Minneapolis Officials Don't Seem to Care Whether Their Police Have Ties to White Power Groups

The Minneapolis police department again captured headlines over the weekend after four officers walked out of a Minnesota Lynx women’s basketball game because players wore warmup jerseys with the words "Black Lives Matter" and the names of two African Americans, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, who were recently shot to death by police. The officers, who were off duty and assisting with private security, pulled the stunt despite the fact that the shirts also included the image of the Dallas police shield in tribute to the five members of the department who were recently killed by a sniper.

A key component of the cop protest has been completely overlooked in coverage of the outrage: The head of the Minneapolis Police Officer’s Federation who promptly commended the walkout, Bob Kroll, has been accused multiple times of overt sympathies for white supremacism, with five African-American police officers accusing him in a 2007 lawsuit of wearing a “white power” badge and having a “history of discriminatory attitudes and conduct.” Reports indicate that Kroll is part of a white power-linked motorcycle club called City Heat, which was even denounced by the Anti-Defamation League—known for collaborating with police departments across the country—because its members “have openly displayed white supremacist symbols.” Kroll’s work history is pockmarked with accusations of racist violence, including numerous lawsuits....
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/minneapolis-officials-dont-seem-care-whether-their-police-have-ties-white-power