Justice Department opens probe of Minneapolis police after Chauvin conviction
CBSN
Washington — Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday the Justice Department has opened a civil investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department's policing practices following the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd. Floyd's killing, caught on camera, shocked the nation and sparked widespread protests against police brutality.
In brief remarks from the Justice Department, Garland said the sweeping probe will determine whether the Minneapolis Police Department engages in a "pattern or practice" of unconstitutional or unlawful policing. The new civil investigation is separate from an ongoing federal criminal probe into Floyd's death from the Justice Department. While Garland praised the verdict rendered by the Hennepin County, Minnesota, jury Tuesday, he said it "does not address potentially systemic policing issues" in Minneapolis.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.