Minnesota | July 2, 2021
Judge Orders Minneapolis to Hire More Police Officers Amid Crime Surge
Minnesota | July 2, 2021
A judge on July 1 ruled in favor of a group that filed a lawsuit demanding more police officers be brought into the city, after city council members and activist groups advocated to replace the police department following the death of George Floyd.
Hennepin County District Judge Jamie Anderson issued a writ of mandamus (pdf) ordering the city to hire more police officers, specifically that Minneapolis should have at least 730 officers or .0017 of the 2020 census population, whichever is higher, by the end of June 2022.
An unprecedented number of officers quit or went on extended medical leave after Floyd’s death and the unrest that followed, which included the burning of a police precinct. With new recruit classes, the city anticipates it will have 674 officers available at the end of the year, with another 28 in the hiring process, the Star Tribune reported…
(Excerpts from the Epoch Times)
Minnesota | June 8, 2021
Minneapolis residents suing the city, say ‘defund the police’ movement caused rise in violence
Minnesota | June 8, 2021
Minnesota | June 4, 2021
Rioters Set Fire, Loot in Minneapolis after Police Shoot Allegedly Armed Suspect
Minnesota | June 4, 2021
Rioters in Minneapolis broke windows, set a dumpster on fire and looted local businesses Thursday night after a police officer shot and killed a suspect who was wanted for unlawful possession of a firearm, according to reports.
The suspect, who was also reportedly a murder suspect, refused to follow commands from the U.S. Marshal Service taskforce, according to FOX 9 Minneapolis. The suspect pulled out a gun during the attempted arrest in a parking garage. The officers then shot at the suspect, the report says. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
No Minneapolis police officers were involved, according to Reuters.
Following the shooting, a few dozen protesters reportedly gathered around a dumpster near the scene as it melted into a “puddle of fire,” according to KSTP-TV, tossing items into the dumpster to keep it burning while chanting anti-police slogans….
(Excerpts from the National Review)
Minnesota | April 20, 2021
Verdict Reached in Chauvin trial
Minnesota | April 20, 2021
The jury has reached a verdict on the murder and manslaughter charges against former Officer Derek Chauvin for the May 2020 killing of George Floyd, the 46-year-old Black man whose neck Chauvin pinned down with his knee on the pavement of a south Minneapolis intersection for more than nine minutes.
It was an act of police violence so searing that it set off a nationwide racial reckoning nearly one year ago…
(Excerpts from Politico)
Minnesota | April 20, 2021
Minneapolis Braces Potential Unrest
Minnesota | April 20, 2021
MINNEAPOLIS— Julia Hinton walked along downtown’s Nicollet Mall on Monday morning, watching as a man installed plywood over the doors and windows of 801 Chophouse on 8th Street and Nicollet Avenue. Armed troops and military vehicles stood posted near the Saks Off Fifth store a few blocks down on 6th, and several more lined the way to the already-boarded-up Target on 9th.
“It’s like we’re getting ready for war or something,” she said of the city’s preparations for a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of Black man George Floyd last May. The jury began deliberating following closing arguments on Monday.
“It’s just so much,” said Ms. Hinton, 53.
Without knowing how quickly a verdict could arrive—and whether that decision will reignite the looting and arson that damaged swaths of the city last summer—Minneapolis has spent the past several days tightening security, including bolstering temporary barricades around government buildings….
(Excerpts from The Wall Street Journal)
Minnesota | April 20, 2021
Judge said Maxine Waters’ Remarks Could Lead To ‘Whole Trial Being Overturned’
Minnesota | April 20, 2021
Judge Peter Cahill, who is presiding over the case involving the death of George Floyd, said on Monday that remarks made by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) over the weekend could lead to the “whole trial being overturned” on appeal.
“And it is so pervasive that it is I just don’t know how this jury it can really be said to be that they are free from the taint of this,” the lawyer representing Derek Chauvin said. “And now that we have U.S. representatives, threatening acts of violence in relation to the specific case, it’s mind boggling to me, judge.”..
(Excerpts from The Daily Wire)