Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) has directed the Minnesota Department of Human Rights to investigate the Minneapolis Police Department, in addition to filing a civil rights charge against the police department in the death of George Floyd.
The investigation will focus on policies, procedures, and practices from the last decade, in order to determine whether the police department has “engaged in systemic discriminatory practices toward people of color,” the department said in a press release.
“George Floyd should be alive. He deserved to live a life full of dignity and joy,” said Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero. “Community leaders have been asking for structural change for decades. They have fought for this and it is essential that we acknowledge the work and commitment of those who have paved the path to make today’s announcement possible.”
The governor has promised to “use every tool at our disposal to deconstruct generations of systemic racism in our state,” and has asked the public to “watch what we do,” seemingly to signal that his administration will deliver on its promises.
“It is going to take action from all levels from the neighborhood on up, to get the change we need to see,” continued Walz. “This effort is only one of many steps to come in our effort to restore trust with those in the community who have been unseen and unheard for far too long.”
While the investigation ramps up, the human rights department says it will seek an arrangement with the police department to institute short-term measures to address “systemic discriminatory practices.” The long-term measures will be added later, presumably after Lucero issues her findings.
An attorney, Lucero previously worked for Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), who is now the Attorney General of Minnesota and has been tasked with prosecuting all cases related to the death of George Floyd, according to NBC News.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and a two-person medical examiner team hired by the family of George Floyd have determined that the 46-year-old Minneapolis man died from homicide.
In a criminal complaint against former officer Derek Chauvin, prosecutors said preliminary findings from the medical examiner’s office suggested Floyd’s death was caused by several factors, including pre-existing health conditions and potential drug use. The official examiner has since distanced itself from those findings, determining that Floyd’s death was caused by “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.”
Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Friday, several days after the viral video of him pushing his knee into the now-deceased Floyd spread across the nation and world. The other officers involved in the arrest have been fired, but not been charged with a crime.
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