Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily noontime(ish) digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Chief Rondo: Don’t Take Police Brutality out of “Context”
Yesterday Minneapolis was disgusted (lots of us are beyond being “shocked”) by Deena Winter’s Minnesota Reformer story about Jaleel Stallings’s treatment at the hands of the MPD. Today, the Reformer secured bodycam footage of the cops beating a prone Stallings. So, what does our “reform”-minded police chief have to say about this? Minneapolis Chief Medaria Arradondo issued this statement to KARE 11: “I’m aware of the recent decision by the honorable Judge Koch who as a part of his decision noted context is important, and that the officers had just been through four days of rioting, looting, arson and the burning of the Third Precinct. Peaceful protest sometimes quickly escalated to violence. We respect the judicial process as well as the internal investigatory process which is currently active. It is for that reason I will not be commenting further at this time.” I’m trying to think of a context where it’s cool for cops to cruise Lake Street treating any civilians in sight like enemy soldiers? Hmm, coming up short here.
Minnesota Democrats Respond to Texas Abortion Ban
Well, at least the elected Democrats in our state are saying the right things about the horrific Texan abortion ban the U.S. Supreme Court let take effect yesterday. “Many women don't even know they're pregnant before 6 weeks,” Rep. Betty McCollum (MN-04) tweeted. “This chilling policy also allows private citizens to sue those seeking abortion & anyone helping them do so. This cannot stand.“ Dean Phillips told Racket, “I continue to be appalled by repeated assaults on women's health care in statehouses and courtrooms across the country.” Gov. Tim Walz tweeted “What’s happening in Texas is a blatant violation of a woman’s right to choose. I will never allow that to happen here in Minnesota.” Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan tweeted, “This is about racial and economic justice, and we will not stop fighting until we all get access to that fundamental right.” Sen. Tina Smith: “This law is not just unconstitutional— it's a direct attack on #Roe. And we are going to fight it.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar actually suggested some concrete action: “If you ever questioned where these five Justices would be, now you know. We must put Roe into law now. There is no time to lose.” Now let’s see where all those words lead.
Bravo, Whistleblowers
The Trump era irrevocably broke our brains in many ways, perhaps none more frustrating than when it comes to how liberals now view the FBI and CIA. It was once fashionable on the left to condemn their menacing obsession with Martin Luther King or denounce their funding of international death squads, old and new. But then Trump came along, threatened to upend the hegemonic order via rude tweets, and suddenly James Comey and John Brennan became heroes to MSNBC viewers.
Thankfully, a fascinating new New York Times Magazine longread resets how we should view U.S. intelligence agencies. In it, we meet Terry Albury, a Black FBI agent assigned to counterterrorism at the Minneapolis field office. In 2018, under the Espionage Act, Albury was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in leaking classified documents that exposed—in horrifying detail—the bureau’s harassment of minority communities.
“I really wanted to make the world a better place, and I stayed as long as I did because I continued to believe that I could help make things better, as naïve as that sounds. But the war on terror is like this game, right?" Albury tells the Times. "It’s a very dangerous and toxic environment, and we have not come to terms with the fact that maybe we really screwed up here. Maybe what we’re doing is wrong.”
You can and should real the whole piece here.
Snoopy Noooooo!
In far less important, just plain stupid news: Pottery Barn has released a collaboration with Peanuts Worldwide LLC, and, sadly, we have to report that Snoopy didn’t make it. Most of the collection is cute enough—if that’s your thing--with candy dishes, plates, and a variety of autumnal doormats featuring Charlie Brown and the gang. And then there’s this pillow cover, which looks like something Ed Gein would make if he had skinned a park mascot. Even though it reads more horror than wholesome, it’s apparently a hot item, as it’s sold out. Still, it continues to haunt our Facebook feeds.
