When Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar was a presidential candidate, there were questions about her history as a county attorney. There were concerns that she hadn’t been firm enough in prosecuting police misconduct and overzealous in prosecuting minor infractions that targeted minority communities.
And now the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police officers has brought those decisions to the forefront. Why?
Because one of the officers that she didn’t prosecute for excessive force was the officer with his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck.
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
Ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek 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 in the first death, which occurred in October 2006 while she was running for Senate. The case was under investigation when Klobuchar took office in the Senate in January 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.
I would suggest that Senator Klobuchar voluntarily remove herself from consideration for the Democratic Vice-Presidential nomination…and if not…Joe Biden should drop her from consideration. At this point, she would be a negative on the ticket giving opponents a target for sniping and another reason for tepid supporters of Mr. Biden to stay home. But it would really be better if she fell on her own sword.
[full disclosure: Senator Klobuchar was one of five candidates on my short list for the presidential nomination…Joe Biden was not.]
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