The fatal police shooting of a 20-year-old Black man in a Minneapolis suburb appeared to be an ‘accidental discharge’ by an officer who drew her gun instead of her Taser during a struggle, the city’s police chief said. ‘This appears to me, from what I viewed and the officers’ reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr Wright,’ the Brooklyn Center police chief, Tim Gannon, told reporters. Police in the Minneapolis suburb attempted to arrest Daunte Wright following a traffic stop due to an expired vehicle registration. Video footage presented at a news briefing showed a struggle between Wright and officers. Wright then got back into the car and an officer could be heard yelling ‘Taser, Taser, Taser’
Continue reading...Category Archives: Minnesota
Derek Chauvin trial: expert witness says George Floyd’s health deteriorated as officer continued using force – live
- Day eight of murder trial over George Floyd’s death continues
- Sgt Stiger gives damning testimony for the defense
- Police trainer: Knee on subdued suspect’s neck not allowed
- Medical trainer: ‘Just because they’re speaking doesn’t mean they’re breathing’
Prosecutors are asking Anderson about the initial 27 May processing of the Mercedes SUV, and the second search in December 2020.
Anderson, presented with photos of the Mercedes interior during the first processing, said was asked whether there was a pill there.
Prosecutors have now called McKenzie Anderson to testify, a forensic scientist with Minnesota’s criminal apprehension bureau.
Anderson has been a “crime scene team” leader with the bureau of criminal apprehension since 2016. Anderson headed the crime scene investigation in Floyd’s death. Anderson, a technician, and a photographer from her team, arrived at the scene around 1:15 am on 26 May, 2020.
SA Reyerson testimony is now complete. Onto the 2nd BCA witness in the case, McKenzie Anderson. She was the crime scene lead on death of #GeorgeFloyd investigation. Continued #DerekChauvinTrial coverage live right now on @FOX9. pic.twitter.com/s3NxFP8B23
Continue reading...Derek Chauvin trial: Minneapolis police chief says use of force violated policy – live
- Murder trial over George Floyd’s death enters second week
- Police chief Medaria Arradondo fired Chauvin the day after Floyd died
- Chauvin trial, week one: vivid testimony and focus on force
The court is just coming back from a short break, but here is a stark detail from the court room.
Coronavirus risks have imposed heavy restrictions on court. Only two media “pool” reporters are allowed into the court room itself. And defendant Derek Chauvin and the family of the late George Floyd were each allocated just one seat to use in the court room.
Here is the most important clip of the day so far. After so much harrowing video footage and lingering stills of then-officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck in the first day or two of last week, the jury and public has been spared.
But the prosecution decided it needed to show one of the defining images of the whole Floyd disaster, that picture of Chauvin, hand in pocket, sunglasses on his head, looking directly into a bystander’s phone camera, while Floyd is pinned under him.
Incredibly damning testimony from the Minneapolis police chief:
Derek Chauvin's actions were "not part of policy, not part of our training, and certainly not part of our ethics or values." pic.twitter.com/gS0RpTGGP0
George Floyd’s girlfriend shared his opioids pain – Derek Chauvin refused to see it
Courteney Ross’s testimony showed how police departments fail in their duty to protect those who battle addiction
Of all the accounts of George Floyd’s life and death heard in a Minneapolis courtroom this week, perhaps the least expected was his girlfriend’s description of their shared struggle with opioid addiction.
Courteney Ross’s wrenching testimony gave a very human glimpse into the remorseless search for a fix and a mutual fight to shake off drug dependency.
Continue reading...Detective says Chauvin knee on neck a ‘totally unnecessary’ use of deadly force
Richard Zimmerman gives testimony and tells court ‘if your knee is on someone’s neck – that could kill them’
A Minneapolis homicide detective has described Derek Chauvin’s decision to press his knee into George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as a totally unnecessary use of “deadly force”.
Related: Video of George Floyd's killing retraumatizes many as trial unfolds
Continue reading...With world watching Derek Chauvin’s trial, focus will be on officer who ‘betrayed’ his badge
Analysis: the trial over the killing of George Floyd may be a bellwether for racial justice, but the prosecution will focus on one man’s actions
For all the many thousands of protests around the world, the global reckoning on racism and policing prompted by the killing of George Floyd last May, prosecutors were clear that their case in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin would be centered around a period of time lasting less than 10 minutes.
Nine minutes and 29 seconds. The total time that Chauvin held his knee to George Floyd’s neck, leaving him “pancaked”, in the words of prosecutor Jerry Blackwell, between the ground and Chauvin’s body, gradually asphyxiating him to death.
