Dem Sen Klobuchar taking major heat for failing to prosecute cop Derek Chauvin for death of Native American

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Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s chances of becoming Joe Biden’s running mate just took what some are calling a fatal blow.

The Democratic senator from Minnesota, who was reportedly in the running to be the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee’s vice-presidential pick, has found herself thrust into the center of the firestorm resulting from the death of George Floyd.

Klobuchar, who was a prosecutor for eight years with responsibility for Minneapolis, which is where the incident involving a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck took place, is under fire or not prosecuting cases of alleged police misconduct.

As Hennepin County attorney, there were multiple cases where Klobuchar declined to prosecute officers cited for excessive force, to include police officer Derek Chauvin, the cop captured on video with his knee on Floyd’s neck, The Washington Times reported.

Turns out Chauvin, who was fired Tuesday, has had multiple complaints filed against him — a total of at least 10 conduct complaints during his 19-years as a police officer, to include Chauvin being involved in a fatal shooting of a stabbing suspect in October 2006, when Klobuchar functioned as Minneapolis’ district attorney, according to the Times.

Klobuchar referred the shooting to a grand jury, which ultimately declined to indict Chauvin.

There was also an incident in 2011, after Klobuchar had been elected to the Senate, where Chauvin and other officers reportedly shot and wounded a Native American man — the former police officer was reported and placed on a standard three-day leave after the incident.

The newspaper cited a database that documents complaints against police kept by a private group, Minneapolis’ Communities United Against Police Brutality.

There was also a 2008 domestic disturbance call.

More from NBC News:

According to police, Ira Latrell Toles, 21, was holed up in a bathroom and tried to escape when Chauvin got inside. When Toles refused to obey Chauvin’s order to get down, police said, a struggle began and Toles grabbed for Chauvin’s weapon.

Chauvin fired twice, hitting Toles in the abdomen, the Pioneer Press newspaper of St. Paul reported. Toles was taken to the hospital and survived.

 

Under the headline, “Minneapolis Man: Cop Who Kneeled on George Floyd ‘Tried to Kill Me’ in 2008,” The Daily Beast reported that Chauvin “barged into his home and beat him up in the bathroom before shooting him in the stomach.”

“The officer that killed that guy might be the one that shot me,” Toles texted his sister on Tuesday night, according to messages shared with The Daily Beast. “They said his last name and I think it was him.”

“It’s him,” his sister instantly replied.

 

Adding to the criticism against Klobuchar, The Washington Post reported that three black people were killed by Minneapolis police in 2002, including an incident where a man died after being put in a chokehold.

Again, Klobuchar declined to bring charges against the officers, and a grand jury she convened did not indict them.

More from the Post:

As chief prosecutor for Minnesota’s most populous county from 1999 to 2007, Klobuchar declined to bring charges in more than two dozen cases in which people were killed in encounters with police.

At the same time, she aggressively prosecuted smaller offenses such as vandalism and routinely sought longer-than-recommended sentences, including for minors. Such prosecutions, done with the aim of curbing more serious crimes, have had mixed results and have been criticized for their disproportionate effect on poor and minority communities.

 

Yet, Klobuchar added her name, along with members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation, to a letter sent to U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman that “called for accountability for George Floyd’s death.”

Chauvin has retained attorney Tom Kelly, the lawyer who represented St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez, who was acquitted in 2017 for the shooting death of Philando Castile in nearby St. Paul, CBS News Minnesota reported.

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