“Warning! Easily Startled Police” Signs Posted in Twin Cities

I hope whoever did this puts them up all over town.

Street signs warning of ‘easily startled’ police posted around Twin Cities

One week after an unarmed Minneapolis woman was killed in an officer-involved shooting, street signs criticizing “easily startled” police have popped up in the Twin Cities.

The orange traffic sign lookalikes depict a police officer jumping in the air, discharging a gun with each hand. “Warning,” the signs read, “Twin Cities Police easily startled.”

St. Paul Police Department spokesman Steve Linders confirmed there was at least one sign in St. Paul and another in Minneapolis. Linders didn’t comment on any reaction from officers to the signs.

“We are aware of the signs and Minneapolis Public Works is removing them,” Minneapolis Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Catherine Michal said. “We have no further comment at this time.”

The sign appeared about a week after Minneapolis police shot and killed Justine Ruszczyk, who had called 911 to report a possible assault. Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau stepped down six days later.

Ruszczyk’s death was the latest of several fatal officer-involved shootings in Minnesota. Philando Castile was shot and killed by a St. Anthony officer during a traffic stop in July 2016, sparking nationwide protests. Less than a year earlier, a Minneapolis officer fatally shot Jamar Clark after a scuffle with officers in front of an apartment building.

Addy Free spotted the St. Paul sign at a busy intersection Sunday morning on his way home from work. He snapped a photo, which has since been shared over 18,000 times on Facebook.

“I wish there weren’t so much truth to the sign,” Free said. “Police are given a challenging job, with not enough training to counter overreaction and implicit bias.”

The next morning, when Free went by the place where the sign had been, it was gone. The sign was taken down because it was attached to a legitimate street sign, Linders said, but he was unsure if the incident was being investigated as vandalism.

Free said the sign appeared to be made of metal and that it had the same thickness as the real street sign above it.

“It was not painted,” he said. “It looked like a high quality decal or print like the sign above it.”

 

Minneapolis Police Chief Fired Because Her Officer Shot a White Woman

Anyone remember the name Jamar Clark?

Her officers have gunned down several if not a half dozen unarmed black men.

A black officer shoots a white woman…And suddenly heads roll.

The ex-Chief of Police (center)

Minneapolis Police Chief Forced Out After Fatal Shooting of Australian Woman

The Minneapolis police chief, Janee Harteau, resigned on Friday at the mayor’s request, less than a week after one of the city’s officers fatally shot an unarmed Australian woman who had called 911 for help.

Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a statement that “I’ve lost confidence in the chief’s ability to lead us further” and that “it is clear that she has lost the confidence of the people of Minneapolis as well.”

Last weekend’s fatal shooting of the Australian, Justine Damond, by Officer Mohamed Noor led to outpourings of grief in Minnesota and outrage in Ms. Damond’s home country, where the prime minister has condemned the shooting and Ms. Damond’s family members have expressed frustration with how little they have been told about what happened.

On Saturday, Ms. Damond, 40, called 911 twice to report a possible sexual assault near her home. Officer Noor and his partner, Officer Matthew Harrity, arrived at the scene in a dark alley several minutes later. Officer Harrity told state investigators that he had been startled by a loud noise just before Ms. Damond approached their cruiser. Officer Noor then shot her through the open window.

Officer Noor has declined to speak with investigators, and the authorities have provided no explanation for why he shot Ms. Damond. Neither Officer Noor nor his partner had turned their body cameras on.

Chief Harteau, a 30-year veteran of the Minneapolis police force, said in a statement that “the recent incidents do not reflect the training and procedures we’ve developed as a department.”

“I’ve decided I am willing to step aside to let a fresh set of leadership eyes see what more can be done for the M.P.D. to be the very best it can be,” Chief Harteau said. “The city of Minneapolis deserves the very best.”

Ms. Damond’s death was the latest high-profile episode that raised questions about police tactics under Chief Harteau’s watch. Weeks of protests followed the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man, in 2015.

Nekima Levy-Pounds, a civil rights lawyer and activist running for mayor of Minneapolis, said Chief Harteau “needed to be fired.” Ms. Levy-Pounds said it had been “a slap in the face to people of color” that the chief spoke out about the death of Ms. Damond, who was white, after defending officers involved in past shootings of black people.

“She is attempting to paint this as an isolated case based on one officer’s poor judgment as opposed to a systemic pattern,” Ms. Levy-Pounds said.

Ms. Hodges, who is up for re-election in November and who has faced criticism for her own handling of police issues, said she was appreciative of Chief Harteau’s service but had requested her resignation.

“In conversation with the chief today, she and I agreed that she would step aside to make way for new leadership,” Ms. Hodges said. “I asked Chief Harteau for her resignation, she tendered it, and I have accepted it.”