Continue reading...‘It’s for the people’: how George Floyd Square became a symbol of resistance – and healing
The semi-autonomous area in Minneapolis has become a service to the community, but the city wants to see it reopened
The sign on a barricade on a once-unassuming street in Minneapolis reads: “You’re now entering the free state of George Floyd.”
A small rectangle of city blocks features murals, flowers, candles and tributes in the place where Floyd, a Black man, died under the knee of a white police officer last May, sparking the biggest US civil rights uprising since the 1960s.
Continue reading...Former Pentagon chief blames Trump’s speech for inciting Capitol attack – live
- Chris Miller says attack would not have happened without speech
- Biden signs ‘historic’ $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill into law
- $1,400 checks and vaccine funds: what’s in the stimulus bill
- Senate advances Xavier Becerra’s health secretary nomination
It’s been a busy day in Washington ahead of Biden’s prime-time address this evening. Before we hand over the reigns to Maanvi Singh in California, here’s a look back at what happened on this unusually warm spring day in the nation’s capital.
In an astonishing piece of attempted backside-covering, former acting defense secretary under the outgoing Donald Trump, Chris Miller, tried to explain in an interview with Vice that the delay in National Guard troops deploying to the US Capitol on the afternoon of 6 January to help overwhelmed police was basically because “it’s complicated”.
Miller said: “It’s not like a video game” ie going up and down the chains of government and command to deploy troops is a complex process.
Chris Miller translator: " Hey, I had to take orders from the White House on this." https://t.co/ihRrvlvjGc
Continue reading...Trump falsely claims at Michigan rally ‘our doctors get more money if someone dies of Covid’ – live
- President makes remark as US surpasses 9m Covid cases
- Early voting in Texas surpasses total turnout in 2016
- Biden and Obama to hold rallies in Flint and Detroit on Saturday
- Why rallies are Trump’s last best hope of clinging to presidency
- Unions discussing general strike if Trump refuses to accept Biden victory
- Will Arizona’s suburbs abandon the party of Trump?
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
In several of his rallies this week, Donald Trump has accused the media of focusing on the coronavirus crisis only for political purposes, in order to damage him.
Barack Obama has trolled him for it in rallies in Florida, where the former president warned that America could not afford four more years of Trump and needed to put Joe Biden into the White House next week.
A federal judge this afternoon ordered the US Postal Service (USPS) to adopt “extraordinary measures” at some processing locations to ensure the timely delivery of millions of ballots before Tuesday’s presidential election.
US district judge Emmet Sullivan said he was ordering the measures in places where election mail processing scores for completed ballots returned by voters were below 90% for at least two days from October 26-28.
Continue reading...US election roundup: Trump and Biden swing through battleground states
Both candidates to campaign in Minnesota and Wisconsin while president rails against supreme court over North Carolina ruling
The two US presidential candidates swung through northern battleground states on Friday amid signs that the coronavirus pandemic was once more threatening to overcome hospital capacity in several US regions.
Donald Trump was due to hold a succession of airport rallies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, while Joe Biden was scheduled to have drive-in rallies in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Continue reading...Trump throws baseball caps into crowd days before announcing positive Covid test – video
Two days before announcing he had contracted Covid-19, Donald Trump tossed two campaign baseball caps into the crowd with his bare hands while at a rally in Duluth, Minnesota.
The venue was crowded with hundreds of supporters on Wednesday and Trump, who did not wear a face mask, entered the stage smiling and waving to the crowd before addressing the rally. The president frequently minimised the seriousness of the pandemic in its early stages and has repeatedly predicted it would go away.
Trump announced he and his wife, Melania, tested positive for Covid-19 in a tweet on Friday
- Troubled Florida, divided America: will Donald Trump hold this vital swing state? - video
- From miracle cures to slowing testing: how Trump has defied science on coronavirus – video explainer
Officers charged in George Floyd killing seek to place blame on one another
- Former police quartet appear in court for special hearing
- Floyd died after Derek Chauvin held his knee on his neck
Attorneys for four former Minneapolis officers charged in the killing of George Floyd say each should get his own trial, as the officers point fingers at one another.
Related: 9/11 remembered amid raging wildfires and coronavirus recriminations – live
Continue reading...George Floyd told officers ‘I can’t breathe’ more than 20 times, transcripts show
Derek Chauvin, the officer kneeling on his neck, replied: ‘It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk’
Newly released transcripts of the minutes leading up to George Floyd’s death reveal he told officers “I can’t breathe” more than 20 times, only to have his plea dismissed by Derek Chauvin, the white officer pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck, who said: “It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.”
Floyd’s dying words have become a rallying cry at demonstrations around the world amid a reckoning with systemic racism and police brutality. The chilling transcripts of body camera video recordings that were made public on Wednesday provide the most detailed account yet of what happened after police apprehended Floyd on 25 May.
