Hennepin County Attorney's Office declines charges in violent Minneapolis arrest
Community activists are calling on two Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies to resign following the release of a video showing a violent arrest last month in Minneapolis.
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office announced on Monday the deputies involved in the arrest on Jan. 9 reported the suspect — a man who they say is a felon who had a firearm — resisted them, and they had properly documented their use of force.
Footage shows one of the deputies delivering multiple blows to the man's head while the other uses both arms to hold the man down.
The sheriff's office said the man was arrested and reports were submitted to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office for charging consideration for a "felon in possession of a firearm, including an extended magazine," as well as third-degree possession of a controlled substance.
Authorities say officers found a handgun with an extended magazine in the vehicle the man was driving.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office said in a detailed letter Friday that they have declined to issue charges against the man, and no one has asked the public firm to look into the deputy's use-of-force.
"No case regarding law enforcement's use-of-force has been submitted to our office and any analysis of its propriety falls outside the scope of this review," the attorney's office said in a written statement.
The sheriff's office says it's disappointed with the attorney's office decision.
"While we are disappointed that charges against the suspect were declined, we're committed to continuing the investigation of how the gun got into the hands of a person who is prohibited from possessing firearms," the statement said.
WCCO spoke on Tuesday with the man who filmed the arrest in a parking lot off East Franklin Avenue and 22nd Avenue South. He says the man involved is his 34-year-old neighbor. He started filming just moments after the deputies started to engage with him.
The neighbor says he stopped filming because he worried he'd become a target himself once police saw him with his phone out.
"They didn't see me so that's why I kind of snuck up the phone," the neighbor said. "I pulled it out so they could, I could see, you could see. We need to see who's doing that, where's the good people at and who ain't."
He said he didn't post the video until this week because he wanted to see his neighbor again and get his permission.
On Tuesday morning, the neighbor joined members of the Lion of Judah Armed Forces to call for the deputies' resignations and to demand a "thorough Investigation" and "proper accountability."
"This excessive force and its excessive use, this illegal and unlawful use that we continue to see, even that took place with George Floyd, we will not tolerate it within our community no more," said Nasiy Nasir X, national president Minnesota Lion of Judah Armed Forces. "These officers need to be held accountable. We are demanding that the Department of Justice do a full, thorough, independent investigation."
