Recent content from Andy Mannix

How did Kid Cann become Minneapolis' most infamous gangster?
Isadore "Kid Cann" Blumenfeld rode Prohibition to wealth and influence in the city.

After three violent years, crime is dropping in Minneapolis
Violent crime — murder, aggravated assault, rape and robbery — is down 12% overall from last year to its lowest point of the 2020s so far, the data show. Only a record-breaking surge in auto thefts bucks the pattern.

Police press search for 'multiple suspects' connected to weekend mass shooting in Mpls.
Eight people, including six teenagers, were injured in the shooting.

Twin Cities man accused of using sexual fetish as pretext for abuse pleads guilty in Fla. case
Ehsan Karam, whose story was featured in a Star Tribune investigation, has faced accusations of assault from several other women in the world of bondage, dominance, submission and sadomasochism.

Police: Shooting that wounded two children in Minneapolis was not random
"This shooting does not appear to be random," police said. They do not consider the wounds to be life-threatening.

As St. Paul reins in car thefts, Minneapolis faces record surge
About 4,700 vehicles were reported stolen across Minneapolis so far this year, averaging 24 a day — a 70% increase from this time last year.
DNA from disposable cup leads to charges in 1984 Minneapolis murder
Matthew Russell Brown, 66, is charged with murder and burglary for the slaying.
Authorities identify Canadian scuba diver found dead in St. Louis County
Justin James Cyril Swan's diving partner pulled him out of the water, but lifesaving efforts were not successful, according to authorities.

MPD chief: I 'could have been clearer' in comments about officer's stun-gun incident
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara responded to emails showing he knew about the officer's past assault accusations before hiring him.
Charges: Minneapolis man shot and killed rival after seeing him with ex-girlfriend on July 4
Ryan Deshawn Taylor, 41, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

Minneapolis police chief says he never saw video of new hire's use of force
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara issued a statement Sunday in response to emails that show the Police Department (MPD) and city officials knew about an…

Emails show MPD knew about stun gun incident before hiring officer
The emails show officer Tyler Timberlake informed the city seven months before Chief Brian O'Hara said he had just learned about it.
National Guardsman who shot live ammo at driver during 2020 Minneapolis unrest is cleared of wrongdoing
Body-cam footage and investigative reports documenting the chaotic incident were recently made public.

Mpls. police 'separate' with officer accused of assaulting unarmed man in previous job
Tyler Timberlake no longer works for the Minneapolis Police Department as of Wednesday.

Minneapolis can't break up police union, state board rules
The city didn't meet the criteria to sever sergeants and lieutenants from the Police Officers Federation, the ruling said.

Minneapolis poised to pay $275K to man who said police beat him, lied about informant
Felony drug charges against Andre Moore were dismissed after his public defenders unraveled what a judge called "a reckless disregard for the truth" on the part of the officer.
Derrick Thompson appears in court on charges of killing 5 people in reckless crash
Thompson made his first court appearance Friday at the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility in downtown Minneapolis.
What happens after a police consent decree? Other cities provide lessons for Minneapolis
Consent decrees address systemic problems in police departments, but success isn't guaranteed.

Justice Dept. to present results of investigation into Mpls. police Friday
The city has long been bracing for the results of the investigation, prompted by the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

Minneapolis police systemically fail in response to domestic violence calls, study finds
The report recommends the Minneapolis Police Department adopt or sharpen policies to close response gaps that put victims in greater danger.

After her daughter died in a chain used for sexual roleplay, a mother set out to find justice
Police found Heather Mayer dead in her boyfriend's basement. The circumstances of her death remain a mystery. But as her mother began digging for the truth, more women came forward with allegations of assault in the Twin Cities bondage community.

Year after Biden's order on body cameras, majority of federal agents in Minnesota aren't wearing them
The Justice Department says they are phasing in cameras. Critics say it's already been too long.
Lorraine Palmer Rybak Mesken dies at 95; she had 'true grit' in face of adversity
The longtime Minneapolis resident, small-business owner, college counselor for Breck School and mother of former Mayor R.T. Rybak was known for her relentless optimism.
Minneapolis police respond to fights at DFL convention
Video shows supporters of Minneapolis City Council candidate Nasri Warsame shout and rush the stage, ending the convention without a candidate endorsement.
Man dead after high-speed crash in north Minneapolis
Minneapolis police say the man appears to have crashed into a tree while driving at high speed.
Driver veers into oncoming traffic on Hwy. 52, fatally crashes into dump truck
A portion of the highway near Vermillion Township was closed Saturday.

