‘Op-Ed’ Archives
Open Letter to Walz and Ellison: The Takeover of McKeever Case is Just Plain Wrong
By COMMUNITIES UNITED AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY (CUAPB) Reprinted with permission. Dear Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison:Our organization protests, in the strongest possible terms, the Attorney General’s takeover of the prosecution of the McKeever case. This case involves the manipulation of two teens, ages 15 and 17, by an adult into committing a heinous crime. According to media accounts, the reason given for this takeover was that the decision to offer the teens plea deals for their testimony against the adult, was “so far outside the normal course for the prosecution of such a heinous crime, and so far outside of community expectations.”It is routine for prosecutors to offer plea agreements to defendants who are deemed less culpable by age, mental capacity or role in the crime in exchange for their testimony. These kinds of plea deals are not “far outside the normal course for the prosecution” but are standard practice for prosecutors.The decision to offer [...]
MDHR Settlement Response:
Consent decree falls short and keeps power out of community hands; we need an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Commission to permanently reign in the abuses of MPD By Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar and Minneapolis for Community Control of Police On March 31st, the City of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) signed a consent decree to address human rights violations by the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). While the agreement lays out some much-needed policy changes, ultimately the power dynamics of the city are left unchanged. This plan hinges on the Police Chief having the will to carry out meaningful changes; however, at the end of the day, the Chief reports directly to the Community Safety Commissioner, an unelected bureaucrat, and the Mayor, who misleadingly campaigned on a no-knock warrant ban just months before Amir Locke was murdered during a no-knock warrant raid. Now they are asking for blind trust from a [...]
