Minnesota Report
The debate on the State Senate floor yesterday, on a series of bills, SF 1 Sen Warren Limmer (R-34, Maple Grove) law enforcement training funding, SF 3 Sen Bill Ingebrigsten (R-08, Alexandria) Use of force reporting to the BCA, SF 104 (Limmer) Use of force policies (bans chokeholds/neck restraints, includes duty to intervene/report and the sanctity of life standard), SF 49 (Ingebrigtsen) Background checks for other police staff, and SF 5 (Ingebrigtsen) Police counseling support, constitute a large part of the Republican positions on changes in law enforcement in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder and protests.
The debate over a proposed amendment by Sen Foung Hawj (DFL-67, St Paul), the sole Hmong senator and refugee from Vietnam War, to curb police killings and brutality by shifting from Warrior training methods to Guardian training methods was met with complete rejection by the Republican controlled majority and three DFLers Senators Kent Eken (DFL-04, Twin Valley), Dan Sparks (DFL-27, Austin) and David Tomassoni (DFL-06, Chisholm) joined in this position.
During the debate, Ingebrigsten, a former County Sheriff, had the audacity to say, “Maybe this is just a Minneapolis problem,” as he said problems of this nature do not occur regularly in his community, which are clearly more homogenous. (White)
The key component in this discussion is happening in the House and is best rendered by Rep Rena Moran (DFL-65A, St Paul) requiring a change in policy for the use of deadly force from an “apparent” threat of death or harm to an “imminent” threat found in HF 01.
We expect the two sides will not find much to agree on and since the Republicans have made it clear they intend to adjourn Sine Die on Friday, Governor Tim Walz (DFL-MN) will need to call them back into Special Session later.
It looks like the election politics will be evident in all matters throughout the summer.