Minneapolis Police Scathing Report Exposes Racist and Unconstitutional Policing
“An investigation by the Justice Department found systemic abuses by the police that “made what happened to George Floyd possible,” the attorney general said.
transcript
Garland Says Minneapolis Police Engaged in a Pattern of Misconduct
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said federal investigators found evidence of excessive force and unconstitutional conduct by the Minneapolis Police Department.
The patterns and practices we observed made what happened to George Floyd possible. As one city leader told us, quote, these systemic issues didn’t just occur on May 25, 2020. There were instances like that that were being reported by the community long before that. The Department of Justice has concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that the Minneapolis Police Department and the city of Minneapolis engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution. There is also reasonable cause to believe that they engage in conduct that violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Safe Streets Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act. Specifically, we found that M.P.D. and the city of Minneapolis engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, unlawfully discriminating against Black and Native American people in enforcement activities, violating the rights of people engaged in protected speech, and discriminating against people with behavioral disabilities and responding to them — when responding to them in crisis.
Pinned
The Justice Department on Friday released an account of systemic abuses and discrimination by the police in Minneapolis, the result of a multiyear investigation that began after the murder of George Floyd in police custody ignited protests across the country.
It found there was “reasonable cause to believe” that police officers engaged in a “pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law.”
Ernesto Londoño
Reporting from MinneapolisSgt. Sherral Schmidt, the president of the Minneapolis Police Department union, said the union had not been provided a copy of the report before its public release. She said union leaders were reviewing it and intend to comment on its findings later.
The Justice Department and Minneapolis officials have agreed to negotiate toward a deal on a court-enforced consent decree. A consent decree in this case, between the Department of Justice and a state or local governmental agency, such as a police department, is a court-approved agreement that creates and enforces a road map for changes and overhaul within the agency where the Justice Department has found evidence of abuse and misconduct.Typically, a federal judge, along with an independent monitor, is appointed to oversee the changes and enforce the agreement.
Consent decrees can last for years, since federal oversight is removed only when the judge has determined that the department has met the goals and made the changes outlined in the agreement. The Los Angeles Police Department, for example, was under a consent decree for 11 years, until it was deemed fully compliant in 2013. The Detroit Police Department emerged from a consent decree in 2016 after 13 years.
Glenn Thrush
Reporting on federal law enforcementDuring the news conference, which ended minutes ago, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey injected the first element of discord in the proceedings — questioning the wisdom of having two separate monitors, one federal and the other from a pre-existing state investigation, at the same time.
Mitch Smith
Midwest and Great Plains reporterBrian O’Hara, the relatively new Minneapolis police chief, said “we will change the narrative around policing in this city” and pledged to work to implement changes called for by the Justice Department.
Glenn Thrush
Reporting on federal law enforcementJustice Department officials have cited several disturbing incidents. But the report contains many other examples of violence and racism by officers, including an incident in which a police officer said his goal was to wipe the Black Lives Matter movement “off the face of the earth.”
Mitch Smith
Midwest and Great Plains reporterMayor Jacob Frey complimented the work of federal investigators and said “we understand that change is non-negotiable.”
Mitch Smith
Midwest and Great Plains reporterKristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, said Minneapolis officers used force against demonstrators without legal justification. “We saw officers push and pepper spray protesters who posed no threat,” she said.
Mitch Smith
Midwest and Great Plains reporterClarke said the Minneapolis police also violated the rights of people with behavioral health problems, including in many cases that did not need a law enforcement response. “We learned that M.P.D. and the city often send the police unnecessarily,” she said, “and that people are harmed as a result.”
Glenn Thrush
Reporting on federal law enforcementThe Justice Department is walking a fine line here. It wants to publicize its findings that sharply criticize the Minneapolis police on violence and race. But officials also want to partner with the city’s leadership to enact lasting changes, and are hoping to boost morale in a Police Department that has seen its uniformed workforce plummet since George Floyd’s murder.