Chief Harteau was the first woman to serve as Minneapolis police chief, and is also openly gay. She worked her way through the ranks of the department after joining in 1987, and was seen by some nationally as a police reformer who outfitted officers with body cameras and advocated restorative justice. But locally, her department faced frequent protests and criticisms for its use of force and treatment of black people.

Chief Harteau was also believed to have a strained relationship with Ms. Hodges. The two leaders faced criticism from the Justice Department for their coordination during 2015 protests. And earlier this year, Ms. Hodges publicly overruled the chief on a promotion decision.

State investigators continue to probe Ms. Damond’s death. Both Ms. Hodges and Chief Harteau have said she should not have been shot. “Justine didn’t have to die,” Chief Harteau said on Thursday, citing information released by state officials investigating the case. “I believe the actions in question go against who we are as a department, how we train and the expectations we have for our officers.”

 

 

They Shoot Black Folks, Brown Folks…And Dogs

More trigger happy policing – this time shooting a family’s support dogs in their back yard!

And then lied about it.

The Cops are in trouble now! You see in America, you can shoot and murder unarmed Negroes…Shooting white folks dogs is a hanging offense!

 

Police say they shot two dogs who ‘charged’ at an officer. Then the homeowner posted her video.

 

Before the gunfire, the injured dogs and the accusations of police misconduct, the home security video makes one thing clear: In the gated back yard, the animals and the officer are surprised to see each other.

That Saturday night interaction — an officer-involved shooting that left two emotional-support dogs seriously injured — has embroiled the Minneapolis Police Department in controversy.

Video of the shooting recorded by an overhead security camera has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, including by many animal lovers who are calling for the officer’s badge.

The dogs — Ciroc and Rocko — are both Staffordshire terriers that Jennifer LeMay and her children have had since they were puppies, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. They’re emotional support dogs for LeMay’s two sons, who both suffer from anxiety.

According to the Star Tribune, a friend had been dog-sitting while LeMay and her two daughters were camping. But the trio decided to come home early, and one daughter accidentally triggered the home’s alarm system Saturday night. They called the alarm company, which canceled the alert, but the police were already on their way.

On scene, one officer stayed at the front of the house, the newspaper reported, and another hopped the fence and began looking around the back.

There’s no sound in the video, which LeMay ultimately posted to Facebook.

In the video, the officer has already hopped the fence into the yard and briefly steps out of the camera frame as he investigates.

When he appears again, he’s backpedaling and his gun is raised. The reason for the retreat becomes obvious a few seconds later: A gray and white dog pads into the camera frame.

Its tail is wagging as it closes the distance to the officer, who has his back to the locked gate. The dog appears distracted and doesn’t beeline for the officer. As it closes to within a few feet, the officer fires a single shot. The dog jumps back, falls and rolls on the ground as it tries to get away.

Around that time, a second dog, Rocko, enters the frame. The officer fires at the second dog, and it sprints away.

The Minneapolis Police Department released a statement confirming that the incident happened but did not try to explain the officer’s thinking or rationale for firing. The department also didn’t identify the officer.

“Anytime an officer discharges their firearm in the line of duty there is an investigation that is completed by the Minneapolis Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit,” the statement said. “We are in the process of reviewing the video posted online, as well as the officer’s body camera video. We have reached out to the owner of the dogs and will continue to do so during the investigation.”

A police report obtained by the Star Tribune said the dogs charged at the officer.

“While staging at the rear, two large-size pit bulls charged at officer,” the police report narrative said. “Officer dispatched the two dogs, causing them to run back into the residence.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau released a statement Monday afternoon saying the department was “implementing updated mandatory training” about officer-dog encounters.

“I’ve watched the video, and as someone whose family has included dogs most of my life, I can say that it was difficult to watch,” the statement said. “This was an outcome that no one wanted. I’ve asked for an Internal Affairs use of force review. We are reaching out to the family to help them with the veterinary care bills to ensure that both dogs are adequately taken care of.”

Still, LeMay was livid. She declined to be interviewed for this story Monday afternoon, saying “I’ve lawyered up.” Her attorney did not immediately respond to a message.

But she raged about the incident on Facebook.

“Xfinity home central services and 4th precinct can expect to be seeing and hearing from my lawyer bright n early monday morning,” she said on Facebook. “I WILL GET F‑‑‑‑‑‑ JUSTICE FOR MY KIDS! THERE IS NO PENNY OR DOLLAR VALUE TOO WHAT THESE BABIES MEAN TO MY FAMILY, EXTENDED FAMILY, FRIENDS OR ANYONE WHOS LIVES THEYVE BRIGHTENED DAILY! #knowthat”

She told Minneapolis CBS-affiliate WCCO that she’d racked up thousands of dollars in veterinary bills and posted pictures of her dogs’ conditions: Ciroc wrapped in a cone and with bandages on an injured jaw; Rocko with surgical drainage tubes on a stitched belly.

