Lukashenko claims sixth term
Pair to meet with police, residents
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes the oath of office for his sixth term Wednesday in a previously unannounced inauguration at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk. One opposition leader called the secretive ceremony after a disputed election “a farce,” and thousands of people took to the streets later in protest. More photos at arkansasonline.com/924belarus/.
MINNEAPOLIS — Vice President Mike Pence and Ivanka Trump are bringing President Donald Trump’s law-and-order campaign message to Minneapolis today.
Pence and President Trump’s daughter planned to host a listening session with a “Cops for Trump” group, as well as with residents who the Trump reelection campaign says have been “negatively impacted by crime and violent extremism.”
The visit comes about a month after Donald Trump met with small-business owners whose stores in Minneapolis were damaged in violence that erupted after Floyd’s death. Trump did not visit the scene of protests nor the site where police held Floyd down as they tried to arrest him for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store; the schedule for Thursday doesn’t include those places either.
The visit also will be a day after a Kentucky grand jury weighing charges in Breonna Taylor’s death indicted a single former police officer on charges of shooting into neighboring apartments, but chose not to indict any officers directly in her death.
Floyd died after a white police officer pressed his knee into the handcuffed Black man’s neck on May 25 during an arrest attempt that was captured on bystander video. His death set off protests around the world, including some that became violent.
Property damage in Minneapolis is estimated at roughly $100 million.
After Floyd’s death, a majority of City Council members pledged to abolish the Police Department and replace it with a new agency that would take a more socially minded approach. Their hopes of taking the idea to voters in November was blocked by a city commission and won’t happen before 2021, if ever.
The talk of abolishing police came as Minneapolis this summer saw spiking violent crime, as many other big cities did, and as some residents complained that police response times had slowed. Some of the same council members who supported ending the department pressed Police Chief Medaria Arradondo last week to address the rising crime.
Police union President Bob Kroll did not respond to a message seeking comment for this story. He has complained that city leaders have abandoned rank-and-file officers. Roughly 175 officers are seeking work-related disability, according to an attorney helping file the claims, with post-traumatic stress disorder being cited as a main reason for most departures.
A Star Tribune analysis found that as of last week, violent crimes such as homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assaults were up 17% from the five-year average. Serious assaults, including shootings and stabbings, were up 25%. Mohamed Ibrahim is a corps member for the Associated Press/ Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.