Mitch Smith
Midwest and Great Plains reporterVanita Gupta, the associate attorney general, said a consent decree would include input from residents and police officers. Such an agreement, she said, would “provide a pathway to lasting change in Minneapolis.”
Mitch Smith
Midwest and Great Plains reporterGarland said the Justice Department and Minneapolis officials had agreed to negotiate toward a deal on a court-enforced consent decree.
Glenn Thrush
Reporting on federal law enforcementThe Justice Department’s investigation was prompted by the killing of a Black man, but the report includes many reports of discrimination and violence against Native Americans, particularly those in the third precinct of Minneapolis. Overly aggressive officers who asked to be stationed there were known in the department as “cowboys.”
Mitch Smith
Midwest and Great Plains reporterGarland said the Minneapolis police repeatedly violated the free speech rights of protesters and journalists.
Glenn Thrush
Reporting on federal law enforcementGarland says officers often used some version of the line, “You can breathe, you’re talking right now,” when placing citizens in chokeholds.
A Justice Department report, released on Friday, detailed systemic issues within the Minneapolis Police Department that it said led to the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, in police custody.
The report included evidence that it said showed the Police Department had discriminated against people based on race and disability and that officers had frequently used excessive force. Investigators also found that the department failed to address persistent issues with discriminatory practices and rogue officers.
Mitch Smith
Midwest and Great Plains reporterGarland said federal investigators found evidence of excessive force and unconstitutional conduct by the Minneapolis police, including discriminatory policing of Black and Native American people. He said “the patterns and practices we observed made what happened to George Floyd possible.”
Glenn Thrush
Reporting on federal law enforcementGarland said he spoke with George Floyd’s family this morning and told them Floyd’s death has had a “irrevocable” impact on Minneapolis and the country at large. “His loss is still felt deeply by those who loved and knew him, and many who did not,” he said.
Mitch Smith
Midwest and Great Plains reporterAttorney General Merrick B. Garland said the Justice Department and city officials had agreed in principle to negotiate with the goal of reaching an agreement on a court-enforced consent decree.
The Justice Department accused the Minneapolis Police Department of rampant discrimination, unlawful conduct and systemic mismanagement in a scathing 89-page report released on Friday.
The federal investigation, launched in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis officer, “found that the systemic problems in M.P.D. made what happened to George Floyd possible.”
Glenn Thrush
Reporting on federal law enforcementMinneapolis police officers have used excessive force, discriminated against Black and Indigenous people, mistreated mentally ill individuals and violated the First Amendment rights of protesters with impunity, the Department of Justice said Friday following a yearslong civil rights investigation spurred by the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland is joining city officials in Minneapolis now to unveil the findings in the department’s damning 89-page “pattern-or-practice” report, and discuss a potential blueprint for changes.
Dan Simmons
Reporting from MinneapolisCity of Minneapolis officials are making their way to the federal courthouse for the news conference. Chief Brian O’Hara was first. Mayor Jacob Frey appeared a few minutes later, flanked by aides. The scene outside the courthouse is quiet. No protesters or onlookers have gathered on the large stone plaza next to the courthouse.
Long before a police officer in Minneapolis murdered George Floyd, a Black man, in 2020, the city’s police department engaged in several forms of racially discriminatory policing within its ranks — and the communities it serves — and received complaints of excessive force.
An investigation released last year by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights revealed that from 2010 to 2020 Minneapolis Police Department officers stopped, searched, arrested, ticketed, used force on and killed Black and Indigenous people at higher rates than they did on white people. The report said that although Black people made up about 19 percent of the population, 63 percent of the instances in which officers recorded the use of force — and 78 percent of all searches during traffic stops — targeted Black people.
Three years after “defund the police” became a rallying cry that emerged in the fury over the police killing of George Floyd, efforts to do away with conventional policing have largely fizzled in Minneapolis and beyond.
The movement faltered in Minneapolis after activists failed to build broad support for a goal that lacked a clear definition and an alternative that residents could agree on. When crime surged, the idea lost steam and Republicans seized on it as evidence that Democrats were being recklessly soft on crime.
