The president of the Minneapolis police union has written to its members calling George Floyd a “violent criminal”, describing those protesting over his death as terrorists and criticizing the city’s political leadership for not authorizing greater use of force to stop the rioting.
Lt Bob Kroll, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, defended the four officers involved in Floyd’s death, including Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.
“What is not being told is the violent criminal history of George Floyd. The media will not air this. I’ve worked with the four defense attorneys that are representing each of our four terminated individuals under criminal investigation, in addition with our labor attorneys to fight for their jobs. They were terminated without due process,” said Kroll.
Kroll described the protesters as organized extremists. Kroll has also appeared at a campaign rally with Trump and called him a “wonderful president,” and has long been a road block to politicians seeking police reform in Minneapolis. He has called Minnesota AG Keith Ellison a terrorist for pushing to reform police.
Former police chief Janee Harteau condemned Kroll in a tweet and suggested that this same attitude blocked her attempt at reform in the Minneapolis police department.
This story was at The Guardian.