US Justice Dept announces probe into Minneapolis police
MINNEAPOLIS: The US Justice Department announced Wednesday an investigation into the Minneapolis police, a day after a white former officer was convicted of murdering George Floyd, signalling the Biden administration’s intention to use federal powers to clean up systemic police abuse.
Tuesday’s verdict raised cautious hopes in the Black community of a historic turning point in US justice, but the police killing of another African American cast a shadow over prospects for change less than 24 hours after Derek Chauvin was led from a Minneapolis courtroom in handcuffs.
The ex-officer – who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes – faces up to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of all charges over the death of the unarmed man.
The crime was recorded by a bystander whose video shocked the world, triggering mass protests across the United States and beyond, while also prompting a national reckoning on racial injustice and police brutality.
“But only with the passage of time will we know if the guilty verdict in the trial... is the start of something that will truly change America and the experience of Black Americans,” Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd, the family’s most outspoken member, wrote in a Washington Post opinion column.
“It’s up to all of us to build on this moment.”
On Wednesday US AttorneyGeneral Merrick Garland announced a civil investigation to determine whether the Minneapolis Police Department systematically uses excessive force and “engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing,” including during legal protests.
It will also examine whether the city force showed a pattern of discrimination and unlawful treatment of people with behavioral health disabilities.
Last year’s killing of Floyd as he lay face down and handcuffed saying repeatedly “I can’t breathe” has prompted some police reforms, but advocates including Biden say more is needed.
Democrats in Congress demand what they say are long-overdue reforms, but they face opposition in the evenly split Senate.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act – a sweeping package that bans choke holds, combats racial profiling and restricts officer immunity – passed the House of Representatives with support from just one Republican.
Senate passage would require votes from 10 Republicans. None has signed on, although Biden says he will push for the bill.
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer vowed to “not rest” until Congress passes key police reforms, and cautioned against celebrating Chauvin’s conviction as a final justice.
“We should not mistake a guilty verdict in this case as evidence that the persistent problem of police misconduct has been solved, or that the divide between law enforcement and so many of the communities they serve has been bridged,” Schumer said. “It has not.”