Confirming widespread suspicions, an investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) has determined that the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) as well as the city of Minneapolis have not only been engaging in a pattern of racist behavior but have also done so while being abusive to mostly Black and brown people.

The DOJ findings come more than three years after city police officer Derek Chauvin used his knee to apply deadly pressure to the neck of George Floyd, who was handcuffed at the time and insisting he couldn’t breathe as stunned onlookers recorded video footage of the murder.

In particular, the DOJ found that MPD routinely employs “excessive force, including unjustified deadly force and unreasonable use of tasers; Unlawfully discriminates against Black people and Native American people in its enforcement activities, including the use of force following stops;” and “Violates the rights of people engaged in protected speech.”

As a result of its findings, the DOJ said that it and the city of Minneapolis have entered into a consent decree “to resolve the [DOJ’s] findings.”https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=feedly&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1669728496137158658&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Ffeedly.com%2F&sessionId=8fcbb26b31734238dd2a2904f6435fc6affc65be&siteScreenName=feedly&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=500px

AG Merrick Garland announces DoJ investigation following the death of George Floyd found the Minneapolis Police Department engages in a pattern of “using excessive force” and “unlawfully discriminating against Black and Native American people.” pic.twitter.com/yZAEFCcfQr

— The Recount (@therecount) June 16, 2023

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who restored the DOJ’s power to investigate police shortly after he was confirmed in 2021, described the DOJ’s findings in Minneapolis as just the beginning of being able to forge a legitimate path forward for the city’s police department to truly protect and serve its Black and brown citizens.

“George Floyd’s death had an irrevocable impact on his family, on the Minneapolis community, on our country, and on the world,” Garland said in a statement. “The patterns and practices of conduct the Justice Department observed during our investigation are deeply disturbing. They erode the community’s trust in law enforcement. And they made what happened to George Floyd possible. Today, we have completed our investigation, but this is only the first step. We will continue to work with the city and the MPD toward ensuring that MPD officers have the support and resources they need to do their jobs effectively and lawfully as we work together toward meaningful and durable reform.”

Source: Confirmed: Minneapolis Cops Are Racist And Abusive To Black And Brown People, DOJ Concludes

The University of Minnesota is currently exhibiting the largest collection of Black photography ever displayed with a compilation of more than 200 photographs, according to KARE11 News. “A Picture Gallery of the Soul” is on currently on display in the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the university’s College of Liberal Arts in Minneapolis.

The exhibit consists of three centuries of American Black photography from more than 100 artists between the 19th century and the 21st century. Images from the George Floyd protests and the first Black lawyers in St. Paul are included in the exhibition. According to the co-curator of the exhibition, Dr. Herman Milligan, “A Picture Gallery of the Soul” was named after a Frederick Douglass quote.

“Frederick Douglass wrote four essays on photography and… in one of those essays, he’s referencing that human beings – if you look at them in terms of a repository of knowledge – you can look at their soul as a picture gallery.”

Milligan added that it was critical for the collection to include known photographers such as Gordon Parks and Kwame Braithwaite, as well as up-and-coming photographers in order to document the current Black experience in America.

“I think it was critical that you do have photographers represented who are part of the here and now and help tell the story of the 360 degrees of the Black American experience from the point of view of a Black American photographer,” he said.

The Katherine E. Nash Gallery shared a post on Instagram announcing the exhibition with a self-portrait of Brathwaite. “We are pleased to present the upcoming exhibition, A Picture Gallery of the Soul, featuring over 100 Black American artists whose practice incorporates the photographic medium.”

A post shared by Katherine E. Nash Gallery (@umn_nash)

The collection is also accompanied by a jazz soundtrack created by Milligan, who began curating photographs for the exhibition with Howard Oransky in 2016. Oransky and Milligan’s collection is also available on Amazon and in bookstores.

The exhibit opened in September and will be on display until Dec. 10.https://www.youtube.com/embed/ii1cYl6II-U

Source: University Of Minnesota Exhibits Largest Collection Of Black Photography

Judeah Reynolds was the youngest witness to the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Now, nearly three years later, she’s celebrated what would’ve been Floyd’s 49th birthday with healing, courage, and a story of her own to tell.

On Friday, the 11-year-old sixth-grader released her first children’s book, “A Walk to the Store,” to share her perspective about that traumatic Memorial Day, CNN reported. She was only nine years old when she witnessed former Minneapolis Police Officer, Derek Chauvin, hold his knee to Floyd’s neck.

