Apr 26, 2021
It’s an unsettling fact that the government seems to track parking tickets better than it tracks hate crimes.
But a proposal to modify hate crime reporting in Minnesota to allow reports to other agencies than police and to include hate graffiti can help solve that case of misplaced priorities.
A recent case of neo-Nazi graffiti via stickers on lamp posts in the Mankato area may have fit under the new legal definition of a hate crime and given authorities power to investigate and prosecute.
Hate crimes at the state and federal level have from the beginning been described by a messy set of legal terms and nuances that fostered underreporting. For example, anti-Semitic graffiti and swastikas painted on a Minneapolis school were not considered a hate crime because the school was not owned by a “targeted” group. The graffiti would have had to have been painted on the home of a Jewish person to qualify.
Rift Between Mayor Frey and Council President Bender Widens at Key Moment for Police Reform pbs.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pbs.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rift between Mayor Frey and Council President Bender widens at key moment for police reform Minneapolis is torn on best path to reform April 24, 2021 4:45pm Text size Copy shortlink:
Mayor Jacob Frey and a small group of city staffers gathered inside a conference room in his City Hall office, waiting for a judge to read the verdict in Derek Chauvin s trial.
They had spent months brainstorming various security plans and would soon need to decide which scenario would unfold on city streets.
Outside, in a grassy area near the Hennepin County Government Center, a handful of City Council members joined protesters anxiously waiting to hear whether their fears of an acquittal would be fulfilled or whether they might see the justice they sought handed down in George Floyd s death. Among them was City Council President Lisa Bender, whose working relationship with Frey has frayed in recent months.
14 hours ago in National, Trending
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks about a jury s verdict in the case against former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, at the Department of Justice, Wednesday, April 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool) Photo: Associated Press
By MICHAEL BALSAMO and AMY FORLITI Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) â The Justice Department is opening a sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis after a former officer was convicted in the killing of George Floyd there, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday.
The decision comes a day after former officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death last May, setting off a wave of relief across the country. The death prompted months of mass protests against policing and the treatment of Black people in the U.S.
THE STANDARD
AMERICA
By Reuters | April 22nd 2021
People listen to speakers at George Floyd Square after the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, found guilty of the death of George Floyd, at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., April 20, 2021.[Reuters]
The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday launched a sweeping civil investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis following a jury’s verdict that former city police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.
The probe is the first major action of Attorney General Merrick Garland, after President Joe Biden vowed to address systemic racism in the United States. It will consider whether the department engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, including during protests, he said.