Saturday, December 21

Tag: minneapolis

After A Minneapolis Death A Relic Of The ‘War On Drugs’ No-Knock Warrants, Face Renewed Criticism
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IN OTHER NEWS, LAW ENFORCEMENT

After A Minneapolis Death A Relic Of The ‘War On Drugs’ No-Knock Warrants, Face Renewed Criticism

Protests in Minneapolis over the death of a 22-year-old man during a police raid have reignited debate over the role of so-called “no-knock warrants.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey imposed a moratorium on the practice, in which police obtain permission to enter a premises unannounced, and often accompanied by heavily armed SWAT teams. As a former police officer, I took part in no-knock raids. Often they offered little return – my team ended up empty-handed, with no real criminal evidence. I now teach criminal justice and police ethics and have observed that the use of no-knock warrants has increasingly become a concern for those demanding criminal justice reform. Obtaining a ‘no-knock’ can be a low bar No-knock warrants are an exception to the “knock and announce” rule, a common law polic...
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What’s Next For Policing Reform – Voters Rejected Plans To Replace The Minneapolis Police Department
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POLITICS

What’s Next For Policing Reform – Voters Rejected Plans To Replace The Minneapolis Police Department

Michelle S. Phelps, University of Minnesota Voters in Minneapolis rejected a measure that would have transformed the city’s policing 18 months after the killing of George Floyd thrust the city into the forefront of the police reform debate. By a 56% to 44% margin, voters said “no” to a charter amendment that would have replaced the Minneapolis Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety focused on public health solutions. Michelle Phelps at the University of Minnesota leads a project looking at attitudes toward policing in the city. The Conversation asked her to explain what happened in the Nov. 2, 2021, vote and where it leaves both Minneapolis’ beleaguered police department and police reform movements nationwide. An edited version of her responses are below. What have v...
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Urban planning as a tool of white supremacy – the other lesson from Minneapolis
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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Urban planning as a tool of white supremacy – the other lesson from Minneapolis

The legacy of structural racism in Minneapolis was laid bare to the world at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street, the location where George Floyd’s neck was pinned to the ground by a police officer’s knee. But it is also imprinted in streets, parks and neighborhoods across the city – the result of urban planning that utilized segregation as a tool of white supremacy. Today, Minneapolis is seen to be one of the most liberal cities in the U.S. But if you scratch away the progressive veneer of the U.S.‘s most cyclable city, the city with the best park system and sixth-highest quality of life, you find what Kirsten Delegard, a Minneapolis historian, describes as “darker truths about the city.” As co-founder of the University of Minnesota’s Mapping Prejudice project, Deleg...
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Minneapolis’ ‘long, hot summer’ of ‘67 – and the parallels to today’s protests over police brutality
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IN OTHER NEWS

Minneapolis’ ‘long, hot summer’ of ‘67 – and the parallels to today’s protests over police brutality

The scene was intense. Black residents of Minneapolis angered over an incident of police brutality fought with officers in the streets and set buildings ablaze. Many were injured; dozens were arrested. Eventually the National Guard, called in to patrol the streets, ordered black citizens back into their homes. This may sound a lot like a scene from the past week, but it’s actually a flashback to 1967, when African Americans took to the streets of north Minneapolis after a series of abuses that, like today, culminated in days of unrest. It took place in one of the “long, hot summers” of the 1960s, when black Americans in cities across the country protested and rioted over police abuse and segregation. While our history books remind us of famous riots in major cities like Los Angeles, Newa...
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Riot or resistance? How media frames unrest in Minneapolis will shape public’s view of protest
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IN OTHER NEWS

Riot or resistance? How media frames unrest in Minneapolis will shape public’s view of protest

A teenager held her phone steady enough to capture the final moments of George Perry Floyd’s life as he apparently suffocated under the weight of a Minneapolis police officer’s knee on his neck. The video went viral. What happened next has played out time and again in American cities after high-profile cases of alleged police brutality. Vigils and protests were organized in Minneapolis and around the United States to demand police accountability. But while investigators and officials called for patience, unrest boiled over. News reports soon carried images of property destruction and police in riot gear. The general public’s opinions about protests and the social movements behind them are formed in large part by what they read or see in the media. This gives journalists a lot of power w...
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How Minneapolis made Prince
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Journalism

How Minneapolis made Prince

It’s been almost four years since Prince’s death, but fascination about the artist, the man and his mythology endures. On Jan. 28, Alicia Keys, the Foo Fighters, Usher and several of Prince’s collaborators will be paying tribute to the late musician in a special concert, “Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince,” in Los Angeles. Prince’s peers, critics and fans are often quick to cite his creativity, versatility and talent. But as a longtime Prince fan who’s also a human geographer, I’ve found myself drawn to the way his hometown, Minneapolis, Minnesota, cultivated his talent. Prince did not come of age in a vacuum. He was raised within the sonic landscape of a city that had a rich tradition of musical education, experimentation and innovation. Long before Prince put the city on t...
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IN OTHER NEWS

Protests follow decision not to file charges in Minneapolis police shooting

MINNEAPOLIS --Protesters gathered Wednesday night in north Minneapolis near the spot where a black man was shot in a confrontation with police last November.The gathering came hours after a prosecutor declined to charge two police officers in the death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark. The prosecutor said the officers were justifiably in fear for their lives as Clark tried to get hold of an officer's gun.The demonstrators marched down a major street to downtown, chanting things like, "Hands up! Don't shoot!" and, "No justice, no peace. Prosecute the police." Source: Protests follow decision not to file charges in Minneapolis police shooting - CBS News
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IN OTHER NEWS

Decision on Charges in Minneapolis Police Shooting Wednesday

  A Minneapolis prosecutor will announce on Wednesday whether two officers will be charged in the fatal shooting of a black man in November that prompted protests and an 18-day encampment outside a city police precinct. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman will announce his decision in the death of Jamar Clark, 24, at 10:30 a.m. Clark was shot during what authorities called a struggle with Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze. But some people who say they saw the shooting have said Clark wasn't struggling and was handcuffed. Source: Decision on Charges in Minneapolis Police Shooting Wednesday
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