Policing
January 31, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Last week I wrote in part 2 of this series: Whenever I write about these cases I am instructed that George Floyd killed himself by a fentanyl overdose. I wasn’t persuaded of that by the evidence introduced at the trial of Derek Chauvin, not even to the level of a reasonable doubt. It is not clear to me that the defendants in this case even raise an issue of fact
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January 27, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Over the past two days, since opening statements, I have followed the trial mostly through the excellent pool notes circulated by the AP’s Steve Karnowski. My impression is that the government is replicating the state’s case against Derek Chauvin with the same bystander witnesses and video evidence in somewhat streamlined form, in part on the insistence of Judge Magnuson. I am back in the Jury Assembly Room this morning to
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January 25, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday the federal trial of the three former Minneapolis police officers other than Derek Chauvin began in earnest with opening statements. The three officers are Tou Thao, Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane. They are charged with violating the civil rights of George Floyd in the arrest that resulted in his death. I went down to the Warren E. Burger Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown St. Paul to watch
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January 24, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
When I read this frontpage headline in the paper edition of yesterday’s Washington Post — “Cities look to halt deadly surge” — my first thought was that there is no significant surge in deaths from the coronavirus in our cities. But the Post wasn’t writing about the pandemic. It was writing about murders. Yes, the Washington Post has finally acknowledged the epidemic of violent crime in America. No more emphasis
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January 24, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Last week I previewed the federal trial of the three former Minneapolis police officers other than Derek Chauvin: Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao. They are charged with violating the civil rights of George Floyd in the arrest that resulted in his death. Were it not for this gratuitous prosecution, the three officers would already have been tried on the criminal charges pending against them in state court. Why
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January 21, 2022 — Scott Johnson
I wrote about the saga of Hennepin County Dave Hutchinson two weeks ago in “Our drunk sheriff and the SUV he rode in on.” Incredibly, Hutchinson is still the sheriff of Hennepin County. In the latest update to the story, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety released an investigative file including video and photos from the scene of Hutchinson’s DWI crash in Alexandria last month. See, for example, this CBS
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January 19, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Tomorrow jury selection is set to commence in the federal trial of Derek Chauvin’s three former fellow Minneapolis police officers before senior Minnesota federal district judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul. The three officers are Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao. They are charged with violating the civil rights of George Floyd in the arrest that resulted in his death. As everyone knows, Derek Chauvin was convicted of the
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January 15, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Guess what’s racist now? Yes, everything is racist, as we know, but specifically what new thing is racist? Traffic cameras. ProPublica reports: A ProPublica analysis found that traffic cameras in Chicago disproportionately ticket Black and Latino motorists. . . An analysis of millions of citations found that households in majority Black and Hispanic ZIP codes received tickets at around twice the rate of those in white areas between 2015 and
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January 5, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Robert Mitchum played drunken sheriff J.P. Harrah in the classic Howard Hawks film El Dorado. As one thing leads to another in the movie, John Wayne’s Cole Thornton embarrasses Harrah into sobering up. Quotable quote: “I’m lookin’ at a tin star with a… drunk pinned on it.” In the Twin Cities, we are in a John Wayne, call your office situation. What we really need, however, is someone who can
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December 23, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Police have arrested five people in connection with the carjacking of Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon in broad daylight yesterday in Philadelphia. The five criminals are all teenagers. They range in age from 13 (yes, 13) to 19. Reportedly, they have written an apology letter to Scanlon, so there would seem to be no doubt about their guilt. Also, the gang’s leader had Scanlon’s car keys in his possession when the
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December 22, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon represents Pennsylvania’s fifth congressional district. She was elected in 2018, as part of the wave that voter dissatisfaction with Donald Trump produced. The district encompasses part of South Philadelphia and a chunk of the city’s suburbs including all of Delaware County. Today, Scanlon was carjacked at gunpoint at a park in Philadelphia. The crime occurred around 2:45 p.m. — thus in broad daylight. Scanlon complied with
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December 16, 2021 — Scott Johnson
The Department of Justice sent out a press release yesterday afternoon on the Chauvin plea deal following the hearing before Judge Magnuson yesterday morning. It is posted online here. The release fabricates this quote for Attorney General Garland: “Defendant Chauvin has pleaded guilty to two federal civil rights violations, one of which led to the tragic loss of George Floyd’s life,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “While recognizing that
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December 15, 2021 — Scott Johnson
I’m inside the Jury Assembly Room of the Warren E. Burger Federal Building in St. Paul, where I viewed the Derek Chauvin plea hearing by video livestream this morning. I couldn’t keep up with the proceeding working on my phone. The hearing concluded just after 9:30 a.m. (Central). I am writing on my laptop following Judge Magnuson’s adjournment of the hearing. I just have few points to offer at this
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December 15, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Derek Chauvin is to appear at a 9:00 a.m. hearing in St. Paul’s Warren E. Burger Federal Building this morning to change his plea in the federal civil rights charge brought against him in the Floyd case. Late yesterday afternoon I was advised by the court that I would be afforded a seat to cover the hearing from the Jury Assembly Room (JAR), which will include a livestream of the
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December 14, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Having been convicted of the murder of George Floyd in state court, Derek Chauvin was charged by federal authorities with the violation of the Floyd’s civil rights. Federal authorities also charged the three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest. The charges are pending before Judge Paul Magnuson in federal court in St. Paul. The federal proceedings seem to me both untoward and unwarranted. In the Chauvin case, they are duplicative.
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December 8, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
With three weeks still to go in 2021, at least 12 major U.S. cities have broken their annual homicide records. Two other cities are on the verge of doing so. The cities that have already suffered a record number of homicides are: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Columbus, Ohio Indianapolis, Indiana Louisville, Kentucky St. Paul, Minnesota Portland, Oregon Tucson, Arizona Toledo, Ohio Austin, Texas Rochester, New York Albuquerque, New Mexico Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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November 26, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Glenn Loury is a voice of reason in the madhouse of higher education. He speaks with a powerful voice that is all the more powerful for its modulation. Peter Robinson sat down with him at FOX News in New York City to record an installment of his Uncommon Knowledge series last month, although it was just posted online this week. Here are the show notes: Professor Glenn Loury is in
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