The Department of Justice has released a scathing report into the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), outlining systemic abuses after a year-long investigation that began after the May 2020 murder of George Floyd. The Justice Department has found that MPD routinely uses excessive force, including unjust deadly force, the department revealed during a press conference on Friday. Attorney General Merrick Garland appeared with city officials in Minneapolis to speak about the blistering 89-page report. He said that the “patterns and practices we observed made what happened to George Floyd possible”. Mr Garland added that he spoke to the family of Mr Floyd earlier on Friday, noting that he told that his death has had a “irrevocable” on the city and the country, according to The New York Times. “His loss is still felt deeply by those who loved and knew him, and many who did not,” Mr Garland said. The attorney general ordered the probe in April 2021, nearly a year after the death of Mr Floyd. The report states that MPD uses tastes and firearms without properly assessing threats. The report notes that in one such incident in 2017, an officer was “spooked” by a woman reporting a sexual assault. DoJ also found that the MPD disregards the safety of those they take into custody, and that they failed to step in to prevent the unreasonable use of force, such as in the murder of Mr Floyd by then-MPD officer Derek Chauvin when several fellow officers stood by and didn’t intervene. The report also states that the practice of stop and search, that the use of force disproportionately affected Black and Native American residents, and that MPD wasn’t held accountable for racist activity until public protests ensued. MPD had been accused of using excessive force well before the murder of Mr Floyd. DoJ called the findings “deeply disturbing” and said that they “erode the community’s trust” in policing. The report found that it was “reasonable” to believe that officers are guilty of a “practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law”. The Department of Justice also accused MPD of violating the First Amendment rights of protesters and reporters at demonstrations. The city of Minneapolis has agreed to negotiate to possibly come to an agreement to be enforced by the courts that would put in place major changes to the city’s police. Similar consent decrees have been put in place in cities such as Chicago and Baltimore, in addition to several others. The report found that from January 2016 until August of last year, there were 19 police shootings in which “a significant portion of them were unconstitutional uses of deadly force”. Police at times discharged their firearms “without first determining whether there was an immediate threat of harm to the officers or others”. An investigation conducted by the state of Minnesota finished in 2022 found similarly outlined systemic abuse. The report states that Chauvin had been found to previously have used excessive force. DoJ found that several other officers “stood by” in multiple other cases involving Chauvin. DoJ also accused the city of not adhering to the Americans with Disabilities Act as they discriminate against those with behavioural health disabilities. The report states that “many behavioral health-related calls for service do not require a police response, but M.P.D. responds to the majority of those calls, and that response is often harmful and ineffective”. The federal probe found that officers in the Minneapolis force often failed to properly consider the health complaints of those they placed under arrest. “We found numerous incidents in which officers responded to a person’s statement that they could not breathe with a version of, ‘You can breathe; you’re talking right now,’” the document stated. More follows...

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The Football Association is looking at whether the women’s game could be exempted from the Saturday afternoon television blackout, Baroness Sue Campbell has told MPs. Baroness Campbell, the FA’s director of women’s football, told the Culture, Media and Sport committee various options are being looked at to maximise coverage of the game on the back of the England team’s success at the Women’s Euros last summer. One of those is giving consideration to whether the women’s game could be removed from the restriction on live football coverage between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturdays under Article 48 of the UEFA statutes, which the FA currently chooses to apply. Campbell said: “I think that consistent of opportunity to view the women’s game is important. It used to be, and it still is, a little bit random. We weren’t quite sure what time and what day you were going to be able to turn on and see it. “We need to get some consistency. We have been exploring Article 48, which when it was put in practice was there for men’s football, we’d like to see could the women have that slot on television? “But whatever we do we need a regular opportunity to view the game which people can access, and we need to recognise that we have a younger audience, so sticking it on in an evening might not be the best time.” The Saturday blackout will not be affected by the EFL’s new deal with Sky Sports starting in 2024-25, but the league did receive a rival offer from the streaming service DAZN which would have required the restriction to be lifted. The Premier League’s chief executive Richard Masters said in March that his organisation was a proponent of Article 48 and did not see that changing in the near term. The English top flight is set to begin its tender process for the next three-year domestic rights cycle starting from 2025-26 this autumn. Whatever we do we need a regular opportunity to view the game which people can access Baroness Sue Campbell Former England forward Ellen White agreed with Campbell that an innovative approach was required at the same hearing. “I think we need to look at grassroots football, when that’s being played, so we can maximise the amount of families and young people that are coming to games,” she said. “Sunday at 6.45 in the evening like Sue said, schools (open the next day), then again on a Saturday at 11am a lot of grassroots football teams play, so you’re destroying the viewership then, and also the amount of bums on seats in the stadium as well. “So I think we need to look at a good day and a good time to really maximise our audiences, to get bums on seats and to grow our fanbase.” White did not agree with the idea that one way to make the women’s game more financially sustainable would be to introduce a US-style closed league. “I wouldn’t agree with it because you’ve got clubs in the Championship or lower than that, and what have they got to strive for?” she said. “For me it’s really exciting and gives a lot of opportunity for the teams in the Championship and the pyramid to try and develop and prove and push themselves that they want to be part of the Women’s Super League. I don’t think the country would want to move away from that.” Campbell said the United States was able to operate that system because of its highly-developed high school and university programmes, and to replicate that in England would “cut the head off the body” of the women’s game. Meanwhile, the chair of a different parliamentary committee has written to boot manufacturers over the lack of products designed specifically for women and girls. Caroline Nokes, the chair of the Women and Equalities committee, has written to brands including Adidas and Nike after evidence was given to her committee about the disproportionate impact of anterior cruciate ligament injuries to female footballers. Campbell said ACL injuries accounted for two per cent of injuries female players suffered but accepted they could be “catastrophic” for the individual when they did occur. “I’ve asked repeatedly, ‘Can somebody tell me the cause of this?’ and of course it’s complex – is it wearing men’s shoes, is it the training surfaces, the over-stressed calendar with not enough rest? Is it the kind of physical conditioning that people are doing?” Campbell said. “We’re encouraging more research. We’re funding more research. If we haven’t got healthy, well looked after elite players then we’re failing the game.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Hostile Headingley awaits Australia after Bairstow row – Ashes talking points Leicester fined up to £880,000 over price fixing with JD Sports Paris St Germain sack Christophe Galtier

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Charles Leclerc was subjected to boos by Sergio Perez’s disgruntled fans following his first-corner collision with the home favourite in Mexico. Perez’s afternoon in front of his partisan supporters at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was over after 14 seconds when he drove into Leclerc at the opening bend. Perez was forced to retire with damage sustained in the accident, as Max Verstappen claimed his 16th win – a new record for a driver in a single season – with Lewis Hamilton second and Leclerc third. But as Leclerc was interviewed by Jenson Button in the Foro Sol stadium – which holds 30,000 people – in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s 71-lap race, the Ferrari driver was targeted by the locals. “A lot of booing,” said Leclerc as he addressed the angry crowd. “Guys I had nowhere to go. I was a bit in between the Red Bulls and unfortunately I touched Sergio. “It’s life. I damaged my car and unfortunately it ended the race of Sergio. Of course, I’m disappointed to end the race of Sergio like that but I really didn’t do it on purpose and I had nowhere to go.” A record crowd of more than 400,000 spectators passed through the gates this weekend – with 130,000 here on race day – hoping to see Perez triumph or at least finish on the podium. However, the 33-year-old, who hasn’t won a race since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 30 and now faces further questions over his future at Red Bull, stood by his banzai move. “To be honest, I feel I would have let the fans down more if I didn’t go for it,” said Perez. “I saw the gap, I went for it. I decided to take a risk, I knew it was going to be very risky, and I ended up paying the price. “I’ve had some really sad moments in my career, but this is up there, and as a race, the saddest one, because of the end result. “But at the end of the day, this is just racing. I go home very sad, but I also go very proud of my team and of myself. We gave it our all. I knew that today a podium was not enough for me. I really wanted to go further.” Read More Charles Leclerc secures pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix Charles Leclerc leads Ferrari front row at Mexican Grand Prix Essex boy with Italian twang – History-maker Ollie Bearman impresses in Mexico Max Verstappen sets fastest time in Mexican Grand Prix practice Max Verstappen urges fans to show him respect ahead of feisty Mexican Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton claims many more cars were illegal at United States Grand Prix

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