Latest news with #MinneapolisPolice
CBS News
3 days ago
- General
- CBS News
2 injured in shooting on University of Minnesota campus, police say; suspect in custody
Shots fired at 3M Arena at Mariucci on U of M campus; 1 in custody Shots fired at 3M Arena at Mariucci on U of M campus; 1 in custody Shots fired at 3M Arena at Mariucci on U of M campus; 1 in custody Two people were injured in a shooting on the campus of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Friday night, outside the school's hockey arena, officials said. A suspect is in custody. The shooting occurred at about 8:20 p.m. outside the 3M Arena at Mariucci following a graduation ceremony for Wayzata High School, University of Minnesota Interim Police Chief Erik Swanson said in a statement. Two people were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, campus police said. The extent of their injuries was unknown Friday night. Police at 3M Arena at Mariucci on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus investigate on May 30, 2025, after shots were fired. WCCO A suspect is in custody, Swanson said. The person was not identified. The circumstances of the shooting were unclear. Campus police are investigating the incident, with the help of the Minneapolis Police Department and Hennepin County Sheriff's Office. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wrote in a social media post Friday night, "Horrific news of a shooting near Mariucci Arena during a graduation event tonight – a time of celebration that should never have turned into one of fear and sadness." He later added that his office was coordinating with the school and that the "state stands ready to help in any way we can."
Boston Globe
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Breath after death: Remembering George Floyd
Like Emmett Till and the Tulsa Race Massacre. Like Fred Hampton. Like Amadou Diallo. Like Breonna Taylor. George Floyd died, and we cried and raged. Momentarily, we changed until the memories faded. Promises were made, but they were just band-aids to cover our pain and shame, to carry us over as we slid back into the reigns of what it means to make America great again. There was no racial reckoning, it was a beckoning, a calling to inch closer to progress. Five years later, what do we see: regress. Five years ago, I stood at the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis where Floyd was murdered, where former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. His call for his mother — both a meditation and prayer — were his dying words and an incantation to heal. Advertisement Instead of healing, we're reeling. We live in an American chapter that seeks to destroy truth and uphold supremacy. Anything that mentions race, gender, or orientation is being targeted. To acknowledge racism, in our government's eyes, is to be anti-American. Advertisement 'When you look at the movement after George Floyd's murder and the movement to re-elect Donald Trump, what does it say about us that we have not answered the charge to wipe out racism,' says Michael Curry, NAACP board member and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. 'We have let the movement for justice and equality get co-opted and called reverse discrimination.' To remember police brutality was always woven into the fiber of American practices is to also recall backlash comes with every uprising. Reconstruction. Jim Crow. The Civil Rights Movement. Reverse redlining and racist lending. Racism, the remix. 'People don't want to see the truth anymore, because it's traumatizing,' Curry said. 'It's more comfortable when we don't have to reconcile with the fact that someone would have that much hatred in their heart.' Police The Justice Department dropped consent decrees in Minneapolis and in Louisville, Kentucky, where Breonna Taylor was killed in her home. Will Worcester and it's Hodan Hashi was 13-years-old when Advertisement Now, she, like me, like so many, is weary. We live in the back-and-forth of hope and heartbreak when we take account of the pain we carry and pass on, even as we fight to change things. 'At the federal level, we are in more danger than we were five years ago,' she says. 'I was told if I do well in school, get a degree, get a career, and check all of the boxes, I was told we would be fine. Now, I am 26. I did that. I have a career, I'm stable. But I'm also constantly in a state of survival. How do you feel safe when it feels like your very existence is under attack at all times?' Five years ago, at Floyd's funeral, tears welled as the Rev. Al Sharpton spoke about our suffering. 'The reason we could never be who we wanted to be and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck,' Sharpton said of America. In a country where our Justice Department's civil rights division is focusing less on racism and equity and more on destroying diversity, fighting against brutality and injustice requires a masterclass in navigating gaslighting and violence. We have a president who falsely claims DEI efforts hurt white people, disappears immigrants and citizens, and is defunding education, the arts, and humanities in order to reshape culture in his image. Safety doesn't live here. Ron Harris was chief resilience officer of Minneapolis when I met him the day of Floyd's funeral. Since then, he ran for Congress and led the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign in Minnesota. When Donald Trump won, he needed to rest. Advertisement 'People are exhausted. We need to train up the next generation of leaders. A choir can carry a single note for an hour because there are enough people to compensate for those who need to catch their breath.' Now, he's a strategic consultant. Organizers pushed for accountability and did the work, he says. But we have to build movements that are sustainable outside of federal dollars, 'We need resources that can't be taken away with the stroke of a pen and the change of an agenda,' he says. 'What gives me hope is often times when the pendulum swings this far the other way, it is evidence of a reaction to progress. In these moments, leaders are born.' For Hashi, hope is found in community. 'I feel like I have people I can talk to and go to for support. That's what I try to hold on to, the people that keep me going.' The people . We must remember one another in our shared humanity and in the need to protect our personhood. 'Mama, I'm through,' Floyd called. He reached for the memory of her love and support. He wasn't just through, he was a through line connecting us to past, present, and promises to still be kept. Hope lies in memory of the folks we fight to remember, the people we work to be remembered by, and and for everyone, we pray, to never become an American goodbye. Advertisement Jeneé Osterheldt can be reached at
The Independent
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
How has Minneapolis changed since the murder of George Floyd 5 years ago?
