Former Minneapolis police officer gets 36 month sentence over role in George Floyd’s death

A Minnesota judge on Wednesday sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane to three years in state prison after he was found guilty earlier this year of violating George Floyd’s civil rights.

Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Lane after he reached a plea agreement with state prosecutors for a 36-month sentence.

Lane, 39, is already serving a 2 ½ year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s rights when he pinned the 46-year-old Black man down by holding his legs while the officer in charge, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes in May 2020.

Lane pleaded guilty in May to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

Minnesota delegation looks to honor Prince with Congressional Gold Medal

Minnesota’s Congressional delegation on Monday is introducing a resolution to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Prince, citing his “indelible mark on Minnesota and American culture.”

The resolution for Prince is led by Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who represents Minneapolis in the House. The full Minnesota delegation serves as original cosponsors, including Sen. Tina Smith and Reps. Jim Hagedorn, Angie Craig, Dean Phillips, Betty McCollum, Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Pete Stauber and Omar.

“Prince is a Minnesota icon,” said Omar in a statement. “He showed that it was OK to be a short, Black kid from Minneapolis and still change the world. He not only changed the arc of music history; he put Minneapolis on the map.”

The bill also puts into the Congressional record the glyph he used instead of his name for a time that Prince called “The Love Symbol.”

Under the rules, Congressional Gold Medals require the support of at least two-thirds of the members of both the Senate and House of Representatives before they can be signed into law by the president. The Prince legislation will be introduced in the House and Senate.

If the gold medal is approved and made, the bill asks that it be given to the Smithsonian Institution, which should make it available for display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture or on loan.

Minneapolis reaches $27 million settlement with George Floyd’s family

The city of Minneapolis has settled a civil suit with the family of George Floyd for a record $27 million.

The city council voted 13-0 to approve the settlement which also includes $500,000 for the south Minneapolis neighborhood that includes the 38th and Chicago intersection that has been blocked by barricades since his death, with a massive metal sculpture and murals in his honor.

The Minneapolis City Council emerged from closed session to announce the settlement.

“I hope that today will center the voices of the family and anything that they would like to share,” Council President Lisa Bender said. “But I do want to, on behalf of the entire City Council, offer my deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd, his friends and all of our community who are mourning his loss.”

Floyd family attorney Ben Crump called a news conference for 1 p.m. that include family members.

Crump, in a prepared statement, said it was the largest pretrial civil rights settlement ever, and “sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of color must end.”

Minnesota attorney general to take over prosecutions in George Floyd's death

Minnesota's governor appointed state Attorney General Keith Ellison on Sunday to lead the prosecution of any cases arising from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

Gov. Tim Walz announced Ellison's appointment as lead prosecutor shortly after the Hennepin County prosecutor said he had asked Ellison to "assist" in the investigation, two days after 10 members representing Minneapolis in the state House asked Walz in a letter to transfer the case to Ellison.

"Unfortunately, our constituents, especially constituents of color, have lost faith in the ability of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to fairly and impartially investigate and prosecute these cases," the letter said.

"This decision is one that I feel takes us in that direction and the step to start getting the justice for George Floyd," Walz said.

SOURCE: NBC NEWS]

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks on George Floyd's death

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison tells Lawrence O’Donnell that the Minneapolis police chief made the right decision in firing the four officers involved in the death of George Floyd, who cried “I can’t breathe” as police restrained him by the neck. He says the investigations should proceed, but that shouldn’t mean the community “can’t express its outrage, disappointment and frustration.”

Minneapolis officers involved in death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man fired

Four Minneapolis police officers were fired on Tuesday after video emerged showing an officer pinning his knee against the neck of an unarmed black man who died following the arrest.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced during a press conference that the officers involved in the arrest were now “former employees," CBS Minnesota reported. The officers have not been named.

The decision came amid escalating outrage over footage showing a police officer pinning a black man to the pavement as he yelled “I cannot breathe!"

The man, identified as George Floyd by his family's attorney, died of a "medical incident" after being detained by officers, the Minneapolis Police Department said Monday.

The department said earlier Tuesday that the FBI would take part in its investigation into the incident, as calls for accountability mounted.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

Feds say no civil rights prosecution in Jamar Clark's death

U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger announced that no federal criminal civil rights charges will be filed against the Minneapolis Police in the shooting of Jamar Clark last fall.

Federal authorities announced Wednesday that Jamar Clark’s civil rights were not violated when two white Minneapolis police officers fatally shot the 24-year-old black man during a confrontation last fall outside a North Side apartment building.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger, leaning heavily on whether Clark was handcuffed by police before being shot and other factors, said there was “insufficient evidence” to bring a federal case. He said Clark’s family has been informed of the ruling, which was harshly criticized by the Minneapolis leader of the NAACP and firmly supported by the city’s police chief.

“I want you to understand that this is one of the highest legal standards under criminal law,” Luger told reporters at FBI offices in Brooklyn Center. “It is not enough to show the officers made a mistake, that they acted negligently, by accident or even that they exercised bad judgment to prove a crime. We would have had to show that they specifically intended to commit a crime.”

Read more: Feds say no civil rights prosecution in Jamar Clark's death

Two arrested in shooting attack on #BlackLivesMatter protesters

Police have arrested two men they have been seeking in connection with the shooting of five protesters the Black Lives Matter encampment Monday night.

Minneapolis police said they arrested a 23-year-old white man in Bloomington at 11:20 a.m. Tuesday. A second shooting suspect arrested in south Minneapolis at 12:05 p.m. has been released after questioning.

About 2:30 p.m., two men turned themselves in, police said, saying they were white, one age 26 and another age 21. They were being interviewed by investigators, officials added.

Authorities are weighing whether to treat the shooting of five people protesting near the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fourth Precinct station Monday night as a hate crime, sources familiar with the investigation said Tuesday morning.

The victims, all black men — ages 19 through 43 — were taken to hospitals with noncritical injuries, according to police.

Read more: 3 in custody, 1 released in 4th Precinct shooting; march to downtown ends