4/22/21 Three Investigations Aim to Get to the Bottom of Minneapolis' Policing Problem

“Yesterday's verdict in the state criminal trial does not address potentially systemic policing issues in Minneapolis," Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday as he announced a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into Minneapolis' police practices.

The two big questions: Do Minneapolis police typically use excessive force? The investigation will take a look-see with a microscope to the department's policies, training, supervision, and responses to use-of-force incidents. Secondly, are their dealings with "behavioral health disabilities" done legally? For that question, federal civil rights experts are teaming up with Minnesota's U.S. Attorney's Office. That investigation is already under way.

A third question is whether George Floyd's death was a violation of his civil rights, i.e. the right to life. Bill Barr, former U.S. Attorney General, started that investigation. It languished late in the Trump administration, but was revived in Biden's. Reportedly, the investigation had new witnesses and, in February, impaneled a grand jury to hear them.

If the investigation finds a "a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing," it will issue a public report, Garland said. The agency also has the authority to bring a civil lawsuit compelling MPD to change its policies.

So far, both a civil and criminal case have concluded in the wake of Floyd's death, although Chauvin's sentencing is yet to occur. As we are all aware by now, ex-policeman Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder 2, murder 3 and manslaughter 2. In the civil case, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously awarded $27 million to the Floyd family over George Floyd's death.

What do you think Garland will find in the investigation into Minneapolis' user of force habits? Do you think he'll come up with a set of rules to be imposed on police nationwide? Could the behavioral health question lead, say, to police departments adding social workers to their staffs? https://www.axios.com/justice-department-minneapolis-policing-24e2d694-739f-400d-87a8-54a8b6975308.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=politics-minneapolispolice&fbclid=IwAR1v1GBghUVnLvZX_InVOG992oolDZaIgzz8OtaLzx_Lvi2jI6_PboU7WVI

4/22/21 DC Statehood -- It's Gotta Happen Sometime

Consider Washington, DC. The whole thing covers 61 square miles. The Census counted 705,000 residents in 2019, 46% Black and 46% white. Voters are 76% Democratic and 6% Republican.

For representation, DC counts on Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, who is not allowed to vote on legislation. People drive around DC with bumper stickers saying "Taxation without Representation." They're right.

Now, consider Wyoming. It covers 97,019 square miles. The Census counted 578,759 souls in 2019 -- 1.3% Black and 92% white. It's one of the most conservatives states in the country, with 68% voting Republican and 22% voting Democratic. I can't even imagine how many Wyomians' bumper stickers mention the 2nd Amendment.

For representation, Wyoming gets one House representative and TWO (count 'em!) Senators. In a presidential vote under today's electoral system, a Wyoming vote is worth 3.6 times the vote of a Californian. Now that's what I call representation.

DC statehood, if it had any real chance of passing in the Senate, would be practically as charged as the fight over the Missouri Compromise. That's because it would shift the balance of Republicans versus Democrats in the Capitol. Turning DC into a state would flip the balance toward fairness, and it would put Democrats in the majority.

Republicans represent a much smaller number of voters than Democrats. Gerrymandering by unscrupulous Republicans over several decades has had an impact, but by far the biggest factor is that rural states vote Republican and populous states vote Democratic. The ugly reality is that a Republican voter has more clout than a Democratic voter.

DC has been considered for statehood twice, including in a bill working through the House right now. It'll pass. Then it'll fail in the Senate. Word has it that not even all the Democratic Senators would approve it.

A 54% share of the public thinks it's a good idea, but then, unequal representation works against them.

It's a shame. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/549567-house-democrats-eye-passing-dc-statehood-bill-for-second-time?fbclid=IwAR0iE1s1cooinPJ6TRDAjHjdAW5Uhd5uyCN4sC3gjqZag2sPFV64dMaST9g

4/20/21 Maxine Waters Speaks Her Truth

Representative Maxine Waters has always been the mouth that roared — and her constituents in southern Los Angeles and Torrance, CA love her for it. They’ve sent her back to the House every other year since 1991.

So when she talked to protestors on April 17th at Brooklyn Center, the site of Daunte Wright’s killing during a traffic stop, it was no surprise that she came up with highly quotable, highly controversial comments.

According to Dave Orrick of TwinCities. com, which carefully reviewed the event tapes, Ms. Waters’s controversial statements were made not to protesters directly, but to newspeople after she gave a short speech. One reporter asked what protesters should do if Derek Chauvin, the cop who killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck, was found not guilty.

The question, repeated, was shorter: “What should protesters do?” Waters may not have heard the entire question.

