Minneapolis cop used excessive force even with a DOJ investigator watching: DOJ report

The United States Department of Justice on Friday released a scathing report about the practices of the Minneapolis Police Department that included documented incidents of racial profiling and excessive force.

In fact, it seems that at least one Minneapolis police officer couldn't help using excessive force even when a DOJ investigator was present.

In a passage flagged by journalist Radley Balko, the DOJ details how Minneapolis officers used a taser on an unarmed Black man who was obeying their commands while responding to the scene of an accident.

The DOJ says that when the officers arrived on the scene, there was an unidentified Black man there who was yelling and filming it with his phone.

The officer in question told the man to leave the scene and, when he didn't immediately do so, threatened to use his taser on him.

At this point, writes the DOJ, "the man raised his hands and began walking backward away from the accident scene as he continued to film and yell at the officers."

The officer in question fired his taser regardless and caused him to fall to the ground.

"The man was following commands to leave and was away from the scene," writes DOJ. "So there was no apparent need for the officer to use a taser."

The report is the culmination of two-year civil rights investigation by the DOJ that began in the wake of the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd, which sparked nationwide demonstrations against police brutality in the summer of 2020.