Minneapolis police officers quit and resigned in droves in the years after George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, when the city became the epicenter of a national outcry over racism in law enforcement.
As of early this month, Minneapolis had 585 police officers on its payroll, down from the 912 it employed in early 2019 and well below the minimum force strength of 731 officers set by the city’s charter.
Ernesto Londoño
Reporting from MinneapolisI’m at the United States Attorney’s Office in downtown Minneapolis, where journalists are awaiting to hear from senior Department of Justice officials, including Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, who oversees civil rights investigations. We also expect to hear from Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis and the police chief, Brian O’Hara. A news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. local time.
More than three years after the killing of George Floyd in police custody, the ripple effects go on. Here are some of the significant developments over that span.
May 25, 2020: Four Minneapolis police officers arrest Mr. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, after responding to a call from a convenience store clerk who said Mr. Floyd used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. He is killed in custody while being handcuffed and pinned under the knee of Derek Chauvin, a white officer, for over nine minutes.
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How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody
The Times has reconstructed the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Security footage, witness videos and official documents show how a series of actions by officers turned fatal. (This video contains scenes of graphic violence.)
It’s a Monday evening in Minneapolis. Police respond to a call about a man who allegedly used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Seventeen minutes later, the man they are there to investigate lies motionless on the ground, and is pronounced dead shortly after. The man was 46-year-old George Floyd, a bouncer originally from Houston who had lost his job at a restaurant when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Crowd: “No justice, no peace.” Floyd’s death triggered major protests in Minneapolis, and sparked rage across the country. One of the officers involved, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder. The other three officers have been charged with aiding and abetting murder. The Times analyzed bystander videos, security camera footage and police scanner audio, spoke to witnesses and experts, and reviewed documents released by the authorities to build as comprehensive a picture as possible and better understand how George Floyd died in police custody. The events of May 25 begin here. Floyd is sitting in the driver’s seat of this blue S.U.V. Across the street is a convenience store called Cup Foods. Footage from this restaurant security camera helps us understand what happens next. Note that the timestamp on the camera is 24 minutes fast. At 7:57 p.m., two employees from Cup Foods confront Floyd and his companions about an alleged counterfeit bill he just used in their store to buy cigarettes. They demand the cigarettes back but walk away empty-handed. Four minutes later, they call the police. According to the 911 transcript, an employee says that Floyd used fake bills to buy cigarettes, and that he is “awfully drunk” and “not in control of himself.” Soon, the first police vehicle arrives on the scene. Officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng step out of the car and approach the blue S.U.V. Seconds later, Lane pulls his gun. We don’t know exactly why. He orders Floyd to put his hands on the wheel. Lane reholsters the gun, and after about 90 seconds of back and forth, yanks Floyd out of the S.U.V. A man is filming the confrontation from a car parked behind them. The officers cuff Floyd’s hands behind his back. And Kueng walks him to the restaurant wall. “All right, what’s your name?” From the 911 transcript and the footage, we now know three important facts: First, that the police believed they were responding to a man who was drunk and out of control. But second, even though the police were expecting this situation, we can see that Floyd has not acted violently. And third, that he seems to already be in distress. Six minutes into the arrest, the two officers move Floyd back to their vehicle. As the officers approach their car, we can see Floyd fall to the ground. According to the criminal complaints filed against the officers, Floyd says he is claustrophobic and refuses to enter the police car. During the struggle, Floyd appears to turn his head to address the officers multiple times. According to the complaints, he tells them he can’t breathe. Nine minutes into the arrest, the third and final police car arrives on the scene. It’s carrying officers Tou Thao and Derek Chauvin. Both have previous records of complaints brought against them. Thao was once sued for throwing a man to the ground and hitting him. Chauvin has been involved in three police