Daily Digest: Minneapolis police shoot man in city hall
Good morning and welcome to Tuesday. Here's the Digest.
1. A man was injured after a police shooting inside Minneapolis City Hall Monday afternoon. Police chief Medaria Arradondo said Minneapolis police personnel were interviewing the man, and then left him alone in a room. "And he began injuring himself with an edged weapon. After attempting to subdue the adult male subject, officers discharged their weapons," Arradondo said. The man was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center. He was reportedly in critical condition Monday night. Multiple officers were involved, they were not injured and are on standard leave. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will investigate the shooting. (MPR News)
2. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman apologized Monday for publicly blaming the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for not doing its job investigating the shooting death of Justine Ruszczyk by a Minneapolis police officer. Freeman told a group of union members Wednesday that he does not have enough evidence to decide yet whether he'll file charges against Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, and he blamed "investigators." While he did not specifically name the BCA in the remarks recorded by the union members, Freeman directed his apology Monday to the BCA. He that he apologized personally to Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mona Dohman, who oversees the BCA. He also said that he would share more information next week on the question of whether he intends to charge Noor in the shooting. (MPR News)
3. Will Al Franken take back his resignation? Not likely. Transition plans for one of Minnesota’s U.S. Senate seats are moving ahead despite talk in Washington that Democrat Al Franken could yet change his mind about resigning, in part because he has yet to give a date or a letter providing for his formal exit. A story in Politico says four senators contend Franken was pressured to leave too hastily and he should consider rescinding his planned resignation. Franken has announced he would resign in the face of multiple allegations of sexual impropriety, some of which he denied. A top Franken aide told MPR News Monday afternoon the senator has not changed his plans to resign. (MPR News)
4. Another one of the senators named by Politico is now on the record. Sen. Patrick Leahy now says he was too hasty in calling for Franken to resign following allegations of sexual harassment. The senior Vermont senator said Monday that his fellow Democrat should have been allowed to go through an ethics investigation. "I have stood for due process throughout my years as a prosecutor and in chairing the Judiciary Committee," Leahy said in a statement provided by his office. "I regret not doing that this time. The Ethics Committee should have been allowed to investigate and make its recommendation." Leahy was cited but unnamed sources in the Politico story, but only West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin was quoted in the original report. (Burlington Free Press)
5. Lots of questions remain about the tax overhaul in Washington. The largest revision of the tax code since 1986 is moving rapidly as the U.S. Senate and House try to pass legislation this week and have President Donald Trump sign it into law by year’s end. Voting could start as soon as Tuesday. Under the proposal, businesses whose owners pay taxes based on their individual tax rates will get a break from reductions in individual rates and tax brackets and a plan that lets them write off 20 percent of their business income. The tax bill will temporarily cut individual tax rates by 1 to 3 percent, change tax brackets and increase child tax credits, all moves that will decrease many Americans’ tax bills until those benefits expire at the end of 2025. The speed with which the bill is moving has generated concern among some Minnesotans that the bill’s effect will be lost on the people most affected. (Star Tribune)
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