Pentagon emails show Guard preparing hours before Third Precinct burned
The emails, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, underscore questions of why the Guard wasn't deployed to the scene of the 2020 riots earlier.

NAACP sues Minneapolis over police spying allegations
The lawsuit quotes heavily from a Minnesota Department of Human Rights charge, which said police spied on the NAACP and other Black community members without doing the same for white groups. The city has denied the allegations.

Metro leaders say surplus aid could help recruit more police officers
Gov. Tim Walz has proposed spending $550 million of a budget surplus on public safety improvements for local agencies.

Ex-MPD union head Bob Kroll can't police in 3 metro counties under settlement
Lawsuits accused Minneapolis police of unconstitutional brutality in response to demonstrations following the death of George Floyd.

Mpls. council unanimously approves plan to reform policing
"This is the legacy of George Floyd," Council President Andrea Jenkins said.

Tentative agreement plots new future of Minneapolis policing
The proposed settlement, provided to council members Thursday, emerged from almost a year of negotiations between city staff and state officials. It addresses charges of systemic biased practices in the state's largest police department.

Minneapolis, human rights officials nearing agreement on police bias charge
A source says the City Council could vote as soon as this week.

DEED commissioner, incoming Star Tribune publisher Steve Grove settles journalist's lawsuit
Grove was announced as the Star Tribune's new publisher Tuesday.

Ramsey County sheriff ordered to cut jail population immediately
A scathing letter from Minnesota's top corrections official says the jail has failed to comply with safety standards.

Violent crime declined in Mpls. last year, but rates still well above norm
Analysts say it's too early to say why it fell, though some credit a return to normalcy in the Twin Cities and around the nation.

Facing more danger on job, paramedics send 'plea for help'
Emergency medical responders in Hennepin County say they've witnessed an unnerving rise in violence that's made the job more dangerous at a time when surging call volumes already are stretching the workforce thin.

Minneapolis says public backs splitting up city's police union
In three public hearings, residents said they supported creating separate unions for the rank-and-file and the supervisors.

Paul Oman, world-champion barefoot water skier, dies at 69
An avid volunteer and choir bass, Oman died from injuries sustained while training.

Minneapolis safety chief says he regrets 'tone' of exchanges
"The way I engaged with constituents last night on Twitter did not meet the standards I hold for myself and the Office of Community Safety team," said Cedric Alexander, who is two months on the job, in a statement Friday.

Embattled north Mpls. corner long been epicenter for violence
A half-mile radius surrounding a North Side intersection, home to the embattled Merwin Liquors and a Winner Gas station known as the "murder station," is where nearly one out of every 10 killings citywide has taken place since 2010, according to a Star Tribune analysis.

Partnership launches new Minneapolis initiative vs. violent crime
It's the latest attempt from law enforcement leaders and elected officials to convince the public they have a handle on the problem.
Man dies from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after exchanging fire with Minneapolis police
An officer was injured during the incident Tuesday on NE. Fifth Street.

After overnight shootings in Minneapolis, community members want plan for peace
The spree of overnight shootings left two dead and seven injured Thursday night and early Friday.

Cash apps being targeted in phone theft scheme at Mpls. bars
A group of thieves has stolen more than 100 cell phones in downtown Minneapolis over the past 10 months in a violent scheme that targets victims' financial apps, police say. Two men have been charged.

Family of man shot by Minneapolis officers asks police for more body-camera footage
Activists question the police's narrative of events and are calling for a third party to investigate.
Thao, Kueng reject plea deal offered in George Floyd killing
"It would be a lie and a sin for me to accept a plea deal," Thao said.

Minneapolis gunfire claims Black victims at disproportionate rate, data show
Last year, police counted one Black shooting victim for every 150 Black residents in the city, according to new police data.

In Minneapolis, downtown is back. So is the violent crime
Still below 2019 levels, violent offenses are creeping up in the city's downtown west neighborhood as business and night life returns to a semblance of normalcy.

Minneapolis, human rights officials will negotiate agreement on police by fall
The two parties say they will amend the agreement if the Justice Department negotiates a conflicting consent decree with Minneapolis over racist policing patterns.

Mpls. police release body camera video of Sundberg shooting
The video shows police rescue a mother and her young children, but it doesn't clearly show the final moments before snipers fired.

Transcript paints harrowing scene before cops killed man
Six-hour standoff ended with snipers shooting Andrew Tekle Sundberg.

