Bob CollinsSince last November’s police killing of Jamar Clark, perhaps you’ve seen a recurring theme in the public discourse: ‘But he was beating up his girlfriend; why isn’t anyone paying attention to that?’ Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Crime and Justice
Candice Egan, who was subbing at Creative Arts school in St. Paul, went to the Pioneer Press with her story last Friday after the incident. Read more →
A report out of Fargo today says a SWAT team was ready to use an odd approach to end a shooting spree in which a police officer was killed. It considered encouraging the shooter, Marcus Schumacher, to kill himself.
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We need a road map forward. We need an acknowledgement that the pain and division so articulately stated on Weber’s call-in yesterday is the sound of a nation that cannot long endure.
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With so much activist and media attention focused on Jamar Clark, there’s been little energy left for the community to wonder why John Birkeland of Roseville had to die because he once gave a wrong name to police. Read more →
Not long after the attack on the airport in Brussels, a familiar theme emerged in some media: Why don’t attacks whose victims aren’t white get as much coverage.
Today, an editor for The Guardian provided a stark answer: You probably don’t care about those. Read more →
Now that the snow is gone and the ice is out on the state’s lakes, a fact of Minnesota life has been confirmed again: Ice fishermen are pigs. Read more →
There’s risk everywhere. How do you decide which is worthy of your taking cover? Read more →
It’s compelling video that leads us — again — to ask: Is there ever a time to put the camera down?
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By now, you’ve probably heard the story of the 11-year-old boy who stole a cement truck in Dodge Center over the weekend and went on a joyride. Apparently, the driver had left his keys in the truck. Read more →
Could airports require a new checkpoint just to get into the buildings now? Read more →
Streaming video coverage from Europe. Read more →
Even people who are only casually familiar with the Constitution know that for the most part, police need a search warrant to enter a home. But what if the person they’re looking for is at someone else’s home?
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A commenter on the Minnesota State Patrol’s Facebook page asks a very good question today: Who hits a bald eagle and just drives away? Read more →
Fifty-three years ago today, a poor man who had been charged with breaking into a pool hall had his conviction overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Clarence Earl Gideon didn’t have a lawyer when he was tried. Read more →