shootings, one of them fatal. Chauvin becomes involved in the struggle to get Floyd into the car. Security camera footage from Cup Foods shows Kueng struggling with Floyd in the backseat while Thao watches. Chauvin pulls him through the back seat and onto the street. We don’t know why. Floyd is now lying on the pavement, face down. That’s when two witnesses begin filming, almost simultaneously. The footage from the first witness shows us that all four officers are now gathered around Floyd. It’s the first moment when we can clearly see that Floyd is face down on the ground, with three officers applying pressure to his neck, torso and legs. At 8:20 p.m., we hear Floyd’s voice for the first time. The video stops when Lane appears to tell the person filming to walk away. “Get off to the sidewalk, please. One side or the other, please.” The officers radio a Code 2, a call for non-emergency medical assistance, reporting an injury to Floyd’s mouth. In the background, we can hear Floyd struggling. The call is quickly upgraded to a Code 3, a call for emergency medical assistance. By now another bystander, 17-year-old Darnella Frazier, is filming from a different angle. Her footage shows that despite calls for medical help, Chauvin keeps Floyd pinned down for another seven minutes. We can’t see whether Kueng and Lane are still applying pressure. Floyd: [gasping] Officer: “What do you want?” Bystander: “I’ve been —” Floyd: [gasping] In the two videos, Floyd can be heard telling officers that he can’t breathe at least 16 times in less than five minutes. Bystander: “You having fun?” But Chauvin never takes his knee off of Floyd, even as his eyes close and he appears to go unconscious. Bystander: “Bro.” According to medical and policing experts, these four police officers are committing a series of actions that violate policies, and in this case, turn fatal. They’ve kept Floyd lying face down, applying pressure for at least five minutes. This combined action is likely compressing his chest and making it impossible to breathe. Chauvin is pushing his knee into Floyd’s neck, a move banned by most police departments. Minneapolis Police Department policy states an officer can only do this if someone is, quote, “actively resisting.” And even though the officers call for medical assistance, they take no action to treat Floyd on their own while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Officer: “Get back on the sidewalk.” According to the complaints against the officers, Lane asks him twice if they should roll Floyd onto his side. Chauvin says no. Twenty minutes into the arrest, an ambulance arrives on the scene. Bystander: “Get off of his neck!” Bystander: “He’s still on him?” The E.M.T.s check Floyd’s pulse. Bystander: “Are you serious?” Chauvin keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost another whole minute, even though Floyd appears completely unresponsive. He only gets off once the E.M.T.s tell him to. Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes, according to our review of the video evidence. Floyd is loaded into the ambulance. The ambulance leaves the scene, possibly because a crowd is forming. But the E.M.T.s call for additional medical help from the fire department. But when the engine arrives, the officers give them, quote, “no clear info on Floyd or his whereabouts,” according to a fire department incident report. This delays their ability to help the paramedics. Meanwhile, Floyd is going into cardiac arrest. It takes the engine five minutes to reach Floyd in the ambulance. He’s pronounced dead at a nearby hospital around 9:25 p.m. Preliminary autopsies conducted by the state and Floyd’s family both ruled his death a homicide. The widely circulated arrest videos don’t paint the entire picture of what happened to George Floyd. Crowd: “Floyd! Floyd!” Additional video and audio from the body cameras of the key officers would reveal more about why the struggle began and how it escalated. The city quickly fired all four officers. And Chauvin has been charged with second degree murder. Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were charged with aiding and abetting murder. But outrage over George Floyd’s death has only spread further and further across the United States.
By combining videos from bystanders and security cameras, reviewing official documents and consulting experts, The New York Times reconstructed in detail the minutes leading to death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis Police officers.
On May 25, 2020, a convenience store employee called 911 and told the police that Mr. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, had bought cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Seventeen minutes after the first squad car arrived, Mr. Floyd was unconscious and pinned beneath three officers, showing no signs of life.
Our video, published a week after his death, shows the officers taking a series of actions that violated the policies of the Minneapolis Police Department and turned fatal, leaving Mr. Floyd unable to breathe, even as he and onlookers called out for help.“
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