Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today (June 7th) upgraded charges against the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck and charged the other three officers at the scene with aiding and abetting murder.
“So this has been a clear feature of black life in America, and everybody knows it,” Mr. Ellison said of the police brutality last week. “Every parent knows it. And yet it is this problem that seems to be ever-present and never quite goes away. People think over time this will stop. No. No, it won’t.”
Keith Ellison is the first African American and the first Muslim American to be elected to statewide office in Minnesota. He was also the first Muslim member of Congress when he was elected in 2002. His national profile grew when he ran against Tom Perez in 2017 to become chair of the Democratic National Committee. Ellison was named deputy chair after conceding to Perez and resigned from that position and Congress in 2018 to run for state attorney general. {per National Law Journal}
The National Law Journal provides more background on AG Keith Ellison:
– He has a background in civil rights law
Ellison began his career with Lindquist & Vennum—which later merged with Ballard Spahr—where he focused on civil rights litigation. He then became executive director of the Legal Rights Center in Minneapolis for five years. “As the leader of this public-interest law firm, he oversaw a team of attorneys focused on delivering justice for Minnesotans who had nowhere else to turn,” Ellison’s official state biography reads.
– Ellison has made instances of deadly police force a public priority as attorney general
He and state Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington last year announced a working group on those fatal police encounters and earlier this year unveiled recommendations on how to prevent deadly police violence. The COVID-19 pandemic had prevented state legislators from considering those proposals, but the national outcry over Floyd’s death could put renewed focus on the recommendations. “It’s time to put those things into place so that we can have meaningful change,” Ellison told The Nation. He also overseen similar groups on hate crimes and drug pricing.
– Ellison is among the Democratic state attorneys general challenging the Trump administration in court
Minnesota’s top prosecutor is representing the state in a number of lawsuits challenging policies implemented during President Donald Trump’s presidency. Ellison has gone to court over immigration and health care policies and is also among the Democratic state attorneys general opposing a Trump-backed GOP lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act at the U.S. Supreme Court. “When the federal government refuses to protect Minnesotans’ health and lives, it’s my duty to step in,” Ellison said in a statement last month. “It’s why I’ve been part of the coalition defending the ACA from the start and why I’ll use every tool I have to fight for them in the Supreme Court and in every court.”
