AG Garland Details Shocking Examples of Minneapolis PD Routinely ‘Using Excessive Force’ After DOJ Investigation

Two years after announcing a federal investigation into the conduct of the Minneapolis Police Department and the City of Minneapolis, Attorney General Merrick Garland released the blistering findings from the Justice Department. The investigation was a response to the May 2020 killing of George Floyd at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Garland made a statement on Friday, offering some stunning details from the report. He began saying:

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’s also reasonable cause to believe that they engaged 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 the City of Minneapolis engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, unlawfully discriminating against Black and Native American in enforcement activities, violating the rights of people engaged in protected speech, and discriminating against people with disabilities and responding to them, when responding to them in crisis.

The findings were followed by several damning examples of the MPD’s use of excessive force and discrimination, but noting that this activity was being reported before the death of George Floyd. Garland continued:

The Minneapolis Police Department routinely uses excessive force, often when no force is necessary, including unjust deadly force and unreasonable use of tasers. MPD officers discharged firearms at people without assessing whether the person presents any threat, let alone a threat that would justify deadly force.

The MPD also “routinely disregarded the safety of people” while they were in their custody, Garland continued, adding:

Our review found numerous incidents in which MPD officers responded to a person’s statement that they could not breathe with a version of ‘You can breathe, you’re talking right now.’

Garland did specifically cite the case of George Floyd and Derek Chauvin when detailing the finding that officers often did not intervene on other officers who were using excessive force:

Years before he killed George Floyd, Derek Chauvin used excessive force on other occasions in which multiple MPD officers stood by and did not stop him.

When it came to examples of racial discrimination against Black and Native American people, Garland said that the MPD stopped members of those communities at “disproportionate rates… nearly six times more often than white people in situations that did not result in arrest or citation.” In one example, MPD officers pulled over a car carrying a group of Somali teenagers. One of the officers told them:

‘Do you remember what happened in Black Hawk Down, when we killed a bunch of your folk? I’m proud of that. We didn’t finish the job over there. If we had, you guys wouldn’t be over here right now.’

Garland explained that the Black Hawk Down incident refers to the Battle of Mogadishu, in which 18 Americans were killed along with hundreds of Somalis. He called the evidence “deeply disturbing,” adding that it “erodes” the community’s trust in the police department. When it came to the First Amendment, Garland said the findings showed that the MPD violated those “engaging in protected speech” and “retaliat[ed] against protesters as well as members of the press.” He cited the incident involving journalist Jonathan Ballew, who was pepper-sprayed and forced to the ground by MPD officers after he identified himself as credentialed press.

As he wrapped up his remarks, Garland noted that some changes to address these findings have already taken place but “there is more work to be done.” The Department of Justice recommended “28 remedial measures that provide a starting framework to improve public safety, build community trust, and comply with the Constitution and federal law.”

Watch Garland’s full remarks above via CNN.