As expected, a federal judge today granted the United States’ motion to dismiss its consent decree against the City of Minneapolis.
In the filing, the court states:
“The Court has grave misgivings about the proposed consent decree serving the public interest.”
The document adds that the consent decree is “superfluous” due to the city and Minneapolis Police Department entering into an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
Last week, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said they will continue with reform measures despite the dismissal.
The original federal consent decrees between the Biden Administration's Justice Department with Minneapolis and also Louisville called for an overhaul of their police departments following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Those killings became the catalyst for nationwide racial injustice protests in the summer of 2020.
“It’s our view at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division under the Trump administration that federal micromanagement of local police should be a rare exception, and not the norm,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, the new leader of the division, told reporters last week.
The Justice Department announced its decision just before the five-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, something Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he didn't believe was a coincidence.
"It's not at all surprising that they chose this week, and so do we have concerns about what the Trump administration is going to do next? Of course we do, but I don't think they know what's gonna happen next," Frey said Wednesday.
Then-officer Derek Chauvin used his knee on May 25, 2020, to pin Floyd to the pavement for 9 1/2 minutes in a case that sparked protests around the world and a national reckoning with racism and police brutality.