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 AG, Keith Ellison says black residents have reason to fear police

During a Fox News interview Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison supported protesters in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and said black people have reason to fear Minneapolis police

“There is a history that has been repeated time and time again,” he said. “I want to say that many officers are great people. I know so many of them and I think the chief is an extraordinary person, and the mayor and the council deserve a lot of credit for appointing Mr. [Medaria] Arradondo. But it is an endemic problem in the Minneapolis Police Department.”

Ellison said that at least some of the blame for the problems rests with Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll, who he claimed “undermines good order in the department.”

Video shows Minneapolis police officer with knee on neck of black man who later died

05/26/2020 UPDATE. Click here to read: Minneapolis officers involved in death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man fired

Disturbing video of George Floyd, a black man accused of forgery begging a Minneapolis Police officer to take his knee off his neck and let him breathe circulated online Monday night. The man was later declared dead at a nearby hospital. The man's death is now the subject of a state and federal investigation.

BREAKING: A video shows a Minneapolis police officer pinning down a black man by the neck with his knee for several minutes as the man screams: "I can't breathe."pic.twitter.com/V9K3IU36ap

— Mukhtar M. Ibrahim (@mukhtaryare) May 26, 2020

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