Photo: STEPHEN MATUREN/AFP/Getty Images
He Department of Justice (DOJ) released a detailed report on the abuses of the civil rights by the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD)which was prompted by the police murder of George Floyd in 2020 and published a few days before June 19.
In the findings highlighted by the US Attorney General, Merrill Garland, at the presentation of the report in the city of Minneapolis, Garland highlighted conduct by the police in that city that includes the police abuse with use of excessive force and racial discrimination against blacks and Native Americans.
The report found that there is “reasonable cause” to believe that MPD and the city of Minneapolis engaged in a “pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of their rights under the Constitution and federal law.”
The investigation was opened shortly after the death of George Floyd, which was recorded on video and led to a wave of protests in the United States against police violence and discrimination under the slogan “Black Lives Matter”.
The attorney general of the United States, Merrick Garland, stressed this Friday when presenting the conclusions of the investigations that the Minneapolis Police have seen a habitual excessive use of force, even lethally, “often when it is not necessary”. .
They use their weapons “without evaluating whether the person presents a threat, let alone whether the threat justifies their lethal use. They routinely disregard the safety of people in their custody and unlawfully discriminate against Black and Native American people in their law enforcement activities.” Garland said.
Floyd was arrested on May 25, 2020 after a clerk accused him of trying to pay for a box of tobacco with a counterfeit bill.
Derek Chauvin, The police officer who put his leg around Floyd’s neck as the man screamed that he couldn’t breathe ended up being sentenced to 22 years in prison for manslaughter in June 2021 and another 20 after pleading guilty to excessive use of force and discrimination .
The investigation opened by the Department of Justice did not seek to evaluate the behavior of a particular agent, but of the police force of the city as a whole.
And their conclusions put on the table also that people with behavioral problems are discriminated against and that there were several episodes prior to the Floyd case in which the agents involved did not have to render accounts until there were social protests.
“These systemic problems didn’t just happen in 2020. There were instances that were reported by the community long before the Department of Justice concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that the Minneapolis Police Department and the City of Minneapolis exercise that pattern or conduct practice,” Garland said.
Garland, in revealing the findings of the investigation, criticized the Minneapolis Police Department, saying that officers used dangerous weapons and tactics against people who committed minor or no misdemeanors, and that the agency failed to make reforms despite repeated warnings.
Conduct that, in Garland’s opinion, violates the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which protects citizens from unreasonable search or trespass, and the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, and the right to petition the government for compensation for grievances.
“The findings released this Friday in the report are worrying. The city and Minneapolis Police have demonstrated their commitment to moving quickly on reforms aimed at remedying the problems identified.” added Deputy Attorney General Vanita Gupka.
Since Floyd’s death, only four Minneapolis police officers have been convicted for their direct and indirect roles in it, including Chauvin. “Her passing from him had an irrevocable impact on Minneapolis, our country and the world. George Floyd should be alive today,” Garland stressed.
The Department of Justice, the City of Minneapolis and its Police have agreed to negotiate a consent decree leading to the expected police reforms.
Although there have already been changes, such as a ban on police chokeholds, “there is work to be done,” the Justice Department said, admitting that negotiations could take months and even a year.
“As I told the family of George Floyd this morning, his death has had an irreparable impact on the Minneapolis community, on our country and around the world,” said Garland, who traveled to Minneapolis to present the 89-page report. and the framework of a reform agreement with the city that will be overseen by a federal judge.
Minneapolis has reached that agreement with the DOJ to negotiate a plan to reform the police force. “We will change the narrative on policing in this city,” Police Chief Brian O’Hara promised at a news conference Friday, according to The New York Times.
The murder of George Floyd, captured on terrifying video, sparked protests against police brutality and racism across the country and around the world. Along with the murders of Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and hundreds of other black Americans by police in recent years, Floyd’s death has also helped intensify calls for the abolition, defunding and reform of the police.
The report released Friday by the DOJ is the latest chapter in the ongoing national reckoning over police abuse sparked by Floyd’s death and the protests that followed his death across the country and around the world.
Keep reading:
– George Floyd: 12 violent deaths of African-Americans that raised a wave of outrage in the US.
– Joe Biden calls on Congress to pass police reform on the third anniversary of George Floyd
– Conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd of 22 years in prison is confirmed