
MINNEAPOLIS (WTAQ) - No charges will be filed against two Minneapolis police officers who got into a racially-charged street confrontation in Green Bay, and then reportedly criticized local officers.
Minneapolis officers Shawn Powell and Brian Thole – who are white – reportedly argued with a group of black men outside a bar June 29th, and one of the officers admitted throwing a punch.
The black group was gone by the time Green Bay Police got there, and their names never got into a police report.
Assistant City Attorney Kail Decker said it would have been hard to prove assault charges without knowing who the victims were. Also, Decker told Minneapolis Star-Tribune he did not know why police didn’t pursue non-criminal disorderly conduct citations in municipal court – since the officers were caught on police video making racial slurs.
A police spokesman did not comment on that.
The Minneapolis mayor and police chief have both expressed outrage.
The chief apologized to Green Bay Police, removed the two officers from the Minneapolis SWAT team, and put them on paid leave pending an internal investigation.