Good morning and welcome to this Wednesday edition of Capitol View.
Under Minnesota law, police can use deadly force under these circumstances: - To protect officers or other people from apparent death or serious harm.
- To capture a fleeing person who used deadly force or threatened it.
- To apprehend someone who is reasonably believed to pose a continuing fatal threat if left on the loose.
Those definitions are too vague, one lawmaker says. “Unfortunately, the current law falls short because it relies too heavily on subjective judgment of what might be a threat,” said Rep. Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul. “We’ve heard that before from law enforcement officers that ‘well, I feared for my life’ or simply ‘I was scared.’”
Moran is pushing legislation that would change the law governing when police may use deadly force. Among the changes, her bill would require there be an "imminent" threat of death or harm, rather than "apparent." Here's the entire bill.
Police use of force is under discussion in Washington, too. Via NPR : "The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday held its first hearing on policing since the May 25 death of George Floyd — a black man who was killed in custody by Minneapolis police — triggered a wave of protests and international outcry for reform of the U.S. police system. The hearing included two panels, one on policing in the black community, and another, according to Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., of 'folks who can tell us about the other side of the story and ways to go forward.' The afternoon hearing looked to cover police use of force and community relations, with nearly a dozen witnesses from civil rights and law enforcement backgrounds."
Electoral Map 2020: Biden has edge over Trump, with 5 months to go. Via NPR , "Given his handling of the coronavirus and protests over racism and police brutality in the first six months of this year, President Donald Trump has slipped in many of the key swing states he won in 2016, such as Michigan, which now appears to lean towards former Vice President Joe Biden. The percentage of people disapproving of the job Trump is doing is at near-record highs for his presidency, and the intensity of the opposition is higher than for any past president."
Russian operatives have been running a disinformation operation in the shadows for six years. NPR reports on a new study: "The operation, named 'Secondary Infektion' by researchers, has sought to spread pro-Russian propaganda across the globe by sharing fake tweets from U.S. elected officials and conspiracy theories about the coronavirus. And it attempted to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Researchers say it will likely try to spread falsehoods tied to the November election, too."
Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan held a press conference to discuss their plan for the state’s economy for the special session. We recorded the whole thing and you can watch it here. | 
