The Minnesota Supreme Court reversed a murder conviction Wednesday against former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor. The state’s first Somali-American cop — who was reportedly rushed through training by liberal city leadership — shot and killed Justine Ruszczyk in a 2017 tragedy that garnered international attention. Minnesota Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, penning the unanimous opinion, said evidence used to convict Noor of third-degree “depraved-mind” murder does not hold up against state law, which says depraved-mind murder only occurs when someone perpetrates an act “eminently dangerous to others” and “without regard for human life.” “The mental state necessary for depraved-mind murder is a generalized indifference to human life, which cannot exist when the defendant’s conduct is directed with particularity at the person who is killed,” reads the edict. “The only reasonable inference that can be drawn from the circumstances proved is that [Noor’s] conduct was directed with particularity at the person who was killed, and the evidence is therefore insufficient to sustain his conviction for depraved-mind murder.”
Law & Crime
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got a lot of buzz for the dress she wore at the 2021 Met Gala Monday evening. Many have called her out for the blatant hypocrisy of presenting such a message while hobnobbing with the super-rich at an event where the cost of an individual ticket was $30,000-$35,000. AOC tried to preempt the criticism in a tweet on Tuesday, shortly after midnight. “And before haters get wild flying off the handle, New York elected officials are routinely invited to and attend the Met due to our responsibilities in overseeing and supporting the city’s cultural institutions for the public. I was one of several in attendance in this evening,” But, the apparent hypocrisy of her message isn’t the only issue. As has been pointed out, AOC wasn’t alone at the Met Gala, she brought her boyfriend with her. So, that means AOC spent $60,000 just on the tickets for the event. Or did she? Members of Congress make $174,000+ in salary—which means that the tickets she needed to get into the event cost more than a third of her salary. How did she pay for the tickets? And then the dress on top of that?
This November there will be a referendum on the ballot in Minneapolis that would, in effect, destroy the Minneapolis Police Department. That is — if proponents of the effort can ever write ballot language that can pass muster with the courts. For the third time this month, a Hennepin County judge struck down ballot language on a proposal determining the future of Minneapolis policing. The issue will now likely go to the state supreme court where its future is far from certain. Hennepin County Judge Jamie Anderson wrote in her 17-page opinion, “The Court finds that the New Ballot Question does not ensure that voters are able to understand the essential purpose of the proposed amendment. It is unreasonable and misleading.” In fact, proponents of Yes4 Minneapolis, the group pushing the destruction of the police force, want the ballot language to be “unreasonable and misleading.” That’s the only hope they have of winning. No doubt the gangbangers, muggers, and rapists are looking forward to a “comprehensive public health approach” to safety. But the rest of Minneapolis citizens? Not so much.
We’re in the last days of this election and Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are still campaigning in a fact-free way, trying to use bogeymen to scare voters while not being challenged in their claims. Case in point, their constant refrain that Erin O’Toole and the Conservatives forming government will mean more shootings in our streets. If Canadian voters are worried about shootings and gun crime, they should be worried about re-electing a Liberal government. In fact, Sukhi Sandhu, one of the leaders of the anti-gang group Wake Up Surrey, takes issue with the way Trudeau is campaigning on gun violence. “What’s most disappointing is that the ashes of our youth who have been killed in gang violence have been used for political rhetoric and wedge politics,” Sandhu told me over the phone this week. Sandhu was a longtime activist in Liberal politics in British Columbia before leaving that role to work with Wake Up Surrey and push for better policies to end the gang violence. He said Trudeau has not shown leadership on this file and is stoking fear. While Trudeau loves to go on about going back to the Harper years, under his watch, gun crime has only gone up.
A quarter of Canadian households, 25%, own a firearm. Only 15% of Canadians surveyed rated gun-related violence “a major threat to public safety.” A total of 13% said it was “not at a threat at all.” More than a third of Canadians want a ban on hunting rifles and shotguns, a Liberal poll shows. Blacklock’s Reporter says Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s department commissioned the poll with those wanting the ban saying they were “not very or at all familiar” with firearms regulations. “Thinking each of these types of firearms should be illegal is lowest among those who indicate they are very familiar with firearms regulations in Canada, and highest among those not very or at all familiar,” wrote researchers. The findings are detailed in a March 24 report Firearms Public Awareness Research released yesterday. A quarter of Canadian households, 25%, own a firearm. Only 15% of Canadians surveyed rated gun-related violence “a major threat to public safety.” A total of 13% said it was “not at a threat at all.” More than a third, 39%, said rifles and shotguns should be illegal. Sixty-three percent said handguns should be banned.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that federal officers will in most cases be banned from using chokeholds and making unannounced entries when serving warrants. Barring situations where the use of deadly force is authorized, historic methods used by law endorsement officers to corral unruly subjects or to surprise potentially dangerous criminals through so-called “no-knock” warrants are banned effective immediately. The department said in a news release Tuesday that the changes were adopted following an internal review. “The Department of Justice today announced written department-wide policies explicitly prohibiting the use of ‘chokeholds’ and ‘carotid restraints’ unless deadly force is authorized, and limiting the circumstances in which the department’s federal law enforcement components are authorized to use unannounced entries,” the news release said. The changes, along with a newly implemented department-wide body camera policy, came following a review by Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the new policy for federal officers working under the DOJ in a statement issued with the department news release.