Law Enforcement
September 23, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Many criminals are dumb, and some are crazy. But virtually all criminals pay attention to what concerns them the most: the likelihood of being caught and the severity of punishment for their crimes. Even the most deranged criminal does not commit his felony in front of a policeman. And the extent to which laws are enforced is the most important variable influencing whether laws are broken. We are reminded of
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September 7, 2023 — John Hinderaker
That formula goes back, I think, to the 1980s, and while “neoconservative” has taken on a different meaning, it still holds true. The latest case in point is Shivanthi Sathanandan, a vice chairwoman of Minnesota’s Democrat-Farmer-Labor party. Like most Democrats, Sathanandan was anti-police and pro-criminal. In June 2020, she wanted to “dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department”: But that all changed on Tuesday. Ms. Sathanandan was carjacked and viciously beaten: The
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September 7, 2023 — Scott Johnson
I sought to draw attention to the Biden Department of Justice’s advocacy of leniency in the case of Montez Lee, the Minnesota citizen sentenced to 10 years in prison for setting a fire that killed a man during the George Floyd riots that devastated Minneapolis. I set forth the underlying facts of the case in “Felony murder in a good cause” (January 18,2022) and several subsequent posts. Byron York now
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August 20, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Last month I wrote about the July 14 ambush of Fargo police officers by one Mohamad Barakat. Barakat murdered Officer Jake Wallin and wounded two other officers. Barakat was prepared for mass murder. Inside Barakat’s car officers found 1,800 rounds of .223-caliber ammunition, explosives, gas canisters, and a homemade grenade with a fuse out of the top. Fargo police officer Zach Robinson saved the day. From a spot some 75
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August 16, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Why does anyone still live in San Francisco? Why would any group hold a convention or similar event there? Why would a tourist set foot there? That city has been so badly governed for so long that the question is no longer whether it will thrive, but rather, whether it will survive. Many San Francisco businesses have closed their doors, while others are barely hanging on. Gump’s is an upscale
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July 31, 2023 — John Hinderaker
In May 2020, the world was turned upside down when a massively-overdosed George Floyd died on a Minneapolis street while waiting for an ambulance that could have saved his life. The narrative that Minnesota’s criminal justice system was biased against blacks immediately took hold, encouraged by Minnesota’s own state and local officials. In response to that narrative, states and local jurisdictions across America, and even around the world, enacted “reforms”
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July 21, 2023 — Scott Johnson
As the man says in the song (not that one), I was born in a small town — Fargo, North Dakota. You may have heard that Fargo police officer Jake Wallin was ambushed and murdered by one Mohamad Barakat in Fargo this past Friday as police responded to a call for help on a car accident. Officer Wallin was a native of St. Michael, Minnesota and a sergeant in the
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July 13, 2023 — Scott Johnson
The White House must be the most heavily guarded and surveilled building in the United States. Yet the case of the cocaine baggie outside the Situation Room is apparently damn near impossible to crack, if I may use that term in this context. I’m not sure if the White House is still taking the line that the area is “highly trafficked,” but that is the line that Politico persists in
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June 2, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s memoir of the Chauvin prosecution — Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence — was published last week. It’s good to be Keith Ellison. He’s got the Star Tribune doing public relations for him. He’s got the New York Times doing public relations for him. He’s got the Washington Post doing public relations for him. He’s got NPR doing public relations for him.
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May 31, 2023 — Scott Johnson
I’m still working my way through Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s just-published memoir Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence. I hope to write a formal book review that administers justice to the book. In the meantime, I want to post a series of notes on the book. This is Ellison’s second memoir and it shares certain traits in common with the first, My Country, Tis of Thee:
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April 20, 2023 — John Hinderaker
On Saturday night, Pope County, Minnesota, Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Owen was murdered in the line of duty, shot three times while responding to a domestic disturbance. Two other officers were wounded. Governor Tim Walz phoned Owen’s widow to offer condolences. Alpha News reports on what happened next: The widow of Pope County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Owen who was killed in the line of duty on Saturday night has told Minnesota
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April 17, 2023 — John Hinderaker
In my view, Derek Chauvin is a scapegoat for the ages. Scott wrote a little while ago about the Minnesota Court of Appeals’ turning down Chauvin’s appeal based on pretrial publicity. I would say this is one of the year’s least surprising news stories. The Court of Appeals was no more willing to risk inciting riots than the Chauvin jurors were. Unlike (I think) Scott, I believe Chauvin’s guilty verdict
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March 13, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Hennepin County, with a population of around 1.3 million, is Minnesota’s largest. In November, it elected Mary Moriarty as County Attorney. Moriarty ran as an “out” leftist committed to “restorative justice.” Residents of Hennepin County are now finding out what that means. My colleague David Zimmer recounts Moriarty’s handling of two recent criminal cases. In the first, she dismissed charges against a 35-year-old Honduran man who was accused of raping
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February 7, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech is tonight. Consistent with the custom of recent years, he no doubt will acknowledge the presence of individuals in the crowd and use their stories to reinforce his policy objectives. I was shocked to learn that among those who will be present tonight are the parents of Amir Locke, as guests of Ilhan Omar. The background on Locke’s case, briefly: four men were
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February 1, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Tyre Nichols’ funeral is today in Memphis. Kamala Harris will attend, consistent with the Left’s view that his death at the hands of Memphis police officers has broad significance for our society. Amid ludicrous claims that the beating of a black man by five black police officers is somehow a manifestation of “white supremacy,” it hasn’t been easy to find an informed, balanced assessment of the incident. At AmericanExperiment.org, my
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January 27, 2023 — John Hinderaker
I was scheduled to be a guest on Laura Ingraham’s television show tonight, but I was bumped for breaking news from Memphis. On January 7, Tyre Nichols was stopped by Memphis police for what is said to be a routine traffic violation. For some reason, he fled and officers pursued him. One or more “altercations” followed, and Nichols ultimately was transported to a hospital, where he died. Five Memphis police
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October 24, 2022 — Scott Johnson
I’ve banged my head against the wall on the matter of Keith Ellison for 16 years. He is unfit for any public office. He is most unfit for a public office with responsibility for law enforcement. One such office is the position of Minnesota Attorney General. Unfortunately, that is the position he currently holds. His run for the position in 2018 prompted my column “Can Keith Ellison turn lawman?” Ellison’s
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