Minneapolis releases body cam video of Blevins shooting

Thurman Blevins
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Thurman Blevins

MPR’s story on the release of body cam video of the shooting of Thurman Blevins says: “The footage shows officers Justin Schmidt and Ryan Kelly in their squad, driving and looking for a man in a tank top who was reported to be shooting a handgun in the air. They appear to spot a man matching the description. One officer says he sees a gun and both begin pursuing Blevins on foot, down the street and into a north Minneapolis alley. … He continues to run as Officer Schmidt orders him to drop his gun. An enhanced video released by the city appears to show a gun in Blevins' hand when officers open fire. After Blevins has been shot, the footage shows officers kick what appears to be a gun away from his body.” 

In the Star Tribune, Paul Walsh says, “The release of the video so soon after the shooting comes as police departments in the Twin Cities and beyond cope with public backlash over the shooting of men of color during encounters with officers. In this and other shootings, activists have demanded rapid release of police bodycam video, believing the images will reveal that officers are too quick to shoot suspects.” 

I am just so surprised this guy was not paying taxes. The Star Tribune's Randy Furst reports, “Few Minnesota lawyers in the past decade have found themselves so frequently on the wrong side of the law as William Bernard Butler. The 54-year-old Minneapolis attorney has been denounced by federal and state district judges, sanctioned and held in contempt for filing frivolous lawsuits over house foreclosures, then failing to pay the fees and fines when he was sanctioned. … But Butler may be facing his biggest legal problem yet. Despite earning hundreds of thousands of dollars while he still had a law license, Butler has not paid his income taxes since 2010, according to the Minnesota Department of Revenue.” 

Baseball factory. The Pioneer Press’ Dane Mizutani writes: “Jack Morris took center stage on Sunday afternoon with more than 50,000 fans in front of him and a pair of St. Paul baseball legends behind him. While it’s arguable which of the two made him more nervous on this particular day, Morris said he couldn’t be prouder to be joining Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor as St. Paul natives in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. ‘I’m thrilled to join them both in Cooperstown as the third hall of famer from St. Paul,’ Morris said late in his induction speech. The three were born within five years of each other and within a few miles of each other.”

Yeah, let’s not go getting all crazy. Says Maya Rao fo the Strib, “The push to implement what supporters have dubbed “Medicare for All,” which counts U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota as a high-profile backer, threatens to divide the party as Democrats try to win control of Congress in the midterm elections and build a more cohesive policy platform that goes beyond opposition to President Donald Trump. Ellison was among more than 60 House members who launched a Medicare for All caucus last week in Washington, a sign the policy is gaining momentum in Democratic ranks. At a single-payer conference last month, Ellison raised the idea that fellow Democrats who don’t get on board should pay a political price.” 

Are you ready for some facts? On St. Paul’s $15 minimum wage debate, Frederick Melo of the PiPress reports, “It’s a frequent refrain among advocates and opponents of a $15 minimum wage: Just look at the studies. … One problem with looking at studies of a $15 minimum wage: None exist. Sure, there’s plenty of conjecture based on preliminary data, including rival studies that have come to largely contradictory conclusions on the Seattle experience to date. But no city other than San Francisco, which reached $15 on July 1, has rolled out a $15 minimum wage, at least not in full — not even Seattle, which inspired ‘Fight for $15’ efforts coast to coast when it passed new wage laws in June 2014. Citywide, employers there won’t be required to pay $15 per hour until the year 2021.” So you’re saying what I “feel” is not a fact?

Zone coverage. Stribber James Walsh writes, “Eager to enliven the nightlife around the new Minnesota United soccer stadium, St. Paul leaders are ready to allow more bars and nightclubs. … City officials are proposing as many as 12 small entertainment zones — called commercial development districts — along University Avenue. The goal is to draw more consistent crowds to area businesses than the 25,000 or so expected to show up to Allianz Field on Minnesota United game days.”

Prime time. A trio of MPR reporters write: “The prime minister of Ethiopia made international headlines earlier this month as he advanced a peace deal with the neighboring nation of Eritrea, a longtime rival. In his first few months in office, Abiy Ahmed also has promoted human rights and economic reforms within his country. Last week he visited Washington, where Vice President Mike Pence congratulated him on ‘historic reform efforts.’ And on Monday, he's scheduled to speak in Minneapolis. The visit to the Twin Cities has spurred excitement in Minnesota's large Ethiopian community.”

It's Soucheray vs. St. Paul’s coyotes. “A 2-year-old is often in my charge,” writes the PiPress columnist. “I am reasonably confident that if I turned my head for a moment or two and she got into the clutches of a mangy, hungry coyote, I would be in big trouble. That’s why I wanted to know whether [animal control supervisor Molly] Lunaris had small children. No one I know in St. Paul is pleased with the increase in coyotes and no one I know knew that we had an animal-control supervisor with such an unrealistic grasp of reality.”



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