A Reader Responds to “The Fall of Minneapolis”

[Note: I greatly enjoy getting comments from readers. Somehow, they are few and far between. Yet my November 18th blog, “The Fall of Minneapolis” racked up almost 2,000 views! So today, I am posting a fairly long response from a reader to my comments. In the meantime, let us all press on together towards the goal: a highly trusted, competent, and community supported police function.]

A Reader’s Comment on “The Fall of Minneapolis”

“Dear Mr. Couper: In 2020, Soon after the incidents, I spent many hours on the Internet, looking and searching for any and all videos pertaining to George Floyd arrest, and later Kyle Rittenhouse, in Kenosha. As I watched them, I would later try to go back and find the links such that I could reference them in various posts. Many had disappeared, and been wiped off the Internet.

“When I watched ‘The Fall of Minneapolis,” I rediscovered some of the clips which had been washed off YouTube.  I also wondered why various clips had been cut short in the documentary. I also wondered why other pertinent video clips did not make the cut and be placed in the video. Then, I realized the editors had to make difficult choices to shoot for the 90-minute normal documentary length.

“So in response to some of your points.”

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1) “Re: If an older white male was observed to be acting crazier than the other eccentric customers, and tried to pass off a fake $20, AND the police listened to the full story of the store clerk, yes… I think the officers would be on high alert as they approached the dark tinted windowed vehicle, with another observable large passenger, and not knowing who/what is in the back seat. This is one section where I thought more of the available video should have been shown, as the police spent more time with the clerk to obtain additional information, then was presented in the documentary film It would have provided support to what happened in #2

2)  “Knowing the suspect was acting erratic, the car having tinted windows, with a passenger not able to be seen completely, and unknowingly if someone is in the back seat, I expect the officer was on high alert.  The passenger was moving his hands over toward the passenger, instead of putting them on the steering wheel. This is where your professional experience is key.  I saw nothing wrong with the officer pulling his gun and trying to keep it out of sight of the suspect, but in sight of any potential passengers in the back seat. In your career, you normally talked with a normal voice to people who were tripped out on drugs, and had difficulty focusing?

3) “Again, I think you should watch the full body camera videos of his arrest. They were rather long, and the editors would have been insane to include them all. He was sitting against the wall of the store for a lengthy period of time. They gave him time to calm down, before they tried to stuff him in the back seat of the car. Based on my memory of all the tapes which I did see, I felt the officers did provide Procedural Justice.

4) “So true. But why not respected and supported?

5) “Absolutely!  I have even watched a video from the store across the street, from their security camera, when it was on YouTube.

6) “Optics – Societal optics   I thought tortuous, and suppression, but learned it was supposedly an acceptable practice in the police department, even though the Chief of Police denied it or something similar to it, had been part of the training. ESPECIALLY since Chauvin appeared to be nonchalantly on Floyd’s back. You think it is a slavery reminder. Your experience with black low income communities plays an important perception of the optics.

7). “I have been out of the U.S. too long.

8) “You eloquently stated what I felt where the documentary reached for sensationalism.

9) “I think this perspective has merit, but only explains part of the total picture.  ‘Enough is Enough’ also applied to being ‘2 months at home locked up,’ due to COVID. And due to COVID, were officers available to provide property damage protection, on the 2nd day of riots?

10) “Optics – political optics.  ‘LET THE RIOTS BEGIN’ Mn. and elsewhere!

11) “Totally agree with the concept.  Nobody around me could understand why a large, strong, subdued man wasn’t handcuffed, and allowed more room.  (See #6), BUT, I now know that hog-tying is not allowed.  Even for highly resistant individuals.

12) “No, justice was not served.  One, or two of the medical examiners lied!  Someone needs to have their license reviewed.  NO, justice was not served to the new recruits who were under training. 3 or 4 days on the job, and sentenced to 4 years for not intervening in a situation which they thought was legal? Yes, the wealthy, creative Midwest American city has lost its way. My friends are from the city itself, and say they will never go back.

13) “Absolutely not.  The trial stayed in Minneapolis for political reasons, and judicial reasons. If it went outside of Minneapolis, would it have gone to a federal court?  FBI were involved early on.

14) “Another section in which I felt the documentary fell on its face. I think some of the jurors would have been outed, and their lives would be in jeopardy, if they found they found the officer not guilty.  I was expecting a mistrial.

15) “I didn’t follow OJ. 

16) “’Eliminate the police,’ was a “tyranny of the minority” movement. I had mixed feelings about the ‘defund the police’ movement, until I learned it was actually ‘move the funds from the police to mental health issues.’ Implementation is key! Hopefully positive progress has been occurring from such a change.

17) “No knowledge to comment.

18) “’Mature leaders.’  America is full of trial and error experiments for improvement in society. Your key phrase jumped out at me, due to my observation of young leaders in important roles in Minneapolis. They are like morsels of meat for the politically experienced.

“One of the officers in the movie made a comment that his precinct (3rd?) was the best trained precinct in the U.S.  Of course pride plays a part of such a comment, but it still indicates a high level of professionalism.  The female precinct leader, was left out of the loop of information for some reason.  She also wasn’t perceptive enough to understand that historical material and lockers getting cleared out meant problems were coming her way, and she should get additional information, fast!

“Also, it is a documentary providing the other side of the untold story. Sure, the city officials are young, but how and why did they get their positions, should have been squeezed into the documentary.”

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Check out “Arrested Development: A Veteran Police Chief Sounds Off…”