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?”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Two people were shot Thursday night in Minneapolis on a Metro Transit bus, the Minneapolis Police Department has revealed.
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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.
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The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis is now selling “cops for Trump” t-shirts after the Minneapolis Police Department changed its political endorsement policy.
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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 brutality on their heads. Noor is a black, Muslim, Somali immigrant who killed a white female. Many are looking at this as proof that his conviction was racially motivated, including the Somali American Police Association (SAPA). “SAPA believes the institutional prejudices against people of color, including officers of color, have heavily influenced the verdict of this case. The aggressive manner in which the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office went after Officer Noor reveals that there were other motives at play other than serving justice,” the group said in a statement. The organization praised Noor for joining the police force “to make a difference and reflect the community he serves.” “And while historically it has not been uncommon for minority officers to receive differential treatment, it is discouraging to see this treatment persist in 2019. SAPA fears the outcome of this case will have a devastating effect on police morale and make…
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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 life in order to preserve their own, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Moving forward, officers who wish to pursue any training related to use-of-force must first submit the course for approval from Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, KARE11 is reporting. “Fear-based training violates the values at the very heart of community policing,” said Frey. “Our officers have no business at a training that conflicts with those provided by Minneapolis on use of force and deescalation.” Effective today, @MinneapolisPD will become the 1st major department that we know of to prohibit this kind of fear-based training. Attending or instructing an external training that relates to use-of-force will now require approval from our Chief. #mplsSOTC — Jacob Frey (@Jacob_Frey) April 18, 2019 The President of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, Lt. Bob Kroll, disagreed with Frey’s characterization of the training, which he said has existed for while, calling it “excellent.”…
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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 increase in roughly 56 percent. Authorities attribute the violence to rivalries between Somali gangs, such as the Somali Mafia, the Somali Outlaws, the Hot Boyz, and Madhibaan with Attitude, Alpha News reports. According to a 2014 Southside Pride article, the Outlaws and Madhibaan with Attitude have a rivalry that stretches back years, and likely resulted in the murder of two Somali men in April 2014. That article notes that the summer of 2013 was a particularly bloody season for gang warfare, which produced at least 4 killings. A 2013 CBS article detailed the involvement of the Outlaws, the Mafia, and another gang called the Lady Outlaws in a sex-trafficking ring that recruited and prostituted young girls, some of whom were under the age of 14, between 2000 and 2010. The ring was operated out of Minneapolis, Columbus, and Nashville, and resulted in the indictment of 30 individuals involved. In…
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