Minneapolis plans to invest in software to flag problem cops
Minneapolis wants to spend $1.25 million on new technology to help identify warning signs of bad policing. But the city has tried this before and failed.
Family of man killed by Mpls. police calls for more details, release of body-cam video
Speaking publicly for the first time, Mark and Cindy Sundberg, who were called to the scene during the six-hour standoff with police, said family and friends are "beyond shocked and grieving."

After July 4th shooting, Minneapolis braces for more gun violence
Police say low staffing levels hinder their response to calls.

Gunfire hitting 7, fireworks as weapons unnerve Minneapolis
Mayor Jacob Frey calls the incidents "idiot behavior." And he said police and city leaders cannot fight this type of crime alone.

Citizen's group spells out plan to overhaul Minneapolis police
Proposed reforms include improved training, creating a new community safety liaison to help oversee police, expanding the city's mental health and response programs and giving more money to violence interrupters and outreach workers helping to fight rising gun crime.

St. Paul fire crews recover bodies of two workers who died in 'dirt avalanche' in trench
Fire crews spent 12 hours digging up the bodies after what authorities are calling a tragic accident.

Authorities identify woman shot to death in north Mpls. camper
Taleen Rochelle Tana, 42, died of wounds from gunfire from another vehicle Tuesday.

Frey announces new discipline grid for Mpls. officers who break rules
The updated discipline matrix includes a new category for infractions that will result in automatic termination.

Mpls. to return to state talks over charges of racist policing
Six weeks ago, Minneapolis leaders pledged to cooperate with the Human Rights charge of systemic racist policing. The negotiations have since taken on an adversarial tone, making the future of a court-enforceable agreement uncertain.

Suit: In botched drug case, Mpls. police fabricated informant and evidence
A judge threw out evidence against Andre Moore in September 2020, citing police's "reckless disregard for the truth." Moore's new lawsuit says the officers falsified evidence to raid his home.

Mpls. again asks state agency for evidence of police social media spying
In a letter, the City Attorney's Office say it needs more corroborating evidence to continue negotiations over a consent decree.

Two former MPD officers charged in George Floyd killing ask judge to delay, relocate trial
Attorneys for Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng told Judge Peter Cahill it will be impossible to select an impartial jury in a city that just days ago marked the two-year anniversary of Floyd's death.

Mpls. halts police reform talks, citing lack of evidence on spying
Since releasing its damning report April 27, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights has refused to release underlying evidence on covert social media spying to city officials, the media or targets of the surveillance.

Mpls. to pay $1.5M to man police shot from unmarked van
"The goal of the civil suit was not a check," Jaleel Stallings said. "It was getting justice and accountability. And I don't feel like I've received that."

Former Minneapolis police officer says judge's courtroom restrictions violate constitutional right to open trial
The attorney for J. Alexander Kueng objected to an order to keep the public out of the courtroom.

Mpls. to pay $200K to settle complaints by former officers
Colleen Ryan alleged she was denied promotion because she's an openly gay woman, while former Deputy Chief Art Knight alleged his demotion was retaliatory.

What do Mpls. residents want in next police chief? Integrity, public safety, accountability
Some want internal reform. Others say gun violence should be the top priority. They all agree that picking the next police chief is among the most important decisions Minneapolis will make in 2022.

Minnesota's top federal prosecutor announces crackdown on carjackings, guns, gangs
Responding to the recent crime wave in the Twin Cities, Andy Luger said he will devote all criminal prosecutors in his office to violent crime cases.

2 charged in ambush shooting of Mpls. police employee near child-care center
Prosecutors say Timothy Amacher and Colleen Larson plotted to shoot Nicole Lenway, leaving her badly injured, after a custody battle.

FDA won't disqualify HCMC doctors from research over sedative studies
The FDA denied a petition to take harsh action against doctors who subjected patients to "significantly increased risk" in experimental drug research.

Dept. of Human Rights report on MPD: A decade of leadership failed in proper police oversight
Investigators say elected officials and top police brass didn't do enough to stop a pattern of racist policing.

Report: Minneapolis police engaged in pattern of illegal racial discrimination
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights investigation found the Police Department has violated the civil rights law, and multiple iterations of city leaders failed to hold officers accountable for misconduct.

Trial of 3 former officers in Floyd death won't be livestreamed
With COVID-19 restrictions loosening, Judge Peter Cahill ruled Minnesota law doesn't support the option of broadcasting the trial.