Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.

Minnesota police guilty of racial discrimination: human rights dept

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 27 Apr 2022 23:21
4 Min Read

The Minnesota Police Department, whose police officers killed George Floyd and caused anti-racism protests across the United States, was found guilty of racial discrimination.

  • x
  • Demonstrations against racial discrimination in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
    Demonstrations against racial discrimination in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

The city of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department have been found to have engaged in a pattern or practice of racial discrimination for more than a decade, which constitutes a violation of the Human Rights Act, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) said in a report on Wednesday.

"Following the murder of George Floyd, demands to end discriminatory policing practices reverberated across the world," MDHR Commissioner Rebecca Lucero highlighted in the report that came out on Wednesday.

She stressed that those demands remained as urgent with the announcement of the findings of a nearly 2-year investigation that revealed that the city and its police department were engaging in a pattern or practice of race discrimination.

The report underlines that policing in Minneapolis was conducted in a horrible manner, where according to State Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero Black residents represent about 19% of the population, yet 78% of all police searches from 2017 to 2020 involved Black residents and their vehicles.

Minneapolis Police Department data, the report notes, shows that during the time neck restraints were permitted under MPD policy, MPD officers were almost twice as likely to use neck restraints against Black individuals than white individuals who had been recorded by officers as behaving in the same way when interacting with police and who had been interacting with the police for the same alleged offenses or event.

These problems, the report underlined, stemmed from the MPD's organization culture and "deficient" training that "emphasizes a paramilitary approach to policing that results in officers unnecessarily escalating encounters or using inappropriate levels of force."

An expert review of the MPD's use of force files found that its officers used unnecessary and inappropriate levels of force. In 52.6% of incidents, they used neck restraint, and in 37.1% of incidents, they sprayed chemical irritants against individuals of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

The report further deemed the department's accountability procedures "inefficient and ineffective," saying it had not done enough to address racial disparities.

Related News

Syria welcomes US decision to lift sanctions, hosts US delegation

Trump claims Gaza war to end in weeks, despite ongoing Israeli assault

The MDHR also said it had found that Black people, people of color, and Indigenous individuals were victims of excessive and violent force by police officers, which in some cases used deadly force.

Statistics show that of the 14 people killed by MPD officers since 2010, 13 were people of color or Indigenous individuals.

The report also cited "racial disparities in how MPD officers use force, stop, search, arrest, and cite people of color" in addition to officers' "use of covert social media to surveil Black individuals and Black organizations, unrelated to criminal activity."

The probe had first been announced in June 2020, soon after the murder of Goerge Floyd at the hands of police officer Derek Chauvin. Footage showed Chauvin pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes and sparked international outrage and protests across the US and the rest of the world calling for racial equality.

"Race-based policing is unlawful and harms everyone, especially people of color and Indigenous community members – sometimes costing community members their lives," Lucero said. "I look forward to the work ahead with the City, MPD, and community members to improve public safety by reversing unlawful policing practices," she added.

Three ex-policemen who were present at the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis denied the unarmed man his civil rights, according to findings by a jury. 

The policemen were charged with expressing "deliberate indifference [Floyd's] serious medical needs" during the arrest that happened in May 2020, when Derek Chauvin kept kneeling on Floyd's neck while the latter couldn't breathe and soon died as a result.

Racism is deeply rooted in law enforcement in the United States, with police force brutality heavily affecting the Black community in the US. 

In November 2021, Minneapolis voted not to dissolve and replace the police department.

Read more: Black History Month: Black oppression in the United States
  • United States
  • Racism
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Minneapolis
  • Racism in America

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS