He’s finally arrested.

Minneapolis police are now facing heavy criticism for not arresting Sawchak before the shooting even though he had multiple complaints.

Members of the Minneapolis City Council, including Mayor Jacob Frey, pointed blame at the Minneapolis police department for not acting on any of the prior complaints against Sawchak and failing to arrest him immediately after the shooting. https://newsone.com/5658819/white-man-shoots-black-neighbor-minneapolis/

  • Letstakealook@lemm.ee
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    15 days ago

    Once again, armed white criminals have more rights than unarmed innocent POC in this country. The police likely support what this man did.

    • 4lan@lemmy.world
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      For anyone who thinks this comment is hyperbolic, never forget Nathan Pelham the Jan 6 insurrectionist.

      When police came to take him in he drunkenly shot his gun at them from his home. Shooting to kill.

      The police drive away and let him “sleep it off”

      Imagine if that was a black man. He and his whole family would be shredded by assault rifles.

      White domestic terrorists are being coddled by law enforcement.

      Arm the left.

    • pinkystew@reddthat.com
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      15 days ago

      It’s a racist institution. It stopped being good for the people decades ago. It needs to go.

  • kitnaht@lemmy.world
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    16 days ago

    Just tell them he was smoking marijuana. They don’t want to deal with actual violent criminals. Those guys are scary.

    • UnpopularCrow@lemmy.world
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      16 days ago

      Smoking marijuana, has a Harris sign in their yard, and supports the “defund the police” movement. They would be there in under five minutes with guns blazing.

  • PyroNeurosis@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    15 days ago

    “He should not have been shot, but I will say this: We had no reason to suspect that he would shoot the neighbor from inside the house.”

    The man who was being very aggressively territorial wouldn’t shoot someone from inside his house?

  • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
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    15 days ago

    Call me crazy, but if you point a gun at a neighbor for any reason other than being attacked, you probably shouldn’t be allowed to have guns.

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        15 days ago

        State laws differ and whether brandishing is considered a misdemeanor, a felony, or even a crime at all is going to depend on your state’s laws.

        It’s not a crime at all in my state.

        • Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          15 days ago

          Wait for real? I could just point my gun at anyone i want and there is no law that’s being broken?! What state is that? That’s fucking crazy.

          • modus@lemmy.world
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            15 days ago

            Pennsylvania. It’s an open-carry state. There is no law that says anything about brandishing.

            That said, if you point a gun at someone, you are responsible for whatever happens next, including bullets flying in your direction.

            (I’m not a lawyer so there might actually be a law about brandishing. I’ve just never pointed a gun at anyone so just don’t come here waving your gat around all willy nilly.)

            • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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              There’s no specific law for brandishing a firearm because it’s charged under assault, deadly conduct, terroristic threat, menacing, and/or disorderly conduct. Often more than one charge.

              I assure you, brandishing in the sense it’s used in other state law is very much illegal in Pennsylvania, and is arguably punished more severely than many states that have specific laws on the books – partially because it doesn’t have a specific law, you’re subject to the caprice of the person that brings suit and the judge. If you look up cases of this being tried in Pennsylvania, you’ll find that it’s robustly prosecuted.

            • Fosheze@lemmy.world
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              15 days ago

              Generally speaking, even if your state doesn’t have brandishing laws, pointing a firearm at someone is still considered assault. Assault is the unlawful attempt or threat to cause harm to another person.

  • ikidd@lemmy.world
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    15 days ago

    Minneapolis City Council needs to take charge of this and clean house. Police aren’t going to do it themselves, so the holder of the pursestrings is the one ultimately responsible.

    • Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee
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      15 days ago

      Nah. Too little, too late. Send the DOJ. The City Council should separately be investigated.

      • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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        15 days ago

        The feds are already investigating the police there. They have been on a long time operation, and it is expected that it will conclude in a manner in which a lot of the department will change hands when it is over

  • The Stainless Aluminum Rat@lemmy.world
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    15 days ago

    MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,'” the Minneapolis City Council said in a letter.

    This… this boggles. This is almost Uvalde-level cowardice. What’s the point of gifting military armored vehicles, gear, weapons, and training to police departments if they won’t use them to <checks article> execute an arrest warrant for attempted murder?

    The command structure responsible needs to be regifted to other agencies that are bad at Google searches.

    • freddydunningkruger@lemmy.world
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      15 days ago

      Oh, didn’t you know? The police are under NO requirement to protect at the individual level.

      The Supreme Court of the United States explained that it is a “fundamental principle of American law that a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any individual citizen.”

    • sorval_the_eeter@lemmy.world
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      15 days ago

      yes, they need all their tactical gear, cars, salaries and guns taken away if they refuse to do their jobs. Issue them some etch a sketches and chromebooks.

  • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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    16 days ago

    According to CBS News, Sawchak was taken into custody early Monday morning. Police said Sawchak had been holed up in his house for several days, but just before 1:30 a.m., he surrendered peacefully

  • DontMakeMoreBabies@lemm.ee
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    15 days ago

    This is how you get people to engage in “self help.” i.e. “I’m going to burn this motherfucker’s house down with him inside.”

    • NotBillMurray@lemmy.world
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      Yeah, my initial reaction was “well if he’s willing to shoot me I might as well shoot back”. But thinking about it, I’m a white cis man, I can’t imagine being in a situation like that and knowing that if I did retaliate I would more than likely be the one persecuted by the police.

