AP-US-RACIAL-INJUSTICE-RIOT-CHARGE

Man pleads guilty to firing 13 times during Floyd protest

MINNNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Texas man who says he is affiliated the anti-government “boogaloo” movement has pleaded guilty to opening fire on a Minneapolis police station last year during unrest over the death of George Floyd. Ivan Harrison Hunter was accused of firing 13 rounds from a semi-automatic assault-style rifle on the Third Precinct police station while protesters were inside the building. The Boerne, Texas, man pleaded guilty to a federal riot charge. A judge ordered a presentence investigation. Floyd died in May 2020 after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. His death sparked protests around the world.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINNESOTA PRISONS

More prison inmates vaccinated than corrections employees

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Department of Corrections has been more successful getting inmates immunized against the coronavirus than it has for its own employees. As of this week, about 80% of prisoners in Minnesota have been fully vaccinated, while the immunization rate for corrections employees is just over 65% and at some prisons, it’s lower. Fewer than 60 percent of staff at Moose Lake and St. Cloud have gotten the shot. A new mandate took effect this month which requires all Minnesota state employees working in the office or on site to either be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing for COVID-19. Corrections officials say about 1,400 unvaccinated staff members are being tested on a weekly basis.

FATAL STORE SHOOTING

Guilty plea entered in fatal convenience store shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting a stranger at a Minneapolis convenience store during a brief encounter has pleaded guilty to murder. Thirty-three-year-old Chaz Stubblefield entered his plea Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court in connection with the death of 46-year-old Ryan Decker, of St. Cloud, outside the Stop N Shop earlier this year. According to the criminal complaint, on his way out of the store, Decker brushed Stubblefield, who then punched Decker in the back, followed him outside and accused him of uttering a racial epithet. After Decker denied the accusation, Stubblefield spit in his face and shot him.

POLICE REFORM-MARYLAND

Racial protests reckoning: Maryland police reform laws begin

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Several far-reaching laws aimed at boosting police accountability and transparency are set to take effect in Maryland this week. One of the laws going into effect Friday involves improving accountability in the investigations of deaths at the hands of police officers. Another will add transparency to the handling of misconduct complaints against officers. The laws are in response to protests against racial injustice that swept the country last year after George Floyd's death in police custody in Minnesota. Maryland's Democratic-controlled General Assembly approved the laws earlier this year.

AP-US-DAUNTE-WRIGHT-POLICING

City where Daunte Wright was killed enacts policing changes

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) — The Minneapolis suburb where Black motorist Daunte Wright was killed by an officer has enacted its first step in a plan to change policing in the city. Brooklyn Center announced Tuesday that officers are now instructed to release people who are cited for low-level crimes and only take them into custody if required by law. The policy also requires officers to attempt to deescalate situations. Mayor Mike Elliot says this is the first step in moving toward more equity in public safety. The citation policy is part of a city plan to change policing, introduced after Wright was killed in April by an officer who said she meant to use her Taser instead of her handgun.

AP-US-ENBRIDGE-LINE-3

Enbridge: Line 3 replacement complete; oil will flow Friday

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Enbridge says the upgrade of its Line 3 pipeline across Minnesota is “substantially complete” and that it will start filling with oil on Friday. The Canadian-based company's president and CEO, Al Monaco, said in a statement Wednesday that the pipeline “will soon deliver the low-cost and reliable energy that people depend on every day.” The project was completed despite stiff opposition from tribes, environmentalists and others that argued it violated treaty rights, would worsen climate change and would risk spills. They're vowing to keep fighting even though their legal options are fading. More than 900 people have been arrested or ticketed at protests along the route since construction began in December.

OBIT-INDIGENOUS FILMMAKER

Indigenous filmmaker's 'every breath' a fight for his people

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — An Indigenous filmmaker who helped draw worldwide attention to the concerns of Native Americans fighting an oil pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation has died. Myron Dewey was a citizen of the Walker River Paiute Tribe. He passed away Sunday after his car crashed in rural Nevada. The 49-year-old won acclaim for his footage of the 2016 demonstrations over the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Reservation, which straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border. His visuals of Native Americans being sprayed with water cannons in freezing weather were widely viewed. Dewey's work on the protests was part of a long career of chronicling Indigenous and environmental issues.

TASK FORCE SHOOTING-MINNEAPOLIS

Central Minnesota prosecutor reviewing Winston Smith death

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota prosecutor is reviewing evidence in law enforcement's fatal shooting of Winston Smith Jr. during an arrest. Crow Wing County Attorney Donald Ryan said he'll review the evidence on his own and hopes to have a charging decision by mid-October. Ryan said he was asked to take the case because counties closer to the Twin Cities had conflicts. Members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force shot Smith in June. Authorities have said Smith fired a gun, but a witness disputes that. Ryan said he’s had “a few” police deadly force cases in his decades as Crow Wing's top prosecutor and doesn't recall ever bringing charges.

News from © The Associated Press, 2021