Minority officers allege discrimination over Chauvin booking

MINNEAPOLIS » Eight minority corrections officers who work at the jail holding a former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd allege that they were barred from guarding or having contact with the officer because of their race.

Floyd died on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin down the handcuffed

Black man’s neck even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. He is being held at the Ramsey County Jail on $1 million bond.

Eight Ramsey County corrections officers filed racial discrimination charges with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights on Friday alleging that when Chauvin was booked into the jail, all officers of color were ordered to a separate floor, according to the Star Tribune, which obtained a copy of charges. The charges allege that a supervisor told one of the officers that because of their race, they would be a potential “liability” around Chauvin.

NEW YORK » John Bolton’s memoir officially comes out Tuesday after surviving a security review and a legal challenge from the Justice Department. But over the weekend, it was available in ways even his publisher is hoping to prevent.

A PDF of “The Room Where It Happened” has turned up on the internet, offering a free, pirated edition of the former national security adviser’s scathing takedown of President Donald Trump, who has alleged that the book contains classified material that never should have been released.

“We are working assiduously to take down these clearly illegal instances of copyright infringement,” Simon & Schuster spokesperson Adam Rothberg said Sunday.

Piracy has long been a top concern among publishers, especially in the digital age, although the actual impact on sales is undetermined. “The Room Where It Happened” has been No. 1 for days on the Amazon. com bestseller list. The Associated Press was among several news outlets that obtained early copies of the book and reported on its contents.

FRANKFURT, GERMANY » Police in the German city of Stuttgart said Sunday that 20 people were arrested and four police officers injured after a check for drugs sparked attacks on officers and police vehicles and widespread vandalism of stores in the city center. Police said several hundred people were involved.

The disturbance started as an apparent reaction to a police search for drugs as groups of people partied outside late Saturday and early Sunday in a central park. People then attacked storefronts in a nearby shopping street, according to German public television reports, tearing up paving stones and smashing store windows.

Cellphone video purporting to be of the events circulated widely in social media. Police asked witnesses to upload videos that could provide evidence to assist the investigation.

Stuttgart police said 200 officers responded to the incident and four were injured. They said they were investigating to get a clearer picture of what happened and said they would provide more information later Sunday.

LONDON » The coronavirus pandemic has prevented druids, pagans and party-goers from watching the sun rise at Stonehenge to mark the summer solstice this year.

The ancient stone circle in southwestern England usually draws thousands of people to mark the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. But Britain has banned mass gatherings as part of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.

English Heritage, the body that oversees Stonehenge, livestreamed the sunrise instead. It said more than 3.6 million people watched as dawn broke at 4:52 a.m. Sunday (0352GMT, 11:52 p.m. EDT Saturday).