Rep. Ilhan Omar: “These Findings Are Shocking, But Sadly, Not Surprising”

Last Friday (6/16/23) the findings of the U.S. Justice Department two-year investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) were released. They show that for years the MPD routinely engaged in a pattern of racist and abusive behavior.

I appreciate the words of my congressional representative Ilhan Omar (right) on the DOJ’s findings.

This is a dark day for our city. These findings are shocking, but sadly, not surprising. What’s worse, the report finds that many of the violations – such as the widespread failure to report race and gender in stops – increased after George Floyd’s murder in 2020. As a Black woman living in Minneapolis, I have experienced some of these violations firsthand.

We must demand a public safety system built on data and trust, not fear and racism. We must recognize that we cannot prosecute and incarcerate our way to sustainable public safety, that building that trust requires that we address the system that allows racial discrimination – from the disproportionate arrest and incarceration rates Black and Brown people face, to the marijuana laws that criminalize Black and Brown people.

We need to act at the federal level, including by passing my Amir Locke End Deadly No Knock Warrants Act, my package of bills making police violence against protesters a federal crime (among other provisions), and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. And most of all, we must build a police force that is well-trained, held accountable by its leadership, and follows the highest standards of ethics and conduct.

– Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
Excerpted from Brett Wilkins’ article,
“Calls for Systemic Transformation of U.S. Policing Follow
Damning DOJ Report on Minneapolis Police Department”
Common Dreams
June 17, 2023

Related Off-site Links:
Feds Slam Minneapolis Police Department Over Years of Racism and Excessive Force – Jon Collins (MPR News, June 16, 2023).
Investigation Shows Minneapolis Police Show Pattern of Violating Rights, Attorney General Merrick Garland Says – Steve Karnowski and Jim Salter (PBS NewsHour, June 16, 2023).
Department of Justice Finds Minneapolis Police Had a Pattern of “Unconstitutional Policing” – Martin Kaste and Don Gonyea (NPR News, June 17, 2023).
8 Takeaways From the Justice Department Probe of Minneapolis Police – MPR News (June 17, 2023).


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:

POLICE BRUTALITY
• Rallying in Solidarity with Eric Garner and Other Victims of Police Brutality
• In Minneapolis, Rallying in Solidarity with Black Lives in Baltimore
• “Say Her Name” Solidarity Action for Sandra Bland
• “We Are All One” – #Justice4Jamar and the 4th Precinct Occupation
• Nancy A. Heitzeg: Quote of the Day – March 31, 2016
• “This Doesn’t Happen to White People”
• Remembering Philando Castile and Demanding Abolition of the System That Targets and Kills People of Color
• Ken Darling: Quote of the Day – July 17, 2017
• “I Can’t Breathe”: The Murder of George Floyd
• He Called Mama. He Has Called Up Great Power
• Honoring George Floyd
• Out and About – Spring 2020
• A Very Intentional First Day of the Year
• Bearing Witness
• “And Still and All, It Continues”
• Remembering George Floyd on the First Anniversary of His Murder
• “This Has Got to Stop”
• Under Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry, “More Negligence and Suffering”
• Love, Justice, and Amir Locke
• “We’re Standing in the Place Where a Black Man Was Lynched in Public”
• Remembering Tekle Sundberg: “He Deserved to Live; He Deserved a Chance to Heal”
• Rashad Robinson: Quote of the Day – January 27, 2023


TRANSFORMING THE POLICE
• What It Will Take to Abolish the Police
• “An Abolitionist Demand”: Progressive Perspectives on Transforming Policing in the U.S.
• The Problem Is Ultimately Bigger Than Individuals. It’s Systemic
• Minnesota Governor Tim Walz: “We Need to Make Systemic Changes”
• “Let This Be a Turning Point”


REP. ILHAN OMAR
• Ilhan Omar: “The Coup Attempt on January 6th Was a Warning for What’s to Come If We Don’t Act”
• Ilhan Omar: Quote of the Day – October 28, 2021
• Hadas Thier: Quote of the Day – June 11, 2021
• Ilhan Omar: Quote of the Day – May 29, 2021
• Ilhan Omar: Quote of the Day – January 13, 2021
• Progressive Perspectives on the 2020 U.S. Election Results
• Rep. Ilhan Omar Responds to President Trump’s Authoritarian Threats
• Quote of the Day: Ilhan Omar – August 11, 2020
• Ricardo Levins Morales on the “Deepest Political Fault Line” Separating Democrats Ilhan Omar and Antone Melton-Meaux
• To Whom the Future of America Belongs
• Ilhan Omar: Stepping Into Her Power
• Ilhan Omar: Quote of the Day – April 13, 2019
• Progressive Perspectives on the Ilhan Omar “Controversy”
• Ilhan Omar on The Daily Show
• Juan Cole: Quote of the Day – February 11, 2019

Image: Photographer unknown.