If you have been watching the news for the last week, you know that Minneapolis is currently dealing with an explosive situation.
Following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derick Chauvin, the city is dealing with riots, including violence, looting and fires.
It has now been revealed that while she served as the Hennepin County attorney in Minnesota, Klobuchar once declined to prosecute Derick Chauvin.
The Week reported:
Amy Klobuchar didn’t prosecute officer at center of George Floyd’s death after previous conduct complaints
Before she became a senator and a top contender for former Vice President Joe Biden’s vice presidential spot, Klobuchar spent eight years as the Hennepin County attorney, in charge of prosecution for Minneapolis. And while in that position, Klobuchar declined to prosecute multiple police officers cited for excessive force, and did not prosecute the officer who kneeled on Floyd’s neck as he protested, The Guardian reports.
Ex-Minneapolis police officer Derick Chauvin saw at least 10 conduct complaints during his 19-year tenure before he was fired Tuesday, according to a database that documents complaints against police. In particular, he was involved in the shooting death of a man who had stabbed other people before attacking police, as well as some other undisclosed complaints. Klobuchar did not prosecute Chauvin and other officers involved for the first death, which occurred in Oct. 2006 while she was running for Senate.
The case was under investigation when Klobuchar took office in the Senate in Jan. 2007, and later went to a grand jury, which declined to charge the officers. Chauvin was later placed on leave when he and other officers shot and wounded a Native American man in 2011.
As The Washington Post noted in March, Klobuchar “declined to bring charges in more than two dozen cases in which people were killed in encounters with police” as Hennepin County attorney. Instead, she “aggressively prosecuted smaller offenses” that “have been criticized for their disproportionate effect on poor and minority communities,” the Post continues.
And as Klobuchar undergoes vetting to become a possible vice presidential candidate, that track record is being scrutinized and criticized once again.
For the Democrat base, this is going to be pretty much disqualifying.
Soooo Amy Klobuchar’s Vice Presidential ambitions died today.
— Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) May 28, 2020
Have a hard time seeing Biden picking @amyklobuchar given the circumstances.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 29, 2020
This is so outrageous. The cop who killed #GeorgeFloyd literally could not have done it without Amy Klobuchar. https://t.co/CiJWginiYP
— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) May 28, 2020
That pretty much ends speculation about Klobuchar as VP.
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