Showing posts with label Minnesota. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minnesota. Show all posts

Friday, June 17, 2022

President Biden nominates Derek Chauvin prosecutor to the

President Biden nominated one of the attorneys who prosecuted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd as a federal judge on Wednesday.

Biden nominated Jerry Blackwell to the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The White House did not mention Blackwell’s role in the Chauvin case in the announcement of the nomination.

Blackwell is a founding partner of law firm Blackwell Burke. He received law and bachelor’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D) and Tina Smith (D) applauded Blackwell’s nomination in a joint statement, saying he was unanimously supported by a judicial selection committee they convened to make recommendations.

“With more than three decades of legal experience, Jerry Blackwell is exceptionally well-qualified to be a U.S. District Court Judge,” said Smith. “I am confident that his experience and commitment to equal justice will make him an excellent federal judge.”

Klobuchar echoed similar sentiments.

“His extensive trial experience – including the successful prosecution of the murder of George Floyd – makes him an excellent choice to be a U.S. District Court Judge,” Klobuchar said. “As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to confirm him.”

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

Monday, October 25, 2021

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.

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Attorney General Ellison’s office to lead prosecution in death of Daunte Wright

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that he has accepted a request to lead the prosecution against former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, who is currently charged with second-degree manslaughter in the April 11, 2021 Brooklyn Center death of Daunte Wright. The request comes from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman after the Washington County Attorney’s Office, who charged Ms. Potter, returned the case to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, who is the manager of the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s Office and was a presenting attorney in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd, will supervise the case. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office will provide staff to the Attorney General’s prosecution team. Attorney General Ellison, who led the prosecution of Mr. Chauvin, will actively assist. The first step, reviewing the evidence and charges laid against Ms. Potter, is already underway.

Attorney General Ellison released the following statement:

Daunte Wright was a son, a brother, a father, a friend. When he died, he was only 20 years old. He had his whole life ahead of him.

Daunte Wright’s death was a tragedy. He should not have died on the day that he did. He should not have died the way that he did. His parents, brothers, sisters, and friends must now live the rest of their lives without him. His son, only two years old, will grow up without his father. I have privately expressed my condolences and sorrow to the family and expect to work with them closely throughout the proceedings.

The community of Brooklyn Center and people across Minnesota also continue to grieve Daunte’s death. I join them in that grieving. His death is a loss to all of us.

I did not seek this prosecution and do not accept it lightly. I have had, and continue to have, confidence in how both County Attorney Orput and County Attorney Freeman have handled this case to date. I thank County Attorney Orput for the solid work he and his office have done, and I thank County Attorney Freeman once again for his confidence in my office. I appreciate their partnership as my office takes the lead on this case.

Prosecutors are ministers of justice. This means we must and will follow justice wherever it leads. I promise the Wright family and all Minnesotans that I will handle this prosecution responsibly and consistent with the law, and that I will be guided by the values of accountability and transparency.

No one, however, should expect this case will be easy to prosecute. History shows that this case, like all cases of officer-involved deaths by deadly force, will be difficult.

We are not destined to repeat history. Once again, we in Minnesota find ourselves at a moment where a deadly-force encounter with police has galvanized our grief and focused our attention. If prosecutors ensure that prosecutions are vigorous and swift, if legislators at every level pass long-overdue reforms, if police leadership demonstrates misconduct has no place in the profession, and if community continues to keep up the cry for justice, we will break the cycle of history and establish a new standard for justice.

Monday, April 12, 2021

NY Yankees star Aaron Hicks to sit out baseball game due to the shooting of Daunte Wright

Aaron Hicks approached manager Aaron Boone on Monday afternoon, and told him that he didn’t want to play on Monday night in the New York Yankees’ game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Hicks, who was set to bat sixth in the lineup in Florida, made the decision to sit out in the wake of the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright in Minnesota on Sunday.

“I would say that Aaron is hurting in a huge way,” Boone said via SNY. “I think in a way felt like it was probably the responsible thing to take himself out and knowing that it was going to be hard for him to be all in mentally in what’s a high stake, difficult job to go out there and perform for the New York Yankees.”

Though the Yankees may miss him Monday night, Boone said he wasn’t bothered by Hicks’ decision.

“I don’t really even give two thoughts to that,” Boone said, via SNY. “My consideration is with Aaron and his well being and making sure as best we can we support him and try to be there as best we can for him right now. This is something in the immediate that’s real emotion that he’s feeling, and right now I’m going to support that.”

Wednesday, November 07, 2018

Keith Ellison wins attorney general race in Minnesota

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) narrowly defeated Republican Doug Wardlow to become Minnesota’s next attorney general, after a bitter campaign rocked by allegations of abuse from the congressman’s ex-girlfriend. With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Ellison led Wardlow, a former state legislator, by more than 100,000 votes.

“We never thought this was in the bag, and it was a dog fight from the very beginning,” Ellison told supporters in Minneapolis. “There were challenges along the way and you know, we just kept on pushing.”

Ellison, the first Muslim to win election to statewide office, jumped into the race just five months ago, after incumbent Lori Swanson launched an unsuccessful campaign for governor. A leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Ellison said he could become a crusading attorney general, using the office to challenge the Trump administration in court, take on big business, and protect women’s rights.

Ellison’s win appeared to be part of a sweep for Minnesota Democrats, who easily held onto the governor’s office, won every statewide race, and flipped the state House.

[SOURCE: WASHINGTON POST]

Friday, August 31, 2018

Minnesota House candidate uses N-word to describe himself in campaign ad

I'm still not sure if this is a real campaign ad or a rejected Chapelle Show sketch intended to troll us all, but Kyle Greene, a candidate running for a state House seat in Minnesota, used the N-word in a campaign ad released earlier this month to describe himself.

Greene told The Minneapolis Star Tribune that he used the racist slur because he wants citizens in the state to focus on “the real issues at hand.”

“We need to unify as a society, and we need to stop dealing with trivial matters,” Greene told the Tribune.

Watch the video and check out the poll below:

Sunday, March 04, 2018

Philando Castile Charity Covers Entire School District's Lunch Debt

Two years after he was fatally shot by a police officer in Minnesota, Philando Castile is still helping students afford lunch.

A charity created in Castile’s honor has paid off the lunch debt for every student in the 56 schools in the St. Paul Public School District, including the school where Castile worked as a cafeteria supervisor.

“That means no parent of the 37,000 kids who eat meals at school need worry about how to pay that overdue debt,” a charity organizer wrote on the “Philando Feeds the Children” fundraising page.

Castile had worked as a cafeteria supervisor at the J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School in St. Paul for two years at the time he was killed.

Pam Fergus, an educator who launched the charity, told CNN she delivered a $35,000 check to the St. Paul Public School District this week. The charity, which had an original goal of raising $5,000, now has more than $117,000 in donations, according to the YouCaring page. The funds will continue to pay for student lunches “for years to come,” Fergus wrote in a fundraising update.

Read more: Philando Castile Charity Covers Entire School District's Lunch Debt