Good morning. It's a newsy Tuesday and here's your Capitol View.
What happened at Minneapolis’ 3rd Precinct could mark the beginning of a shift in American policing. Our colleagues down the hall at APM Reports dug into what happened the night Minneapolis city leaders abandoned a police station before demonstrators burnt it down. But before that fateful night, some say police abandoned the neighborhood to protect their station. And at previous protests, which were peaceful, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd, escalating the situation. Read this story to understand the context for what happened before and after, and what it means for the future of police.
The trial of those charged in George Floyd’s killing may be moved. The Hennepin County judge overseeing the trial admonished attorneys and elected officials, telling them not to make public comments about the case’s merits because they endanger the former cops’ right to a fair trial.
A statewide mask mandate could be in our future. Gov. Tim Walz said yesterday that such a move is “on the table.” He says it’d help businesses that’re struggling to enforce their own mask rules, plus the clear public health benefits of widespread mask-wearing. “The argument is this: If you are for the economy opening up and for the state to take away some of the limitations on your businesses, the surest way to do that is to wear a mask,” the governor said, acknowledging that masks have become a political flashpoint.
Congressional Republicans are calling for an investigation of five states’ nursing home policies. Via NPR: “Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon are asking Christi Grimm, Principal Deputy Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to determine if the states violated federal health care guidelines and regulations. The five targeted states are New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California and Michigan . Their orders for nursing homes to accept COVID-19-positive patients from hospitals were controversial from the outset, and were immediately condemned by the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, which represents medical professionals working in long-term care.”