She said, “We’ll, we’ve got to stay on the street. And we’ve got to get more active. We’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”

Aaaand Holy Saint Patrick, did the Republicans take a long, long, run with that ball. Many Republican politicians were shocked—shocked that the 82-year-old congresswoman would call for violence!

Waters effectively waved the comments away as attempts at fundraising. She said she wasn’t going to let Republicans bully her.

Nancy Pelosi announced that Waters had nothing to apologize for. Waters had spoken within a civil rights tradition.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is nothing if not hypocritical, vowed that she would introduce a bill to expel Waters from Congress.

Never mind that Waters had called for confrontation against Trump minions in 2018. Greene doesn’t remember, it seems, that there was no move to expel her — but Greene bows to none in outrage.

The single most serious hissy fit came from the judge presiding over Chauvin’s trial, who said Waters’ words could be grounds for a mistrial on appeal. The judge was seriously ticked off.

In any case, Ms. Waters isn’t playing a game. She said what she said, and there’s no walking it back. For Waters, there never has been.

Do you think Waters was encouraging violence? Should she be censured?

TwinCities.com: “What Rep. Maxine Waters Really Said...” by Dave Orrick

4/18/21 Marjorie Taylor Greene in Anglo-Saxon Land

We care about human and civil rights, justice, and fairness, so Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) triggers our gag reflexes. It’s droll to think that the Republican leadership is having as much trouble dealing with Marjorie Taylor Greene as we are, but it’s true!

It’s especially true now, as Greene attempts to create a caucus of Caucasian whiners to be called the “The America First Caucus.” This (she-thinks) charming idea aims to keep the USA and its architecture free from the taint of all other cultures. More or less: In MJT’s view, Europe is grandfathered in. She isn’t specific about the countries she accepts. We assume she’d balk at the Alhambra, with its Moorish inflections and (shudder) Spanish speakers, but how can anyone know what’s in that brain of hers? (Really, can we all chip in and buy her a new brain that’s working?) A Representative named Paul Gosar (R-AZ) is her silent buddy in this scheme.

When Greene’s caucus description came to light on Punchbowl News, lots of people were angry, and the hapless minority leader Kevin McCarthy had to backpedal fast on whether Republicans would accept MJT’s latest flight from reality. It took just hours for MJT herself to disown it as a draft written by staffers — one that she hadn’t even read. Louie Gohmert, R-TX, even said he hadn’t decided whether to join the caucus. “It’s not supposed to be about race at all,” he said. “I’ll have to go back and look” at the description. Gosar, for his part, isn’t commenting at all.

The upshot is that no Republican seemed to think there was anything wrong until the wording was out in the open. Now, it’s an oops. Said McCarthy, “The Republican Party is the party of Lincoln” — which it hasn’t been since Teddy Roosevelt left office — “....not of nativist dog whistles.”

And then, like a miracle, the caucus of “Anglo-Saxon political traditions” was gone.

The caucus of MJT was named “America First” in a tribute to Trump policies. Do you think it might have appealed to Trump fans? Do you think it would have harmed the Republicans at the polls? If no one were to try to manage Ms. Greene’s ideas, would she help or harm her party?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/america-first-caucus-would-champion-anglo-saxon-political-traditions/?fbclid=IwAR0iE1s1cooinPJ6TRDAjHjdAW5Uhd5uyCN4sC3gjqZag2sPFV64dMaST9g

4/16/21 Drill Sergeant is Charged for Bullying a Neighbor

A giant, bald, big-eared Army drill sergeant in South Carolina was charged on Wednesday morning with 3rd degree assault, which can lead to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.

The sergeant, Jonathan Pentland, is white, and the incident involved a guy he bullied who is Black. Both apparently live in the Summit Neighborhood of Columbia.

The incident apparently began when Pentland's wife accused the man of picking a fight with a "random" woman. Pentland, 42, shoved the man hard, and slapped his cell phone out of his hand, although the cell-phone part was not in the video.

Pentland accused the man, whose name is given only as Deandre, of "aggressing on the neighborhood." He then shoved Deandre in the shoulder. "You better walk away . . . . you either walk away or I'm going to carry your a** out of here."

"You better not touch me," the man said.

"Or what?" responded Pentland "What are you going to do? Let's go, walk away... I'm about to do something to you. You better start walking... You're in the wrong neighborhood motherf*****. Get out."

"I live here, sir," says Deandre.

"Where? Where's your house? What's your address?" Pentland repeats his accusation that Deandre was harassing the neighborhood.

Deandre replies: "I'm not harassing anyone, I'm walking through the neighborhood, I live here, sir."

The Army took a dim view of Pentland's actions, and suspended him from his "instructor duties" this Thursday at Ft. Jackson.