Some things have changed for the better in Minneapolis since Memorial Day 2020, when a police officer murdered George Floyd. Some have not. Sunday marked five years since white Officer Derek Chauvin used his knee to pin the Black man's neck to the pavement for 9 1/2 minutes, leading to his death. A tidal wave of racial justice protests erupted in U.S. cities. Demonstrators chanted Floyd's dying words: 'I can't breathe.' The protests were mostly peaceful at first but some turned violent, and parts of Minneapolis have yet to recover from the rioting, looting and arson. And the city is still struggling to decide what should become of the intersection where Floyd was killed. The Minneapolis Police Department has faced some changes under court supervision that aim to reduce racial disparities. Violent crime, which spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic and after Floyd's death, is mostly back around pre-pandemic levels, although homicides are inching up. A place of pilgrimage The intersection where a crowd of concerned onlookers urged Chauvin and other officers to heed Floyd's dying cries quickly became known as George Floyd Square. A large sculpture of a clenched fist is just one of the tributes to Floyd. He died steps from the Cup Foods convenience store that has since been renamed Unity Foods. The area draws visitors from around the world. One visitor last week was Alfred 'A.J.' Flowers Jr., a local activist, who said the police killings of young Black men before Floyd's murder only fueled the frustration and rage that erupted on the streets five years ago. It's significant that the Black community tends to come together at 'places where we die, whether it's by our own hands or by police violence,' Flowers said. The fate of George Floyd Square A majority of City Council members support building a pedestrian-only mall where Floyd drew his final breaths, but Mayor Jacob Frey and many property and business owners oppose the idea of closing the area to all vehicles. Any final decisions remain a long way off. In the meantime, businesses in the neighborhood are struggling and crime remains high. Flowers urged authorities to provide more support for Black-owned businesses, housing, education and crime prevention to improve the local economy. The shell of the 3rd Precinct police station, which was allowed to burn during the unrest in 2020, has been the subject of intense debate. The City Council last month voted to proceed with a plan to build a 'Democracy Center' there that would house voter services and a community space. The former chief of police has said he doesn't regret the decision to abandon the structure. The demise of defund the police The slogan 'Defund the Police' caught fire after Floyd's death, but it never came to pass. While a majority of council members initially backed the idea, what appeared on the city ballot in 2021 was a more modest attempt to reimagine policing. Voters rejected it. The police force lost hundreds of officers following the unrest. From nearly 900 in early 2020, the ranks fell to less than 600 as officers retired, took disability or went to work elsewhere. Staffing started to recover last year. Officers are now back engaging with the community at George Floyd Square, which became a 'no-go zone' for police immediately after Floyd's death. Flowers acknowledged there have been 'significant strides' in community-police relations. Police Chief Brian O'Hara said his 'officers are starting to heal." 'I think they're starting to be proud of what they do again, getting back to the reasons they got into this profession in the first place,' he told reporters last week. Remaking policing President Donald Trump's administration moved Wednesday to cancel agreements to overhaul the police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, both accused of widespread abuses. Frey, the mayor, decried the timing of the announcement as 'political theater' in the week before the anniversary of Floyd's murder. National reform advocates also denounced the administration's move. But O'Hara and Frey pledged Minneapolis would move forward, with or without the White House. The police department is also operating under a consent decree with the Minnesota Human Rights Department. The decree proposes addressing race-based policing and strengthening public safety by ensuring officers only use reasonable force, never punish or retaliate, and de-escalate conflicts when possible, among other aims. The mayor and chief noted that Minneapolis got high marks in a report released Tuesday by a nonprofit that monitors various cities' compliance with consent decrees. Activists cautioned that Minneapolis has little to brag about. 'We understand that change takes time,' Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said in a statement last week. 'However, the progress being claimed by the city is not being felt in the streets.'
