Civil Rights
Area around George Floyd memorial is a no-go zone for cops, residents say
On the evening of June 25, Michael Grunke was watching TV in his apartment on the 3600 block of Columbus Avenue — about a block and a half away from the George Floyd memorial — when he heard a series of loud bangs and glass shattering. He called 911. While he waited for police, he […]
Half of people living in Powderhorn encampments are Native
More than 500 tents are spread across two encampments in Powderhorn Park, but the number of people living there according to a recent survey of its residents is far fewer: 282. The encampments have swelled in Powderhorn Park and in other parks across Minneapolis since the Park Board approved a resolution on June 17 declaring […]
Pandemic, Trump immigration policies wreaking havoc on students — and the U
The pandemic and the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies have created vast uncertainty for international students — and the University of Minnesota’s finances and educational landscape. The University of Minnesota has seen an increasing share of revenue from a growing international student population for the past several years. During the past four years, tuition revenue from Twin […]
Minneapolis Park Board to vote on repealing nudity ordinance
The Minneapolis Park Board will vote Wednesday on repealing restrictions on nudity that applies to breasts in order to allow people of all genders to be topless in public. The city of Minneapolis already allows anyone to go topless — a fact laid bare by Helena Howard, a woman famous among cyclists for her topless […]
St. Paul council passes strongest tenant protections in Minnesota
The St. Paul City Council unanimously passed five new renter protections Wednesday, including capping security deposits, limiting background checks and prohibiting landlords from terminating leases without just cause, a first in the state. Council Member Mitra Jalali connected the renter protections to the national reckoning taking place around racial inequality following the police killing of […]
Senate GOP sharply critical of response to toppling of Christopher Columbus statue
Senate Republicans held an oversight hearing on Wednesday repeatedly pressing Minnesota public safety officials on why state police failed to prevent the June 10 toppling of the Christopher Columbus statue at the State Capitol. GOP state senators said Tuesday they were angry that no one had yet been charged in the incident. State Patrol Col. […]
U.S. Supreme Court hands victories to religious employers in health care decision
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Trump administration effort to exempt employers with religious or moral concerns from complying with a “birth control mandate” in the Affordable Care Act, the Obama-era law that requires employer-provided insurance plans to cover contraceptives. Reproductive rights advocates say the ruling potentially affects hundreds of thousands of […]
Leaked documents: Intelligence wing of law enforcement struggled to fulfill its mission during George Floyd protests
During the unrest following the killing of George Floyd, the intelligence gathering and analysis arm of Minnesota law enforcement fed a constant stream of unverified and ultimately bogus threats to officers while failing to identify more credible risks, according to recently leaked documents. Last month the hacktivist group Distributed Denial of Secrets published more than […]
Merchants of misinformation target rural Minnesota
A room at the Redwood Valley High School Community Center filled to about half capacity earlier this year as rural Minnesotans made small talk, munched on store bought cookies and drank astringent coffee as Ron Branstner queued up his slideshow. The crowd had come to hear Branstner, dressed in khakis and white sneakers, talk about […]
Minneapolis Police were once used as strike breakers
“The blood of workers ran freely in the streets of Minneapolis yesterday. They were shot down and wounded by uniformed thugs commanded by police chief Michael Johannes. Forty-eight sons of the working class were mowed down by shotguns in the hands of police” — From The Organizer, the daily strike bulletin of General Drivers Local […]
Government can’t stop the fierce winds of cultural change
We are living through history, through a tumultuous time in which change accelerates, the once-solid becomes fluid and no one has any real idea of where this thing is headed. Living in chaos, trying to make daily sense of it, has been frightening, exhilarating and confusing. Someday our grandchildren, reading about this era in their […]
Former Minneapolis cop says MPD rejected his intervention training offers twice
A former Minneapolis police sergeant, recognized for his work in helping clean up the scandal-plagued New Orleans Police Department, says he twice offered his old department training that could have prevented the death of George Floyd. Twice he was turned down. Michael Quinn, a retired 23-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, said he offered […]