“Soldier conduct on and off duty must be exemplary to retain the trust of our communities and our nation,” tweeted the Ft. Jackson commander, Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr. The base is the largest U.S. Army basic training location.

Comments from the county sheriff indicated that Deandre had been involved in "incidents" in the neighborhood recently, but nothing to justify the harassment and bullying he received.

Late that night, a crowd of Black neighbors met in front of Pentland's house, where they protested using a bullhorn. Someone broke one of Pentland's windows, and police moved Pentland and his family out of the house.

The videographer was a Black neighbor of Pentland who wanted the incident on tape in case it turned violent. "I just didn't want him to be another hashtag," she said. The video has had several million views.

Have you witnessed similar incidents that didn't get media attention? What did you do -- or what do you wish you had done? Should Pentland be jailed and/or discharged dishonorably from the army?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jonathan-pentland-suspended_n_60796403e4b0bc5a3a55830b?fbclid=IwAR1NHctFQdWdDPZJU5hr3Y6woRGgqRD0AeZhlX8q4kGL1Jx17ax2dGx8zo8

4/14/21 As Daunte Wright's Killer is Jailed, New Evidence Emerges

Police officer Kim Potter, who has submitted her resignation from Brooklyn Center's police force, was arrested and jailed today, charged with Manslaughter 2 for shooting Daunte Wright to death.

Manslaughter 2 in Minnesota means death after the suspect "creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another." It can lead to a 10 year jail sentence and $20,000 in fines.

Potter has said the shooting was a mistake, but the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which arrested Potter, says that Potter's handgun is holstered on the right side of her duty belt, while the Taser is on the left side, making her statement less credible than it would be if both weapons were on the same side of the belt.

The charge was brought in Washington County, two counties away from Brooklyn Center, to reduce the likelihood of the appearance of conflict of interest. Potter is in the Hennepin County Jail, in the same county as Brooklyn Center.

As WRP members know, Wright was gunned down during a traffic stop. He had returned to his car while police officers tried to arrest him for a warrant they had discovered during the traffic stop. Potter shouted "Taser! Taser! Taser!" and then shot Wright in the chest.

Protests continue on in Brooklyn Center as well as in Minneapolis, outside the trial of Derek Chauvin, who is accused of murdering George Floyd. The two locations are about ten miles apart.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/14/us/daunte-wright-minnesota-shooting-wednesday/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3vwBBx0WiHbv5TewBs7qtjsZ6QeyBzfhTUiIH3J5VLLuQtMxhqgxJGxRk

4/22/21 Another Police Officer Kills Another Black Man Near Minneapolis

with K. C. Gagne

Imagine being pulled over for a traffic stop and ending up dead from a shot to the chest. That's the story of 20-year-old Daunte Wright.

His sin was an expired registration sticker. An expired registration sticker. Is that worth a young man's life? Not a chance.

It took place in a burg called Brooklyn Center, not far from Minneapolis. Minneapolis is where Derek Chauvin is on trial for murdering George Floyd. Minneapolis is already on curfew because of the strong chance that protests will erupt.

We're told that the police officer who shot Daunte Wright (in front of Wright’s girlfriend) didn't mean to kill him. She just meant to tase him, in order to stop him from leaving when the police moved to arrest him for an outstanding warrant that they discovered during the traffic stop.

But -- well -- oops, ya know.

It's not homicide if you didn't mean it. We're told that the anguish of the police officer is real enough on the videotape. It's manslaughter, and since it's a police officer, it might not even be that much.

Now, Brooklyn Center has its own protests, and its own curfew. Like Minneapolis, which settled damage claims with Floyd's family for $27 million, Brooklyn Center will be paying for this error for many years to come.

Wright's family will be suffering it forever.

One move that we haven’t seen before after police misconduct: the Police Chief of Brooklyn Center has quickly turned over control of that town’s police force to the Mayor. And the Mayor, who is an African-American man, is speaking out.

With tensions high and rising in Minnesota, the major professional sports all cancelled games scheduled for tonight. That’s probably a wise idea - a few less crowds to get upset and show their emotions.

What do you think of this new Minneapolis situation? How could this cop have mistaken shot a person instead of using her taser? Could the timing have been any worse, right in the middle of (and that close to) the Minneapolis trial? How will people be calmed down? What do you think of the move of having the African-American Mayor take over the police force?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/daunte-wright-police-shooting-minneapolis_n_6073da60c5b634fd4380f3f3?fbclid=IwAR1Ksf3VHlA4fAdPmVRrSOEcVHM7wmRhs_1G7TlNlY28HS6-v9MMyvkL4l4