Why is Minneapolis burning?

I was fairly reluctant to write about this because I am white, 36 years old, and a redneck. I also tend to support police 9 out of 10 times and am a libertarian. All that being said, George Floyd was murdered. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. The idea for this blog came after I heard third or fourth hand that Minneapolis had one of the most corrupt police forces in the country. That statement intrigued me so I went to Google and holy shit. This link is an article about the history of the MPD. I pulled some info from this article and some from other sources to compile the following list about the recent history of the MPD. 

Fong Lee, 2006

Fong Lee was shot 8 times while fleeing police. The officer involved was awarded a Medal of Valor while the family claimed the gun was planted. This is the most tame of all the cases I'm going to cover and still kinda smells. If it was an isolated incident I wouldn't even blink but, in the context of the larger picture, seems a little fishy.

Officer Roberts, 2008

Officer Roberts (couldn't find a first name) was indicted on corruption charges. He was later acquitted. The interesting part here is that he was part of a group of officers that sued the MPD for racial discrimination. After the suit was filed, a paid government informant testified he had paid Roberts a whopping $100 dollars for access to non public information on two separate occasions. This just stinks. Guy sues the department and gets hit with corruption charges based on paid testimony? Come on, everyone and their brother has seen this movie.

Metro Gang Strike Force, disbanded 2009

This reads like a bad action movie. A judge ordered the MPD to pay out $840,000 after determining, among other things, they had "improperly seized" property. If you didn't know, improperly seized means stole. They stole shit. Some examples from the list are below.

Joe Neeland: Confiscated his class ring, computer, and TV. He was never charged with a crime and his property was never returned.

Joseph Kujawa: 2 pounds marijuana, plasma TV, and ice auger. The article was unclear as to if he was charged, but he was never convicted and his property was not returned.

Zenaido Rivera Garcia/Veronica Nunez Guevara: Officers searched them, took their cash, and deported them because they tried to pay the fees/fines and get a car out of impound.

Unnamed Woman: Officers executed a search warrant at a residence where the suspected drug dealers were not present. They found no evidence of illegal activity. They also kicked a 2 year old in the head while executing the warrant. Um, enough said?

David Smith, 2010

David Smith died after being restrained by MPD officers. The parallels between this case and George Floyd are eerie. 

Jason Yang, 2010

Police claim that Jason was fleeing pursuit and jumped a barrier resulting in a 70 foot fall that killed him. His family claims he was shot. This is another case that taken individually seems no big deal but is questionable in the big picture.

Michael Griffin, 2010/11

Officer Griffin was charged with 9 counts related to corruption and excessive force. Allegedly, while off duty he got in a fight and filed charges against 4 people after the fact. He was acquitted on 6 counts and jury deadlocked on 3. Again, by itself, not a big deal but in the big picture seems shady.

Al Flowers, 2014

MPD knocked on Al's door and asked for his minor daughter because they had a warrant for her arrest. Al asked to see the warrant. MPD refused and beat the shit outta him. Al was a community organizer that was known for protesting police practices. 

Justine Ruszczyk Damond, 2017

Damond called 911 to report a woman being assaulted outside her home. Officer Mahmoud Noor responded to the call and then shot and killed an unarmed Damond. Noor did not face charges until 8 months later. He was convicted of 3rd degree murder and sentenced to 12.5 years in prison. The city eventually settled a wrongful death case by paying Damond's family $20,000,000. Interesting side note, Officer Ty Jindra was a key witness at trial. He and several others refused to cooperate with investigators until forced to by subpoena.

Officers Hyman and  Ty Jindra, January 2020

In January of 2020, Officers Hyman and Jindra entered a house and proceeded to tase everyone repeatedly. Officer Jindra proceeded to throw a handcuffed female off a porch and into a chain link fence.  There were no charges filed against the occupants of the house or the officers involved.

Officer Ty Jindra, Feburary 2020

In case you haven't noticed, this guy is a recurring character. He is subject of a federal investigation in regards to excessive use of force and corruption. He, allegedly, put a gun against a suspect's face whe said suspect was hand cuffed among other things. He cuurently has 16 complaints on his record. 8 of these resulted in no discipline and 8 are open. 

In conclusion, the MPD has problems and lots of them. If this was going on in my hometown I would be irate. This is a department that is out of control and unchecked and has been for 20 years. I found this information in about an hour using Google, who knows what else is out there? I am well aware that this is probably just a small representation of what goes on in this police department and it is highly indicative of much bigger problems. That being said, I can not get behind burning down buildings but, after reading this, I sure as hell understand why people do and can not fault them.