Continue reading...Trump to hold first rally in months in Tulsa, a city with history of deadly racial violence – live
- Trump to hold rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, next week on Juneteenth, day commemorating end of slavery
- Philonise Floyd participates in hearing on police brutality
- Minneapolis police chief withdrawing from contract negotiations
- White House press secretary defends Trump’s conspiracy theory tweet
- After 15 days of protests … what happens next?
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Hallie Golden reports for The Guardian:
Governor Jay Inslee of Washington has ordered a new investigation into the death of Manuel Ellis, an African American man who died more than three months ago in police custody, following questions over the independence of the investigation.
Related: Washington governor orders new investigation into police custody death
Lane was released after posting bond. His bail was set for $1m.
Lane was one of the officers — including Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng — who stopped George Floyd while responding to a call about the alleged use of a counterfeit $20 bill.
Continue reading...After 15 stunning days of anti-racist protests … what happens next?
Can the phenomenal response to the police killing of George Floyd be channeled to secure lasting political change?
The New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb captured best the sense of wonder at what is happening on the streets of America. He posted a tweet from Mitt Romney, the Republican senator from Utah, which showed the former presidential candidate marching alongside demonstrators under the banner Black Lives Matter.
“Ladies and gentleman,” Cobb remarked. “This is what you call uncharted territory.”
Continue reading...Minneapolis pledges to dismantle its police department – how will it work?
A veto-proof council majority says the city will move to a community-based public safety model – but what will that entail?
Nine members of Minneapolis city council have vowed to dismantle the city’s police department, which was responsible for the death of George Floyd, and replace it with a new community-based system of public safety.
Related: George Floyd protests: Democrats take a knee before unveiling police reform bill – live
Continue reading...‘Shame!’: Minneapolis mayor heckled by protesters – video
Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, was heckled by a crowd of protesters telling him to 'go home' on Saturday after he ruled out defunding the police department during a demonstration.
A majority of the Minneapolis city council pledged on Sunday to disband the police department, with a veto-proof majority, council members declared their intent to 'dismantle' and 'abolish' the embattled police agency responsible for George Floyd’s death
- Minneapolis lawmakers vow to disband police department in historic move
- George Floyd protests enter third week as push for change sweeps America
In their own words: the protesters at the heart of America’s uprising
The killing of George Floyd sparked protests across America. Here, those who have taken to the street in Minneapolis explain what moved them to action
It was a protest that sparked a wave of dissent across the country, culminating in something never seen before: Americans across all 50 states coming together to denounce police brutality and the culture of impunity that shrouds their institution.
Related: Detroit's largely peaceful protests seen very differently from white suburb
Continue reading...‘We will not be silent’: protests head into second weekend after George Floyd’s killing – live
- NFL admits it was wrong not to let players protest police brutality
- Trump’s comment ‘this is a great day’ for George Floyd draws outrage
- Biden: Trump’s remark was ‘despicable’
- Minneapolis to ban police chokeholds
- UN experts condemn modern-day ‘racial terror’ lynchings in US
- Sign up to our First Thing newsletter
After a day of protests across Australia, Guardian staff have compiled some of the most striking images.
Tens of thousands rallied in state capital cities and towns to march against Indigenous deaths in custody and the killing of George Floyd.
The nationwide anti-police brutality protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in the US have been marked by widespread incidents of police violence, including punching, kicking, gassing, pepper-spraying and driving vehicles at often peaceful protesters in states across the country.
The actions have left thousands of protesters in jail and injured many others, leaving some with life-threatening injuries.
Related: Protests about police brutality are met with wave of police brutality across US
Continue reading...George Floyd memorial: lawyer says ‘pandemic of racism’ led to killing – live
- Floyd family’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump says ‘pandemic of racism and discrimination killed George Floyd’
- Rev Jesse Jackson among invitees
- Barr claims evidence ‘antifa’ instigating violence
- Is it safe to protest during a pandemic?
- US police have a history of violence against black people. Will it stop?
- Sign up to our First Thing newsletter
With protests over police brutality and the death of George Flloyd continuing around the US today, a short report from our voting rights editor on events this afternoon in Brooklyn, New York City:
Thousands of protestors converged on Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza today for a memorial for George Floyd. The event was attended by Floyd’s brother, Terrence, who addressed the crowd with calls for solidarity and peaceful protest in memory of his brother.
Emotional and heartfelt speech from George’s Floyd’s brother Terrence today at the memorial in Cadman Plaza. #blacklivesmatter #powertothepeople #georgefloyd pic.twitter.com/UpE5J6euor
Rev Al Sharpton also used his eulogy at the memorial service for George Floyd to announce that, with the Floyd family, he would organise a march on Washington on 28 August to demand reform of the criminal justice system.
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