens of color have been subjected to the effects of racism since the founding of the State of Ohio in 1803. Since that time, Ohioans of color have endured unequal education, unsafe work conditions, inadequate health care services, subpar housing and an unjust criminal justice system, based on policies that were rooted in a belief that people of color are not worthy of the American Dream,” said a statement from the caucus sent to every member of the Ohio General Assembly.
Read the full story
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 the full story
President Donald Trump announced that the United States will designate Antifa a domestic terrorist organization.
“The United States of America will be designating Antifa as a Terrorist Organization,” the president wrote on Twitter Sunday morning, acting on an idea long called for by conservative lawmakers. The president said in 2019 that he was considering labeling Antifa a terrorist organization, but didn’t take any further action.
Read the full story
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 the full story
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, and Gov. Tim Walz all have suggested that many of the rioters wreaking havoc on the Twin Cities are from out of state, but jail records seem to show otherwise.
“We’ve seen long-term, institutional businesses overridden. We’ve seen community institutions set on fire. And I want to be very, very clear, the people that are doing this are not Minneapolis residents. They are coming in largely from outside of the city, from outside of the region, to prey on everything that we have built over the last several decades. The dynamic has changed over the last several days,” Frey said during a joint Saturday press conference.
Read the full story
The Minnesota National Guard now has more than 4,100 troops deployed in the Twin Cities and said it is working toward a total of 10,800 citizen-soldiers for the area.
“This is a significant increase over the 700 on-duty Friday. We live here. We work here. We serve here. We’re all in,” the National Guard said on Twitter Saturday.
Read the full story
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota – Three consecutive nights of rioting in response to the alleged murder of an unarmed black man at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer have left stretches of the city in ruins, producing scenes most accurately described as a war zone.
Officer Derek Chauvin, the man filmed pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed George Floyd, was arrested Friday on charges of murder and manslaughter. He and three colleagues involved in the incident were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department Tuesday.
Read the full story
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he thinks George Floyd was murdered and claimed Floyd “would be alive today if he were white.”
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 the full story
The U.S. Department of Justice promised a “robust criminal investigation” into the death of George Floyd in a statement released Thursday.
A joint statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, and the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office said the investigation into the fatal Monday night incident is “a top priority.”
Read the full story
U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis called on Minneapolis leaders to institute a curfew in response to the ongoing riots that have left portions of the city in ruins.
“For many decades now, with only a rare exception or two, Minneapolis and St. Paul have been governed by liberal Democrats. The promise of a new day or the ‘good life’ has animated their political ascendancy but the reality is things have deteriorated to the breaking point we are now witnessing,” Lewis said in a statement.
Read the full story
Two members of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners asked the county attorney Thursday to “immediately arrest and press charges against the officers involved in the murder of George Floyd.”
All four officers involved in the tragic Monday night incident have been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department, including Derek Chauvin, the officer who was recorded pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed Floyd.
Read the full story