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In Springfield, a vigil to remember George Floyd and to urge protection of eroding reforms
SPRINGFIELD – Five years ago, people took to the streets after a video of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police went viral. Corporations, the justice system and others responded by instituting initiatives to improve racial equity. But attendees at a vigil on Sunday said that movement is losing much of the momentum it gained as President Donald J. Trump removes diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in government and education and encourages businesses to do the same. 'That moment that we had in 2020, we need that again,' said Bishop Talbert W. Swan II, president of the Greater Springfield NAACP and pastor of the Spring of Hope Church of God in Christ, at the vigil on Boston Road Sunday. On the Sunday anniversary of Floyd's death, a crowd that including many Black churchgoers gathered to remember Floyd and push for new justice reforms while protecting the gains already made. The event was held outside the site of a proposed Target, which announced in January it was walking back key diversity and inclusion initiatives after Trump took office. 'We are coming up a number of challenges and we need some bold soldiers,' Swan said. During the vigil, which included nine minutes and 29 seconds of prayer to remember the amount of time former police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck. Chauvin was later convicted and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison in the slaying. Multiple pastors from across Springfield focused on how standing together brought power and change, even if overreaching use of force by law enforcement was impacting Black and brown communities more than others. 'If we stood together we could exact change that we couldn't do in our individual silos,' Swan said. 'I think that is what propelled the corporations to make the commitments they did, the Department of Justice to do the investigations they did.' Swan and other faith leaders called for the community to rise up to protect health care, fight poverty and empower elected officials to stand with them and battle the 'wicked administration.' 'Those within the corporate structure who were more or less responding to the pressure have felt that pressure now released because they have an administration that now supports them doing business as usual,' Swan said. 'Once again, we have to show how this administration is not just affecting Black and brown communities, it is literally affecting communities across the spectrum.' Along with speakers calling for justice, they also urged boldness and an acknowledgement of their history, which is being removed from the classrooms and museums. Verleane Harris, an evangelist for Spring of Hope Church of God, pushed for economic equality and asked people to find ways to support, build and expand Black-owned businesses and Black financial institutions. 'We are at risk of losing our freedom,' she said. 'They are trying to erase us from history.' During the event, one participant called out for the group to return for the opening of Target, which is to be located at the site of the former Eastfield Mall, to protest again if corporate managers do not return to earlier policies to support diversity, equity and inclusion. Tracey Carpenter, of Springfield, said she feels the Black Lives Matter efforts gained so many social justice improvements due to a cross collaboration of people of different ages, races, genders and interests standing together. 'I feel like we are losing education and knowledge and that takes away empowerment,' she said. Agawam Historical Museum, with stories of town residents on display, reopens Monday Gov. Healey at Mount Holyoke: 'This is a moment that clarifies our values' Exhibit explores Springfield's witch panic that occurred years before Salem Speed bumps petition gains support after child killed by car in Springfield Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Minneapolis police chief continues to work toward change
Five years after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the city is still reckoning with the calls for police reform that followed. Police chief Brian O'Hara, who was sworn in in November 2022, has been adamant about implementing changes from within that lead to safer streets and more positive interactions with Minneapolis police. Still, O'Hara said Floyd's death is still an "open wound" in the city. While police data shows shootings are trending down, Minneapolis is one of the few major cities where violent crime has not improved much since 2020, according to an analysis of the Major Cities Chiefs Association violent crime report. Crime in the city "skyrocketed" after Floyd's death and the protests that followed, O'Hara said, while "the numbers of the police force just diminished." "People have a very, very basic need to feel safe, and that has been taken away for a lot of people because of everything that's happened since," said O'Hara. The officer shortage continues to strain the department. In 2024, O'Hara told CBS News that the Minneapolis Police Department was short by about 200 officers. "I go to these crime scenes. I've been standing there, boys, teenagers, men are dead in the street, and moms behind the crime scene tape wailing, and I'm going through my head thinking, 'We've had so many murders already this week, what happens if someone else dies?'" O'Hara said. "We don't have enough homicide investigators. I mean, it's been that critical at times. The urgency of the problem is real." Still, O'Hara is determined to make a difference with the resources he does have. He has focused on "getting back to the basics" and ensuring that "everything we do revolves around both reducing crime while earning trust with the community." O'Hara has also worked to "restore some pride in this profession" to try to draw more officers back to the job, and tried to change the culture in the department. Minneapolis police have also adjusted arrest tactics and are working on community engagement and officer training. "In my experience, the people who are here today are dramatically different from the impression that I had of this department in 2020," O'Hara said. Earlier this week, the Justice Department announced it was ending investigations of six police agencies and canceling consent decrees proposed for Louisville and Minneapolis. O'Hara said that reform efforts will continue, even without the federal oversight. The Minneapolis City Council approved the consent decree in January. Minneapolis resident Omar Mohammed told "CBS Saturday Morning" that he was impressed with the changes he has seen over the past few years. "The new chief did a great, great job, because what I see now is, before, police used to pull over everybody, the kids on the street, they used to use a lot of difficult stuff, you know?" Mohammed said. "A lot of big things changed, that's what I see." Here's how much Qatar's plane gifted to Trump administration will cost to retrofit 4 women arrested for allegedly aiding escaped New Orleans inmates Biggest takeaways from RFK Jr.'s MAHA report
