Recovered history: There are more bad cops in Minneapolis

Gray Zone, 2016 - The head of the Minneapolis Police Officer’s Federation has claimed that activists from the city’s Black Lives Matter movement comprises a “terrorist organization.” But a closer look at Lieutenant Bob Kroll’s record indicates that he is the one who poses a danger to the public, with a past marred in accusations of racist violence and attitudes, including charges from fellow police officers that he once wore a “white power” badge on his motorcycle jacket.

... He made the remarks in reference to public outrage and protest over white police officers’ killing of unarmed 24-year-old African-American man Jamar Clark on November 15, 2015. Clark was shot by police in the head while, according to several witnesses, he was handcuffed. The Department of Justice announcement on Wednesday that it will not bring civil rights charges against the officers involved, Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze.

... Last November, alleged white supremacists opened fire at a Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis, wounding five people—two of them seriously.

And in February, a St. Paul police officer Jeff Rothecker was forced to resign after he was caught encouraging drivers to run over Black Lives Matter protesters slated to gather for a Martin Luther King Day mobilization. In comments posted to Facebook, which were later deleted, Rothecker stated, “Run them over. Keep traffic flowing and don’t slow down for any of these idiots who try and block the streets.”

Wednesday’s press conference was not the first time Kroll has issued inflammatory statements against the Black Lives Matter protesters. Last year he told a local media outlet that the protests were “like the local version of Benghazi.” He declared, “these people need to be cleared out, arrests need to be made.”

... Kroll appears to have a penchant for levying baseless smears of terrorism. Witnesses say that, in 2007, Kroll called Keith Ellison—an African-American and then the only Muslim in the U.S. House of Representatives—a “terrorist.” The accusation forced then MPD Chief Tim Dolan to send a letter to the entire police department apologizing. “The alleged comments, if they in fact occurred, are unacceptable,” the chief reportedly wrote. “[C]alling Representative Keith Ellison a terrorist is a prejudicial statement.”...

... As far back as 1995, Kroll was accused of beating and kicking the groin a 15-year-old child of mixed race while hurling racial slurs. (He was eventually cleared by a federal jury). In 2002, Kroll was involved in a brutal raid on the home of a Native-American family which resulted in a lawsuit that the city settled for $60,000. “The residents alleged that he was among a dozen officers who beat and humiliated them throughout the course of a three-hour search, which included grabbing a pregnant woman out of the shower,” wrote City Pages reporter Susan Du.