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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on George Floyd's back while another officer kneeled on the Black man's neck was sentenced Friday to 3 1/2 years in prison. J. Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty in October to a state count of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. In exchange, a charge of aiding and abetting murder was dropped. Kueng is already serving a federal sentence for violating Floyd's civil rights, and the state and federal sentences will be served at the same time. Kueng appeared at the h...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Some leaders in states with strict bans on abortion say exceptions for rape or incest victims aren't needed because emergency contraceptives can be used instead. But medical professionals and advocates for rape survivors say that while emergency contraception is a helpful tool, it's not always foolproof, and getting access to these emergency measures in the short time in which they would be effective may not be realistic for someone who has just been assaulted. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Some leaders in states with strict abo...
Now that Roe v. Wade has been toppled, abortion opponents are taking a multifaceted approach in their quest to end abortions nationwide, targeting their strategies to the dynamics of each state as they attempt to create new laws and defend bans in courts. One anti-abortion group has proposed model legislation that would ban all abortions except to prevent the death of a pregnant woman. New legal frontiers could include prosecuting doctors who defy bans, and skirmishes over access to medication abortions already are underway. Others hope to get...
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced two former Minneapolis police officers who were convicted of violating George Floyd's civil rights to lighter terms than recommended in sentencing guidelines, calling one "truly a rookie officer" and describing the other as "a good police officer, father and husband." U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced J. Alexander Kueng to three years in prison and Tou Thao to 3½ years for violating Floyd's rights in the May 25, 2020, killing in which then-Officer Derek Chauvin pinned Fl...
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Judges temporarily blocked abortion bans Monday in Louisiana and Utah, while a federal court in South Carolina said a law restricting the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy would take effect there immediately as the battle over the fall of Roe v. Wade shifted from the nation's highest court to courthouses around the country. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Friday to end constitutional protection for abortion opened the gates for a wave of litigation, as one side sought quickly to put statewide bans into effect and t...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The issue of race was barely brought up during the trial of Kim Potter, a former suburban Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of manslaughter for killing Daunte Wright after she said she confused her handgun for her Taser. But Wright's family members and many activists say the killing of the 20-year-old Black motorist has always been about race, from the moment officers decided to pull him over, to the moment a judge gave Potter a two-year sentence, which family members decried as giving more consideration to the w...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kim Potter, the former suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for her Taser when she fatally shot Daunte Wright, was sentenced Friday to two years in prison. Wright's family denounced the sentence as too lenient and accused the judge of giving more consideration to the white officer than the Black victim. Potter was convicted in December of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the April 11 killing of Wright, a 20-year-old Black motorist. She was sentenced only on the more serious charge i...
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have rested their case against three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights. The prosecution rested Monday after nearly three weeks of testimony from bystanders, doctors, police officers and others. J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are accused of depriving Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, of medical care while he was handcuffed and facedown as Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck for 9 1/2 minutes. Kueng and Thao are also a...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis mayor imposed a moratorium on no-knock warrants Friday, two days after a SWAT team entered a downtown apartment and killed Amir Locke, a Black man who his parents said was "executed" after he was startled from a deep sleep and reached for a legal firearm to protect himself. Mayor Jacob Frey said the moratorium immediately stops warrants in which police do not announce themselves, and said he and police leadership will work with national experts to review and revise department policy on no-knock warrants. "...
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Prosecutors in the trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights accused the men Monday of standing by as fellow Officer Derek Chauvin "slowly killed George Floyd right in front of them." But one defense attorney countered that Chauvin called "all of the shots" as the senior officer at the scene and criticized the Minneapolis Police Department for doing too little to train officers to intervene when a colleague should be stopped. Another officer's attorney focused o...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Three former officers who were with Derek Chauvin during the arrest that led to George Floyd's killing are on trial on charges they violated the Black man's civil rights. In opening statements Monday, a prosecutor accused J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao of standing by as Chauvin "slowly killed George Floyd right in front of them." One defense attorney countered that Chauvin, the senior officer, called the shots that day. WHAT HAPPENED? Floyd, 46, died on May 20, 2020, after Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd's neck and p...
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A jury of 18 people who appeared mostly white was picked Thursday for the federal trial of three Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd's killing, a case that the judge told potential jurors has "absolutely nothing" to do with race. The jurors chosen to hear the case against former Officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Kueng appeared to include one person of Asian descent among the 12 jurors who would deliberate if no alternates are needed, and a second person of Asian descent among the six alternates, w...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright told jurors at her manslaughter trial on Friday that she "didn't want to hurt anybody" that day, saying during sometimes tearful testimony that she shouted a warning about using her Taser on Wright after she saw fear in a fellow officer's face. Kim Potter, 49, has said she meant to draw her Taser instead of her handgun during the April 11 traffic stop in Brooklyn Center when she killed Wright. She testified that she was "sorry it happened" and that she doesn't r...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin appears to be on the verge of pleading guilty to violating George Floyd 's civil rights, a move that would remove him from a federal trial but could significantly increase the amount of time he'll spend behind bars. A notice sent out Monday by the court's electronic filing system shows a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday for Chauvin to change his not guilty plea. These types of notices typically indicate a defendant is planning to plead guilty, though nothing will be o...
