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UNARMED BLACK MAN
As Chief Prosecutor, Klobuchar Declined to Bring Charges Against Cop that
Killed George Floyd
While serving as Minnesota’s chief prosecutor between 1999 and 2007, Klobuchar
declined to bring charges against more than two dozen officers who had killed
citizens while on duty – including against the cop that killed George Floyd.
by Alan Macleod
May 27th, 2020
By Alan Macleod
The latest example of America’s racist police brutality problem was caught on
camera in Minneapolis Monday, as Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on 46-year-old
African-American George Floyd’s neck for over seven minutes until he passed out
and died. In its headline on its website, Minneapolis police described the
event as “man dies after medical incident during police interaction,”
laundering themselves of any responsibility. Chauvin continued his assault even
as Floyd desperately pleaded that he could not breathe, while bystanders
protested his brutality. “You’re fucking stopping his breathing there, bro,”
warned one concerned passer-by. Even after passing out, Chauvin did not release
pressure on his neck. Chauvin has killed multiple times before while in
uniform, has shot and wounded others and is well-known to local activist groups.
Breaking911
@Breaking911
DEVELOPING: Thousands join protest in Minneapolis after in-custody police death
of George Floyd -
https://breaking911.com/sickening-fbi-investigates-death-of-black-man-in-minneapolis-after-video-shows-police-officer-kneeling-on-his-neck/
…
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A history of racist policing, thanks to Klobuchar
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who Joe Biden recently asked to undergo
vetting to be his running mate for November, issued a very tepid statement
about the incident, describing the police killing of an unarmed black man over
an alleged forged check as merely an “officer involved shooting,” – a copaganda
word often used by police as a euphemism for “murder.”
Klobuchar also called for a “complete and thorough outside investigation into
what occurred, and those involved in this incident must be held accountable.”
However, this is unlikely to occur, in no small part because of Klobuchar
herself and the precedent she set while serving as the state’s chief prosecutor
between 1999 and 2007. In that time, she declined to bring charges against more
than two dozen officers who had killed citizens while on duty – including
against Chauvin himself, who shot and killed Wayne Reyes in 2006 and would
later go on to shoot more civilians while in uniform.
Senator Klobuchar Police
Klobuchar poses with Minneapolis Police while announcing a bill to fund more
cops on the street. Photo | Minneapolis PD
At the same time, however, Klobuchar was ramping up the number of arrests as
part of her tough-on-crime agenda, something which inordinately affected people
of color. In her first year in office alone, the prison sentences for
first-degree drug crimes doubled. Activists allege her embracing of the broken
window-style policing was a deliberate strategy to win support in the white
suburbs of Minneapolis, to the detriment of the city’s non-white communities,
bolstering her successful run for senate in 2006. A case in point is Elsayed
Salim, who was convicted of failing to declare a secondary income that put him
above the threshold for welfare and food stamps. A judge sentenced Salim to 364
days in jail – deliberately attempting to protect him from deportation by
keeping his sentencing under a year which downgraded the case from a felony to
a gross misdemeanor. An outraged Klobuchar appealed the decision, lobbying for
an upgrade and condemning the state’s judges for “letting offenders off the
hook too easily.” Mr. Salim was subsequently deported.
While it may not be the first city that comes to mind, data shows that
Minneapolis is among the most racist cities in the United States for racial
profiling and police stops. The police force’s own data shows that, while black
people make up only 18 percent of the population, they were involved in nearly
half of all police stops. Conversely, whites make up 60 percent of the
population but figured in less than 21 percent of the stops. 62 percent of body
searches and 63 percent of people whose cars were searched were also black.
Thus, Floyd’s killing is merely a viral example of a wider phenomenon, a spark
that ignited a powder keg of resentment that had been building for some time.
Camila
@camilateleSUR
Thousands of protesters in Minneapolis fill 38th Street and Chicago Avenue
where George Floyd was detained by four police officers and killed.
#JusticeForFloyd
Earlier, the mayor said that all four killer cops had been fired. This is how
the community responded. Video: KSTP-TV
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Outrage at an unlawful killing
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, massive protests have erupted across Minneapolis
in response to Floyd’s killing, with thousands of people marching through the
city. Police attempted to suppress the demonstration last night, firing rubber
bullets, tear gas and stun grenades, even though there were many children
present.
“This is a disgusting display,” said City Councilman Jeremiah Ellison, “I’m
here on the southside, helping people as I can with milk, water, and towels. So
far, I have been unable to prevent the police from firing indiscriminately into
the crowd. Moments ago, I held a towel to a teenage girl’s head as blood poured
from it.”
Thus, it appears that Klobuchar’s milquetoast response was out of keeping with
those she represents, and even the public more generally, judging by replies
left below it, which included, “This was murder, plain and simple,” “Those cops
need to be arrested today,” and “What is there even to investigate?! This cop
is a murderer and the other cop is an accessory to murder.” The incident was
also the top story on Reddit and Twitter on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
Other public officials denounced the killing far more forcefully. Melvin
Carter, Mayor of St. Paul, said that the video was “one of the most vile and
heartbreaking images I’ve ever seen,” adding that “The officer who stood guard
is just as responsible as his partner; both must be held fully accountable.”
Ilhan Omar, an African-American congresswoman representing the city claimed
that watching a black man helplessly begging for his life sickened her. “Black
lives matter isn’t just a chant, it’s a call for justice. It’s a call for our
humanity to be recognized,” she said, “There needs to be an immediate DOJ
investigation into this.”