Former senior police official sues Minneapolis for discrimination

Says the Star Tribune’s Libor Jany, “A former senior Minneapolis police official stripped of his rank after publicly questioning the MPD’s hiring practices has sued the city, alleging that the move was part of a pattern of discrimination he endured as an outspoken Black officer pushing for change within the mostly white department. Art Knight, who dropped from the rank of deputy chief to lieutenant, contends in the lawsuit that he was demoted as retaliation after he ‘continued to tell the truth about hiring and recruitment policies that have a disparate impact on minorities who want to become police officers.’”

For KARE-TV, Lou Raguse reports, “When someone out for early morning exercise found a human head posed on a Minneapolis park bench, an already disturbing case took an even darker turn. ‘It’s very mocking’, said forensic psychologist Dr. Michael Thompson, who evaluates accused criminals in his practice. Based on the details we know so far in the death of 36-year-old Adam Richard Johnson, Thompson believes the killer most likely was someone who knew him and killed him with rage. ‘Extreme rage. A great deal of emotion that went into the killing. But then killing wasn’t enough’, Thompson said.”

A story at MPR by Sheila Eldred says, “The sheer number of ticks may be forcing them to branch out into new habitats, Mayo Clinic parasitologist Bobbi Pritt theorizes. And, more of them appear to be carrying pathogens. Pritt’s lab tests tens of thousands of ticks; over the last three years, they’ve found that more and more of the ticks carry the bacteria that causes anaplasmosis, a disease that can cause headache, fever and chills and severe illness if treatment is delayed. It all adds up to more illness: tick-borne diseases are at an all-time high, with about 50,000 cases reported each year — and far more going unreported.”

The Star Tribune’s Tim Harlow and Paul Walsh report, “A driver died early Tuesday in a violent crash involving a Minneapolis police squad car in pursuit of a robbery suspect. Three vehicles, including the squad, were involved in the wreck, which happened about 12:30 a.m. at 41st and Lyndale avenues north in the Camden neighborhood, said Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder. Police were trying to catch a driver who was in a stolen vehicle believed to have been taken during a carjacking and linked to robberies at multiple businesses, Elder said. … The family of the man killed identified him as Leneal Lamont Frazier. Darnella Frazier, who filmed George Floyd’s murder and recently won an honorary Pulitzer, shared Tuesday evening on social media he was her uncle.”

A BringMeTheNews story says, “A flight scheduled from Florida to the Twin Cities was delayed by more than an hour because a passenger was not following face mask rules. Delta Air Lines 1769 was scheduled to leave Tampa International Airport for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at 1:26 p.m. central time Monday.  But instead of taking off as planned, the plane had to return to the gate, a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines told Bring Me The News. The reason was a ‘mask non-compliance issue with a passenger on board.’”

For The Independent, Clara Hill reports, “South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s attempt to score political points backfired on her when she inadvertently gave a nod to a former Democratic president. The South Dakota governor posted a side-by-side image on Twitter to make a point about how Joe Biden being in the White House had ruined their Independence Day festivities. In Ms Noem’s state, Mr Trump allowed a firework display to happen at Mount Rushmore for the first time in 11 years. The image on the top was Mount Rushmore lit up by a firework display with the caption ‘Trump’s America.’ This was juxtaposed with her family standing glumly with sparklers with the caption ‘Biden’s America.’ However, Twitter users quickly discovered that the fireworks picture was from 2015, a time when President Barack Obama was in office. She had also used the photo without crediting the owner.”