Reynolds and her 17-year-old cousin, Darnella Frazier, were walking to the store to buy candy when Frazier recorded footage of the horrifying events that would later help convict Chauvin. Reynolds was also the youngest witness to have to relive thetrauma

during her witness testimony at his trial.

“I was sad and kind of mad cause I felt like he was stopping him from breathing,” Reynolds said during the trial, according to ABC News.

In “A Walk to the Store,” Reynolds documents the trauma she experienced, including the bad dreams that consumed her at night and the constant crying. She’s moving forward with intention, thanks to the help of her family and being able to talk about it.

Source: Youngest Witness to George Floyd’s Murder Releases Children’s Book About Overcoming Trauma

Source: KEREM YUCEL / Getty

President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order in an effort to bring some semblance of meaningful reform to policing in America. The signing at the White House coincided with the two-year anniversary of the horrific police murder of George Floyd.

The executive order comes as the U.S. Senate has allowed legislation in Floyd’s name to languish for nearly a year in a time span that has seen police killings, particularly of Black people, continue to go unpunished with apparent impunity.

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Specifically, Biden is signing the executive order “to advance effective, accountable policing and criminal justice practices that will build public trust and strengthen public safety,” according to a fact sheet provided by the White House on Tuesday. It emphasizes promoting trust between police departments and the communities they serve. That “broken” trust must be repaired before any real inroads affecting policing can be made.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=feedly&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NlbnNpdGl2ZV9tZWRpYV9pbnRlcnN0aXRpYWxfMTM5NjMiOnsiYnVja2V0IjoiaW50ZXJzdGl0aWFsIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd190d2VldF9yZXN1bHRfbWlncmF0aW9uXzEzOTc5Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InR3ZWV0X3Jlc3VsdCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1529561852270755840&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Ffeedly.com%2F&sessionId=00fbcfb36bfee4a9146893d4922eaa4a4cd62837&siteScreenName=feedly&theme=light&widgetsVersion=c8fe9736dd6fb%3A1649830956492&width=500px

“To heal as a nation, we must acknowledge that fatal encounters with law enforcement have disproportionately involved Black and Brown people,” the fact sheet says.

Civil rights groups have said the executive order is an important first step but ultimately requires a broader legislative effort to institute protocols that include true accountability.

“While the order sets necessary baseline standards of record-keeping, accountability and acceptable police behavior for federal law enforcement agencies, we can and must do so much more,” Rashad Robinson, president of Color Of Change, said in a statement emailed to NewsOne. He called it a “first step towards establishing a baseline for addressing the country’s toxic culture of policing and lack of accountability for officers and police departments” before adding, that Color Of Change is “disappointed” that the only acting being taken is the executive order.

Source: Black Leaders React To Biden’s Policing Executive Order

Source: Handout / Getty

It’s been roughly 10 months since ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd. During that time, Chauvin has been thinking about his vile and murderous behavior as an officer of the law and rightfully accepting his fate and accountability for his actions.

Nah, just bullsh**ing—he’s appealing his sentence because he’s still an evil ex-cop who thinks he doesn’t deserve it.

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According to CNN, on Monday, attorneys for the ex-cop who used his knee as a murder weapon filed an 82-page appeal listing the reasons Chauvin didn’t get a fair shake during his criminal trial last year. It’s really just a rehashing of all the complaints Chauvin’s piss-poor legal team raised last year at the time of the trial.

Chauvin’s attorneys are arguing that his trial was “structurally defective” due to reasons that include “extensive pretrial publicity and protests outside the courthouse, as well as the city’s announcement during jury selection that it would pay a $27 million settlement to Floyd’s family,” CNN reports. Lawyers for the guy who thought “I can’t breathe” was Blackanese for “Please keep choking the life out of me” are also asking the appeals court to review issues such as whether the trial should have been moved to a different venue, whether the jury was fully sequestered and whether the trial should have been delayed due to extensive media coverage. (We can assume Chauvin’s attorneys have some semblance of common sense and know that, whenever the trial began, extensive media coverage would’ve been happening up to that date. It’s almost as if they’re just trying to get their client out of the mess he put himself in.)