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — When he was acquitted of murder in shootings during unrest in Wisconsin, Kyle Rittenhouse went from staring at possible life behind bars to red-hot star of the right: an exclusive interview with Tucker Carlson and a visit with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago capped by a photo of both men smiling and snapping a thumbs-up. For Rittenhouse, a year of legal uncertainty over whether his claim of self-defense would stand up has given way to uncertainty over what's next. He told Carlson, in an appearance that spiked the host's r...
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — The jury began deliberating Tuesday at the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse after listening to dueling portrayals of him as a "wannabe soldier" who went looking for the trouble, or a concerned citizen who came under attack while trying to protect property. The case went to the anonymous, 12-member jury after Rittenhouse himself, in an unusual move, was allowed by Judge Bruce Schroeder to draw the numbered slips of paper from a raffle drum that determined which of the 18 people who sat in judgment during the trial would deci...
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Jurors heard starkly different portrayals of Kyle Rittenhouse — instigator or victim — in opening statements at his trial Tuesday on charges of shooting three people on the streets of Kenosha during a turbulent protest against racial injustice. A prosecutor said Rittenhouse set the bloodshed in motion when he triggered a confrontation with a man that night and then killed him with a bullet to the back. But Rittenhouse's attorney told the jury that his client acted in self-defense after the man tried to grab Ritte...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A decline in COVID-19 cases across the United States over the past several weeks has given overwhelmed hospitals some relief, but administrators are bracing for yet another possible surge as cold weather drives people indoors. Health experts say the fourth wave of the pandemic has peaked overall in the U.S., particularly in the Deep South, where hospitals were stretched to the limit weeks ago. But many Northern states are still struggling with rising cases, and what's ahead for winter is far less clear. Unknowns include h...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Four former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Tuesday at a hearing that could also address some pretrial motions. A federal grand jury indicted Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao in May for allegedly depriving Floyd of his rights while acting under government authority on May 25, 2020, as Floyd, 46, was held face-down, handcuffed and not resisting in a restraint that was captured on bystander video. His death led to w...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The teenager who pulled out her cellphone and began recording when she saw George Floyd being pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis police officer was given a special citation by the Pulitzer Prizes on Friday for her video that helped to launch a global movement to protest racial injustice. Darnella Frazier was cited "for courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality, around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists' quest for truth and j... Full story
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd's death is scheduled to make an initial appearance Tuesday in federal court to face charges alleging he violated Floyd's civil rights by pinning the Black man to the pavement with his knee. Derek Chauvin, 45, is scheduled to appear in federal court via videoconference from Minnesota's maximum-security prison in Oak Park Heights, where he's being held as he awaits sentencing following his April conviction on murder and manslaughter charges. The federal c...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The revelation that a juror who helped convict a former Minneapolis police officer in the killing of George Floyd had participated in a march in Washington, D.C., months before the trial is unlikely to affect that guilty verdict, experts say. But that's not always the case. Though rare, there have been cases in which convictions have been tossed out or reexamined after new information about a juror is discovered. Here's a look at the issue and what comes next: WHAT HAPPENED? After juror Brandon Mitchell spoke to the media a...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter for pinning George Floyd to the pavement with his knee on the Black man's neck in a case that touched off worldwide protests, violence and a furious reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S. Chauvin, 45, could be sent to prison for decades. The verdict set off jubilation around the city. People instantly flooded the surrounding streets downtown, running through traffic with banners. Cars blared their horns. Floyd family members wh... Full story
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — George Floyd died of a sudden heart rhythm disturbance as a result of his heart disease, a forensic pathologist testified for the defense Wednesday at former Officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial, contradicting prosecution experts who said Floyd succumbed to a lack of oxygen from the way he was pinned down. Dr. David Fowler, a former Maryland chief medical examiner who is now with a consulting firm, said the fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system, and possibly carbon monoxide poisoning from auto exhaust, were c...
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors' case against former Officer Derek Chauvin drew toward a close Monday with tender memories from George Floyd's younger brother, along with another look at the harrowing video and testimony from a use-of-force expert who said no "reasonable" officer would have done what Chauvin did. Seth Stoughton, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, judged Chauvin's actions against what a reasonable police officer in the same situation would have done, and repeatedly found that Chauvin did not meet t...
