Up First from NPR - DOJ Minneapolis Police Report, Blinken Visits China, Yemen's Lost Decade

Episode Date: June 17, 2023

The Justice Department releases its investigation into the Minneapolis police that began after the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits China to improve communication between the two countries. After a decade of war, Yemen is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, but there once was hope in the country.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Justice Department says the Minneapolis police routinely violate residents' civil rights. That's the result of an investigation launched after the 2020 murder of George Floyd. We'll have all the details. I'm Ayesha Roscoe. I'm Don Gagné, and this is Up First from NPR News. Years before he killed George Floyd, Derek Chauvin used excessive force on other occasions in which multiple MPD officers stood by and did not stop him. The report lays the groundwork for changes in the police department.

Also, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on his way to China. He says he wants to improve communication with a challenging rival. And what a decade of war in Yemen has done to the country's hopes. Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend. Now Our Change will honor 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies to Our Change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future. Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today.

Federal investigators have released their long-awaited report into misconduct by the Minneapolis police. Similar reports have led to court-ordered reforms in other police departments around the country. NPR's law enforcement correspondent, Martin Koste, joins us. Thanks for being with us, Martin. Sure, Don. Hi. So what did this DOJ investigation tell us about the Minneapolis police? Well, the DOJ has identified four broad problems or patterns. The first one is racial bias. They say the police in Minneapolis have had a pattern of stopping black people and Native Americans at a higher rate than whites.

Second, that they have been too quick to use force, both firearms as well as less lethal things like tasers. Third, they say that the Minneapolis police have suppressed free speech. This comes out of incidents during the 2020 and 21 protests when officers physically punished protesters and journalists, sometimes with pepper spray, according to the investigators. And finally, there have been complaints about unnecessary police force against people with behavioral disabilities. The DOJ calls this discrimination. These are situations when the police use force even though the person doesn't seem to pose a threat. Everything you described, we've heard of police doing some of these things in other cities, especially during 2020. And it's certainly not news that Minneapolis police have committed abuses.

Why is the Justice Department focused on Minneapolis specifically here? Well, the DOJ really had to take this step after George Floyd and the prominence of that horrific incident. The prosecution of Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin and other officers did delay things for the feds here. But now that we have those convictions, the fundamental question of what led to that incident still remain. And here's Attorney General Merrick Garland talking about the past patterns of police behavior in Minneapolis. We also found that MPD officers failed to intervene to prevent unreasonable use of force by other officers. Indeed, as outlined in our report, years before he killed George Floyd, Derek Chauvin used excessive force on other occasions in which multiple MPD officers stood by

and did not stop him. Martin, the Justice Department has identified what it calls a pattern of bad, and not just bad, but unconstitutional policing in Minneapolis. So what comes next? Well, now the feds want Minneapolis to agree to a reform plan, something they call a consent decree. This is the federal government's biggest hammer when it comes to forcing local police to make changes. Under the implied threat here of a federal civil rights lawsuit, they would negotiate with the city what that plan should look like. Garland said that the feds have 28 remedial measures in mind for Minneapolis, things like more training, better systems for holding officers accountable, that kind of thing. And Minneapolis officials, are they

willing to accept the federal reform plans? Well, they certainly say they welcome this investigation and the federal help. They also, though, point to the steps they've already taken, such as banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants and the fact that they're working on a separate consent decree with the state of Minnesota. So this still is a negotiation here. The city has not yet agreed to the specifics of the federal plan. You know, whatever they do agree to, they'll be locked into probably years of effort and it'll probably cost quite a bit of money. The Minneapolis police also have other problems right now. This is Chief Brian O'Hara. He was brought on late last year. The MPD has lost hundreds of officers over the last three years. And just like all of the residents of the city of Minneapolis, the officers who remain

have experienced a whole lot of trauma. And the reality is this is an incredibly difficult job to be a police officer in this city at this time. And the reality is this is an incredibly difficult job to be a police officer in this city at this time. And the chief says his job now is to rebuild this department and to recruit enough new officers who are committed to what everyone has been calling this cultural change. That's NPR's Martin Kosty. Martin, thank you. You're welcome. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting China this weekend, the first of its kind visit during the Biden administration. Relations with Beijing have been tense. Blinken says he'll focus on better communications.

If we want to make sure, as we do, that the competition that we have with China doesn't veer into conflict, the place that we have with China doesn't veer into conflict. The place you start is with communicating. NPR's diplomatic correspondent, Michelle Kellerman, joins us now. Thanks for being with us. Nice to be here, Ayesha. So what exactly does Secretary Blinken hope to get out of this? Well, mostly he wants to establish what he calls open and empowered communications. You know, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is likely to come to the U.S. later this year for an Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco. President Biden may also see him at the G20 gathering in India in the fall.