 

More Gunshots Fired Near Minneapolis BLM Protest

Appears that the white supremacist types are trying to intimidate the protesters by guns.

This is the video of armed white supremacists seeking to terrorize the protesters. It is unclear whether these are the people who shot 5 demonstrators.

More gunshots fired overnight at Minneapolis protests: ‘CALL THIS WHAT THE F*CK IT IS — TERRORISM’

More gunshots were fired overnight at the site of ongoing protests of the Minneapolis police killing of Jamar Clark.

Police confirmed that shots were fired about 2 a.m. Wednesday near the Fourth Precinct, where five Black Lives Matters protesters were wounded about 27 hours before during a dispute with three white men, reported the Washington Post.

Authorities were unable to provide any details about the latest shooting — including information about who fired the shots or why.

Reports of the gunfire circulated early Wednesday on social media, where video was posted online showing the moments shortly after the shots were fired.

The video shows demonstrators running for cover behind a barricade or lying flat on the ground near their campfires as activists shouted “get down.”

“F*ck this laying down shit,” one activist shouts. “Let’s shoot back.”

Police arrested three men Tuesday afternoon in connection with the shootings and released a fourth man after questioning.

A spokeswoman for the local NAACP chapter claimed the police department allowed the men to bully protesters for days and stood by during the shooting and initially refused to help the victims.

Authorities have been reluctant to agree with witnesses who described the men as white supremacists, but social media posts by the suspects reveal frequent use of racial slurs and a fascination with Confederate imagery and right-wing militia groups.

The suspects — identified by police as 23-year-old Allen “Lance” Scarsella, 21-year-old Nathan Gustavsson and 26-year-old Daniel Macey — have not been formally charged but remain jailed on suspicion of assault.

Emails and online videos show the men plotted to disrupt the protests — and activists said they appeared daily since last week, wearing military clothing, masks and bulletproof armor as they recorded video of demonstrators’ faces and harassed them at their camps.

Their supporters claim the men acted in self-defense after witnesses said they were punched during an altercation with protesters, who asked them to take off their masks or leave, but many people have described the men as “terrorists.”

 

 

 

NAACP Communications Manager Claims Police Involved in Minnesota BLM Shooting

I hope this woman has her act together, and isn’t just mouthing her personal beliefs. Data the NAACP obtained did assist in the apprehension of the 3 white men who shot BLM protestors less than a block from the Police Station.

Minnesota NAACP leader shocks CNN: Police are ‘behind’ the Black Lives Matter shooting

Raeisha Williams, communications chair of the Minneapolis NAACP, told CNN that members of law enforcement were “behind” the Monday night shooting of Black Lives Matter protesters.

During an interview on Tuesday, CNN host Brooke Baldwin asked Williams to react to breaking news that two men had been arrested in connection to shootings that injured at least five people who were protesting the killing of Jamar Clark.

“We’re hearing two [arrests] at this time,” Williams explained. “But we don’t necessarily trust that. We know that the police department is behind this, this is our personal belief after receiving witness accounts.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Baldwin interrupted. “You said you believe the police department is behind what?”

“We believe the police department is facilitating the injustice, bullying the protesters,” Williams replied. “And we also believe that they’re involved in this shooting. We know from blackboards and chat rooms and also videos that we have posted on our website that police that are from different counties, police from different districts have come down to entice the protesters, have come down to bully the protesters.”

Baldwin, who was broadcasting from Paris, noted that Williams had made “serious allegations” on national television.

“And we are standing behind it, we do not back down from these allegations,” Williams insisted.

“Where is your evidence that they were involved in the shooting?” Baldwin pressed.

According to Williams, police were “lurking” near the shooting and then refused to provide help to the injured protesters.

“This is what you’ve been wanting,” she recalled one of the officers saying.

“It took 15 minutes for the police to even arrive and shortly after that, they began to Mace the crowd,” Williams said. “So if you’re not part of the problem, if this is not something you’re trying to cover up, why would you not attend to victims who paid for your salaries?”

Williams said that her group had “video evidence of an undercover cop getting into an unmarked car.”

“We believe — and we stand behind our belief — that the Minneapolis Police Department is not protecting us and therefore they stand with racist white supremacists who want to destroy a peaceful movement,” she concluded.

 

Police Arrest 2 in Minnesota BLM Shooting

The police apparently have arrested two suspects, although it isn’t clear whether they actually were involved in the shooting.