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    America is such a racist fucking shithole. Literally 3rd world level of prejudice. If not trump it’s gonna be someone else in four years. Idiotic societies end up with totalitarianism.

    That’s what you get for pretending the issue is solved instead of actually solving it.

    • Zement@feddit.nl
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      15 days ago

      A nation founded on the genocide of the natives, which never accepted its roots on a base level.

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      I always thought it’s just the other countries. Then Germany got the AFD and I was very surprised. Shouldn’t have been in hindsight. Keep your eyes open for the problems happening at home too.

      I am not saying that the US has advanced way further already regarding the fascist problem.

  • RangerJosie@lemmy.world
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    Pointing guns at people is an exceptionally great way to get fuckin’ shot. I can think of no better way to all but guarantee you get shot than to point a gun at someone else.

    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      Yeah that made me have a thought. John Oliver did an episode on “stand your ground” ages ago, and reading that guy’s message, asking “what he can do”, I’m forced to conclude that for him, in the US, in that situation, it would probably be best to get a gun himself and the next time the guy does something like this, just two to the chest.

      Seeing he has a restraining order and whatnot previous things, probably should be somewhat of an easy case to defend as self-defense, right? Unless it’s just even fucking sadder, and it is just because he’s black and he’d just end up imprisoned for murder.

      God the world is shit nowadays where shall we congregate a force to have a teensy weensy global revolution?

      • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
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        Unfortunately, that would probably just result in him drowning in legal fees. Killing someone, even if it is completely justifiable in self-defense, is extremely expensive. Like, 6 figures expensive. That said, this man is going to fucking kill him so…also I guess even if he doesn’t, now he has medical fees anyway.

        Jesus Christ what an all around fucked situation :(

      • bcgm3@lemmy.world
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        15 days ago

        … for him, in the US, in that situation, it would probably be best to get a gun himself and the next time the guy does something like this, just two to the chest. … Seeing he has a restraining order and whatnot previous things, probably should be somewhat of an easy case to defend as self-defense, right? Unless it’s just even fucking sadder, and it is just because he’s black and he’d just end up imprisoned for murder.

        “Imprisoned for murder” might still be on the optimistic side of potential outcomes… He could well be murdered himself, by the police, in reponse to what you and I see as self-defense. (I am guessing from the “in the US” part of your comment and other context that you aren’t from here, and may not be aware of the history of institutionalized racism that would make any interaction with the police potentially dangerous for him. Forgive me if I have erred there.)

        • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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          15 days ago

          Imprisoned for murder

          Imprisoned for self defense while black.

          It’s a similar problem as driving while black, walking while black, etc…

        • Dasus@lemmy.world
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          15 days ago

          Forgive me if I have erred there

          You’re so loud ghe whole (Western) world knows most about your business.

          You are right of course, and any interaction with police could be dangerous. But if he just shoots the guy, then calls the authorities while clearly laying his weapon far away from him and being on his knees with his hands on his head, there shouldn’t be an excuse for the cops to murder him.

          But an alarming amount of things I’ve thought would never happen with the police have happened. Both in the US and here in Finland. Now I don’t need to be afraid of getting murdered, but the abuse still didn’t feel good.

      • Fosheze@lemmy.world
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        MN is not a stand your ground state. If you are threatened in public then you have a duty to retreat if able. However, MN is a castle doctrine state so if someone threatens you on your property then you are perfectly clear to use any reasonable means up to and including lethal force to defend yourself and your property. So your initial idea only works in MN if the threat took place on his own property of if he is unable to get away from the threat.

        • Dasus@lemmy.world
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          15 days ago

          No offense, but they really did cover that quite a lot better on Last Week Tonight.

          The episode is called “stand your ground laws”, and believe it or not, it talks about things related to the laws. Like which states do what.

          Perhaps take a gander https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTF-Kz_7L0c

      • Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org
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        John Oliver did an episode on “stand your ground” ages ago

        Doesn’t require stand your ground, unless you could reasonably flee the attacker. If they’ve got a gun it’s not too hard to argue that you couldn’t reasonably flee or they’d shoot you in the back.

        Stand your ground just removes the duty to try to get away from an attacker if possible, and is only the law in some states.

        • AstridWipenaugh@lemmy.world
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          15 days ago

          Though not required for this situation, stand your ground laws have a big effect. When no such law exists, you’re definitely going to be the subject of a homicide investigation and may get charged and have to get a jury to acquit. When those laws do exist, the police won’t bother investigating and the DA won’t bring charges in many cases. In states like Texas or Florida, pretty much all you have to do is be on your property or say you felt threatened and shot first and you’re free to go.

        • Dasus@lemmy.world
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          The episode covered all that in detail, yes.

          They give pretty good background and wider context, so…

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        15 days ago

        Agree. It’s even on camera (assuming this goes down in the front yard)

    • Fosheze@lemmy.world
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      15 days ago

      I can think of no better way to all but guarantee you get shot than to point a gun at someone else.

      Foraging in your whitetail deer fursuit durring hunting season is about the only way I can think of.

  • Plague_Doctor@lemmy.world
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    Astounded by the mental gymnastics to say that after this person brandished a knife from inside his home saying he’ll kill someone, the police couldn’t imagine he’d shoot someone from the vantage point of his home. Incredible.