George Floyd's killing: Justice department's report exposes racist face of Minneapolis Police

Over three years after Black US citizen George Floyd's last words 'Let me breathe' became a rallying cry against racism in the United States, it has been revealed that the police inMinneapolis routinely use excessive force and discriminate against Black and Native American people.

The exposé was made bythe US Justice Department on Friday after a two-year investigation prompted by the police killing of George Floyd. Shortly after the findings of the investigation were released,President Joe Biden, a Democrat, released a statement calling the report’s findings disturbing.

The president called on the Congress to pass reforms "that increase public trust, combat racial discrimination and thereby strengthen public safety."

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Federal oversight for Minneapolis police department

Minneapolis Police Department will now be placed under federal oversight that may potentially last for several years, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said while announcing the findings.

A consent decree will be signed between the Minneapolis police department and the Department of Justice, following whicha federal judge will oversee the city’s progress in reforming the police department.

George Floyd's killing: What does the report say on police's conduct?

The scathing 89-page report contextualised rampant abuse by the police force that was going on before Floyd’s murder by white former police officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes.

"We found that the Minneapolis Police Department routinely uses excessive force, often when no force is necessary, including unjust deadly force and unreasonable use of tasers,"Garland said at a press conference at the city’s federal courthouse.

The report found that officers frequently violated residents’ constitutional rights. They used potentially deadly neck restraints, since banned by the city, and shot at people in situations where there was no immediate threat.

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Other findings included officers frequently failing to intervene when they saw colleagues using excessive force, discriminating against people with behavioural health disabilities and unconstitutionally retaliating against protesters and journalists.

"We observed many MPD officers who did their difficult work with professionalism, courage and respect, but the patterns and practices we observed made what happened to George Floyd possible," Garland said at the press conference with Mayor Jacob Frey and other city officials.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division launched its investigation in April 2021 after Chauvin was convicted of murdering Floyd, a Black man, by kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck as he begged for his life before going limp.

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Floyd’s murder in May 2020, captured in a bystander’s cellphone video, sparkedprotests across the United Statesdecrying police brutality and racism in the criminal justice system.

Many in Minneapolis complained Chauvin’s excessive use of force against Floyd was not an exceptional case, but rather a commonplace practice of the city’s police officers abusing the rights of Black residents.

Garland said the investigation found that there were several incidents in which city police officers "were not held accountable for racist conduct" until there was a public outcry.

Chauvin, the former officer convicted on state charges for Floyd’s murder, later pleaded guilty to federal charges that he violated Floyd’s civil rights, and is serving a 21-year sentence in federal prison. Three other police officers involved in the arrest were also convicted on state and federal charges.

(With inputs from agencies)

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