Minneapolis High School Students who had walked out to join march.

 

Police arrest two suspects in shooting of Minnesota Black Lives Matter protesters

Minneapolis police said on Tuesday they have arrested a 23-year-old white man and a 32-year-old Hispanic man in relation to the shooting of five people near a city police station where demonstrators have gathered for more than a week to protest the killing of an unarmed black man by officers.

The police said the younger suspect was arrested around 11:20 a.m. local time (1720 GMT) in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, while the older man was arrested in his vehicle about 45 minutes later in south Minneapolis.

“We are sparing no efforts to bring any and all those responsible to justice,” Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said after the first arrest. In an earlier video statement, she said she abhorred the attack on the demonstrators.

The police, however, have not yet confirmed a connection between the shooting and the protest. The police also said they will release the suspects’ names after charges are filed while the search for any additional suspects continues.

Police earlier said they were looking for three white male suspects in the shooting late on Monday. It occurred a block from the police station where protests have been held since the fatal Nov. 15 shooting of Jamar Clark, 24, Minneapolis police said in a statement.

None of the injuries in the Monday shooting were life-threatening and the wounded were taken to local hospitals.

The Black Lives Matter Minneapolis group protesting Clark’s killing said on its Facebook page that five unarmed protesters were shot by what it described as white supremacists who had been asked to leave the area and were followed out by protesters before they opened fire.

It is being reported that there is an email chain between white supremacists planning the shooting…

Emails reveal racists plotted confrontation with Black Lives Matters activists days before shooting

Three white men wearing bulletproof vests and covering their face with masks shot five Black Lives Matter protesters Monday night in Minneapolis — and some social media users are claiming the gunmen fired in self-defense.

The men, described by some witnesses as white supremacists, wounded five demonstrators shortly before 11 p.m. outside the city’s Fourth Precinct during an ongoing protest of the police shooting death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark.

Demonstrators say masked men wearing military-style clothing have been harassing them for days during the protests, and Black Lives Matter Minneapolis posted a video Friday of two men on their way to disrupt the protests.

White supremacists have discussed various strategies online for sparking confrontation at the demonstration, which they described as a “chimpout.”

“Do you know if the BLM n*****s are planning to protest again tomorrow, and if so, at what time?” one white supremacist asked in an email chain.

They agreed to wear camouflage clothing and display a four of clubs to identify each other, and the white supremacist agitators argued over whether they should carry guns or wear Guy Fawkes masks.

The white supremacist mocked “social justice warriors” and other anti-racist whites, who they described in psychosexual terms.

“Best to act as much like a beta white cuck as much as you can,” one the racists said.

The activists said groups of men had been appearing at the demonstration and “acting shady” since Friday, so they put together a “safety committee” to watch for potential agitators and escort them away from the protests.

That’s apparently what happened just before the shooting, when some of the protesters confronted three men, described by witnesses as two white men and possibly one Asian man.

Witnesses say the gunmen were trying to record demonstrators’ faces on cell phone video shortly before opening fire, and the two groups argued.

Then a group of protesters charged at the men and demanded they remove their masks, but witnesses said the men shouted back, “f*ck no,” and continued recording cell phone video.

A demonstrator, who spoke on camera with a mask covering his face, said one of the men was carrying a Black Lives Matter sign.

 

Minnesota Cop, Gun, and a Congressman’s Son

These poor Minneapolis Cops need a gun to defend themselves from a lone black kid with his hands up…Turns out the black kid in question happens to be the son of a Congressman.

More protests in Minneapolis over police shooting of Jamar Clark

Two people were arrested early Friday morning after dozens of people protested in front of the north Minneapolis police precinct Thursday night, close to where officers on Sunday shot and killed Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man. The controversy had spread through social media Thursday, after an image of a police officer pointing a weapon at U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison’s son Jeremiah at the protest went viral on Twitter.

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., said in a retweet of the image: “Photo is agonizing for me to see. My son is PEACEFULLY protesting w/ hands up; officer is shouldering gun. Why?”

Jamar Clark is the latest in a series of unarmed black people killed by police in the United States in recent years, fueling protests around the country and rekindling a national civil rights movement. The city’s 4th Precinct has been the center of protests since the shooting early Sunday morning.

On Thursday, Ellison said he supports protesters’ demands that investigators release video of the fatal shooting.

Last year, after a grand jury decided not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Keith Ellison had tweeted, “Worried for my sons.”

On Friday morning, th Minneapolis Police Department tweeted early Friday that two men were arrested on suspicion of felony damage to property. Police say they spray-painted walls and windows of a precinct building with profane messages during a protest.