So Secretary Blinken has to prepare for all of that. He's also expected to meet Xi Jinping himself at some point while he's in Beijing Sunday and Monday. He wants to explore some areas where the U.S. and China might be able to work together, you know, think about climate change or illicit drugs, the global economy and health care. Blinken says the world is really counting on these two countries to deal with these issues. The Biden administration calls this the most consequential and challenging relationship. So how much are others in the region paying attention to this? I mean, these are the two big world powers kind of, you know, going at it a little bit. Yeah. And the region is very nervous

and they're watching. You know, before leaving, Blinken met with Singapore's foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, who says that there needs to be a modus vivendi between the U.S. and China because these are two crucial countries that are needed to resolve most global issues. The foreign minister called this a critical juncture. Fifty years ago, when Henry Kissinger went to Beijing, it completely reordered the strategic furniture in the globe. We are coming close to a point when this will be necessary again. So Aisha, the stakes are really high here. But the Singaporean foreign minister thinks that Blinken is up to the task. He called him a

consummate diplomat who's cool and rational. At the same time, he didn't want to raise expectations too much. Just listen to this exchange, also from their news conference on Friday. Please don't put too much weight on poor Tony's shoulders. You know, the fact is diplomats need time and space and sometimes just some quiet time to engage in some honest to goodness conversations. The foreign minister of Singapore called Blinken's trip to China essential but not sufficient. And what are the Chinese saying about the trip? Are they lowering expectations too? They are lowering expectations and they're laying down some markers. They say that the U.S. needs to respect China's core interests, including on Taiwan. And they say that the U.S. should not meddle in China's internal affairs. Now, Secretary Blinken does plan to raise human rights issues and some specific cases of detained Americans while he's there. So the conversations could be pretty tough in private. We'll have to see

how it goes in public. I should also say that Blinkit was supposed to do this trip in February, but that trip was scuttled by the Chinese spy balloon saga. The State Department is clearly hoping that it'll be, let's say, smooth sailing this time around. I see what you did there. NPR's Michelle Kellerman, thank you so much. Thank you. The UN calls the situation in Yemen one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. And while life was hard for most people before Civil War broke out in 2014, there were reasons for hope.

NPR's Fatma Tanis joins us now to tell us more from the city of Taiz. Thanks for being with us. Hi, Don. Tell us a bit about the promise of Yemen before the war. Well, the country has a lot of natural resources, which the world may have forgotten about. It produces some of the most highly prized coffee in the world. Delicious fruits grow here. It has incredible ancient architecture, lots of potential for tourism.

And there are oil reserves, too, which are now controlled by Saudi Arabia. Ten years ago, there was hope that we'd see some of that potential after their dictator was ousted. But it all changed when Houthis had an uprising in the north, and it blew up into a proxy war between Iran, which backed the Houthis, and Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which backed the Yemeni government. Still, Yemenis here are very aware of their country's potential. You know, they speak reverently of how green and fertile the land is with beaches and desert and mountains. But the war has really gotten in the way of all of that. The most critical toll has been on the people themselves.

Hundreds and thousands estimated to have died from sickness and hunger. You've been seeing a lot of people directly wounded in the war. What have you been hearing from them? Yes, I went to a prosthetic center in Taiz here. At least 400 new patients came to the center in the last year alone, despite the war slowing down, mostly because of landmines. More than 100 of the victims were young children. And all around the city, you can see people with prosthetic arms or legs going about their day. Then there are survivors of Saudi airstrikes, which also took many civilian lives. You know, the U.S. initially supported the Saudi air campaign,

but all the civilian deaths made it sort of cut back on that support. I met a man who had lost 10 members of his family in a single night. His name is Marwan Saleh Saif, and it took him six days to recover the remains. Eight years after that airstrike, he's still searching for justice. He says he wants an acknowledgement and apology from Saudi Arabia and for it to repair the damage to buildings at least. But so far, he's heard nothing but a denial that the attack happened and it haunts him to this day. And tell us a little about the frontline city where you are. So Taiz is a divided city, very much symbolic of the war. You know, the north and east parts

of the city are controlled by the Houthi militias. The rest, including where I am, is controlled by the Saudi coalition, which backs the government. And life is really difficult here. You know, the economy is devastated. There no longer is a single currency in Yemen. Both sides have their own banknotes that make the other worthless. Many families are struggling to buy the basics like food, electricity, and water services are also really not reliable. And the signs of war are everywhere. Buildings are covered in bullet marks or, you know, with gaping holes from rockets and missiles. Now there are peace talks underway, but Yemenis tell me that even if the war ended today, the country would still need extensive help for a long time.

And if you ask them what the war is all about, what kind of answers do you get? Well, first of all, they roll their eyes and say it's all been for nothing. They say that in the past nine years, their country has become a battleground for other countries' rivalries, you know, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE. I spoke with a 21-year-old college student, Sahar Rageh, about this. Let's hear some of what she said. She says if the international players leave us Yemenis alone, we can sort this out amongst ourselves in a matter of days. You know, there's also a backdrop of sectarianism in this conflict. The Houthis are Shia and the government side are mostly Sunni. That was not

so pronounced before, but the war has prompted more extremism on both sides, according to Yemenis. And one thing they all agree on is that the war really has them at their wits' end. They're just worn down and desperate for it to end at this point. That's NPR's Fatma Tanis in Taiz, Yemen. Thank you. Thank you. And that's Up First for Saturday, June 17th, 2023. I'm Don Gagne. And I'm Aisha Roscoe. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Larry Kaplow, Vincent Nee, Denise Rios, Hadil Al-Shaouchi, and Matthew Sherman. It was produced by Andrew Craig with Michael Radcliffe and directed by Danny Hensel, with engineering support from J-Sips.

Evie Stone is our senior supervising editor. Our executive producer is Sarah Oliver, and our deputy managing editor is Sierra Crawford. The podcast is back tomorrow. Aisha, what's on Sundays Up First? Tomorrow, we dive into how African immigrants to the American South discover racism and what it means to be black in the U.S.?

And for more great conversations like that one, as well as all the latest news and more, find us on the radio every Saturday and Sunday morning on Weekend Edition from NPR News. Find your NPR station at stations.npr.org. Thank you.