Good morning, and welcome to Thursday.
The Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Amir Locke in February will not face criminal charges, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Wednesday.MPR’s Jon Collis reports that in a joint statement, the prosecutors cited “insufficient admissible evidence to file criminal charges” against officer Mark Hanneman under a state statute that gives officers wide discretion to use deadly force if there's a threat of death or great bodily harm given what the officer knew at the time. Speaking to reporters later, Ellison and Freeman said their offices and a consultant all independently arrived at the decision not to charge officers in Locke's killing. They described Locke as a victim and called his death a tragedy. In their report, Freeman and Ellison said Locke’s reaction to reach for his weapon as police entered was “not per se unreasonable” and emphasized that Locke was not connected at all to the case that led to the no-knock entry.
The Star Tribune reports:The decision not to charge the Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot Amir Locke during a botched no-knock raid in February came as little surprise to legal observers, many of whom said the law leaves members of the public at risk. "If they had taken this to trial, this probably would have been dismissed out of hand," said Mitchell Hamline School of Law professor T. Anansi Wilson. "The problem here is the law and that we trust police more than citizens." When police feel in mortal danger or at risk of great bodily harm, they can use deadly force, Wilson said. A private citizen who feels similarly threatened must retreat and use deadly force only as a last resort. "Police have a license to engage," Wilson said.
Republicans in the Minnesota Senate want to prevent the state attorney general from using outside resources for staff in his office. MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports the prohibition is part of a larger state government funding bill, and it sparked a lengthy debate Wednesday in the Senate Finance Committee. The provision is rooted in the hiring of an environmental lawyer that was paid for by a group with ties to the family foundation of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Ellison told MPR News last month that allegations the hiring is somehow improper are “entirely political,” and an “illegitimate attack.” Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, insisted that the provision would not impinge on the authority of the attorney general. ”It just means that they have to use the funds that are appropriated, not taking money from outside entities that may have conflicting interests or political purposes.” Kiffmeyer said. But Democrats on the committee oppose the restriction. They tried unsuccessfully to remove the language from the bigger bill.
There was a dustup in the Senate Finance committee Wednesday over a provision in the transportation omnibus bill that directs the Transportation Department not to spend any money for study, planning, preliminary engineering, final design, or construction for the ReConnect Rondo project. That’s despite a tax bill agreement last year to provide $6.2 million to do preliminary planning for the project, which is intended to rectify some of the damage done to the predominantly Black Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul when I-94 was routed through the area decades ago. Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, tried to remove the language from the bill. Bill sponsor Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, said he opposes the funding because he believes the Reconnect Rondo project has nothing to do with transportation, and he was not part of last year’s agreement. “I think this is incredibly troubling,” said Sen. Susan Kent, DFL-Woodbury. “The fact is caucus leaders made this agreement last year. The fact that this was in there means there was something in there your leaders wanted. This is dangerous territory. This bill walks back on an agreement that was made.” The only Black member of the committee, Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, noted that the money was designed to help a Black neighborhood. “We’re only calling back the project that affects the community that we believe is powerless. So it’s okay to betray your word with them because they’re powerless. They mean nothing to us,” Champion said. “I see that as a betrayal of our commitment. When you step on the very people who have always been stepped on and find justifications in order to justify it, to me, that is a character flaw.” Committee chair Sen. Julie Rosen, R- Fairmont, suggested Champion went too far. “That was a little rough,” Rosen said. “That was rough.” Champion apologized to Newman, and the committee took a short break. When they returned they voted 6-3 to reject Marty’s amendment. The bill is now headed to the Senate floor.
Another third party candidate will enter the governor’s race today. The Independence-Alliance Party will announce their presumptive nominee later this morning.
MinnPost reports:A Minnesota Senate bill would close the door to an exclusive political club that never actually opened. One sentence in the omnibus bill, Senate File 3975, would ban contributions to any club set up by a political committee of a candidate or a political caucus of the Legislature that provides access to lawmakers. State law already prohibits contributions to lawmakers during legislative sessions. But a mysterious request made to the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board in September suggested a loophole around that ban: charging membership dues to a club that provides access to Capitol decision-makers. | 