Report: Minneapolis police engaged in pattern of illegal racial discrimination

The Minneapolis Police Department has engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination in violation of the state's civil rights law over the past decade, enabled by several political administrations failing to hold problem officers accountable, according to a scathing report published Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

During a two-year investigation, the Human Rights Department found that Minnesota's largest police agency stops, searches, arrests, uses force against and kills people of color - especially Black people - at starkly higher rates than white people, according to the 72-page report.

Minneapolis police also created covert social media accounts - sometimes with no authorization - to surveil Black people and organizations unrelated to criminal activity. Some officers used these phony accounts to pose as community members and criticize public officials online, including a Minneapolis City Council member.

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-department-of-human-rights-to-release-civil-rights-findings/600168389/