Source: Derek Chauvin Appeals George Floyd Murder Conviction

A report by Hillard Heintze, a risk management firm, details the lack of planning and communication between the Minneapolis police department, fire department and other agencies in response to the protests that occurred after the killing of George Floyd, according to the Associated Press.

The report describes a breakdown in communication between the city government agencies that left first responders high and dry. It also details how Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey did not put in place the city’s emergency protocols following the unrest and frustration that occurred in his city during the summer of 2020.

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From the Associated Press:

Minneapolis has an emergency operations plan that is “well written, comprehensive and consistent with nationally recognized practices,” but the mayor did not ensure that it was properly implemented, according to the report.

Frey has asked city staff to create a plan for implementing the report’s roughly two dozen recommendations, the mayor said in a statement. The report suggests a range of changes to improve communications among city employees, boost police training on crowd control tactics and upgrade employees’ wellness programs, the Star Tribune reported.

“Trainings are underway, new structures are being put in place,” Frey said, “and we are in routine contact with multi-jurisdictional partners to enhance communications and operational preparedness.”

Source: City of Minneapolis Didn’t Follow Protocols During George Floyd Protests, According to Report

Remember Kyle Rittenhouse? The Illinois man who was found not guilty for fatally shooting two men and wounding another during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin? He’s back in the news.

He now wants the same gun he used to kill two people returned to him along with other property that was taken once he was arrested by police, according to the Associated Press.

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This sounds like the St. Louis couple who waved their guns at Black Live Matters protesters during the George Floyd protests of 2020, had them seized by police and then asked for those same guns back. This same couple also attended the Rittenhouse trial.

Police have had the gun since the day after Rittenhouse shot three men on Aug. 25, 2020, during protests over the shooting of Jacob Blake, by a white police officer, according to the Associated Press

Source: Kyle Rittenhouse Wants the Gun he Used to Fatally Shoot Two Men and Wound Another Back in His Possession

Source: KEREM YUCEL / Getty

Jury selection begins Thursday in the federal trial for the three ex-cops who stood idle as Derek Chauvin put his knee on the neck of George Floyd.

Prosecutors will have to prove if each of the officers willingly violated George Floyd’s constitutional rights, but this task may prove to be difficult.

According to experts, in federal cases, an accident, bad judgment, or negligence isn’t enough to support federal charges; therefore, prosecutors must prove that the three officers knew what they were doing was wrong, but continued to do it anyway.

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According to the indictment, all three officers saw Floyd needed medical attention, but failed to assist him with any aid.

J. Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao all face charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights while under government authority. Thao and Kueng have also been charged with willfully violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure for not stopping Derek Chauvin while his knee was on Floyd’s neck.

The officers could face life in prison, but sentences like that are highly unlikely, especially in cases involving law enforcement.

“This trial is going to present an evolutionary step beyond what we saw at the Chauvin trial because we’re not looking at the killer, but the people who enable the killer,” said former federal prosecutor Mark Osler. “That gets a step closer to the culture of the department.”

Source: Justice For George Floyd: Prosecutors Face High Legal Standard In Ex-Cops’ Federal Civil Rights Trial

Ahead of this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a new documentary on police brutality will stream to Peacock. Produced by Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, Use of Force: The Policing of Black America premieres on the streaming service on Friday.

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Use of Force: The Policing of Black America will examine how Black men, women and people of color have been drastically and disproportionately subjected to and affected by police brutality. Chuck D also narrates the film, highlighting how the names of Black victims of violence from law enforcement flood the headlines, news feeds, and social media.

The deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Philando Castile, Sean Bell, and many others are covered here, as many are interviewed, and the circumstances of these cases are examined. In addition, the film will also discuss the protest movements, particularly Black Lives Matter, that have arisen from these incidents.Demonstrators march away from the Lincoln Memorial while protesting against police brutality and racism on June 6, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

As seen in the trailer, viewers will be reacquainted with the brutal footage of viral videos that captured the killings of Floyd, Castile, Walter Scott, and others, while also seeing footage and imagery of protests from the civil rights movement of the 1960s and Black Lives Matter protests for Floyd and Michael Brown in Ferguson, MS.

“Black communities have a deep-rooted fear of being treated unfairly by police,” Chuck D narrates. “Today’s political environment has carried on the tradition of protecting those who have been accused of excessive force.”

Source: Chuck D produced ‘Use of Force’ documentary examines police brutality and reform