Vile examples of overlooked police brutality and racism unearthed in Minnesota human rights probe

Nearly two years after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights found that Minneapolis police officers are more likely to use neck restraints and chemical irritants on Black people and more likely to cite, use force against, and arrest Black people during traffic stops. The human rights departments announced the saddening but not shocking findings on Wednesday after a nearly two-year investigation. The probe was sparked when Chauvin was recorded kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, killing the Black father on May 25, 2020. In the human rights investigation, the department defined "a pattern or practice of discrimination” as “the denial of rights” in “more than isolated, sporadic incidents” but as “repeated, routine, or of a generalized nature.”

"After completing a comprehensive investigation, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights finds there is probable cause that the City and MPD engage in a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act," the department said in its findings.

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