Free Republic

A radical mosque known for breeding terrorists has been granted special privileges by the city of Bloomington, Minnesota, which allows its members to take over a public park and treat it as their own, to the exclusion of other residents, according to complaints filed by a citizens group. The Friends of Smith Park started a petition drive and took its case to the Bloomington City Council with a formal complaint Monday night. At issue is the Dar al-Farooq mosque, which WND has previously reported has a record of turning Somali refugees into jihadists for ISIS and other terror groups.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — General Mills is expanding a flour recall issued over a possible link to an E. coli outbreak after four new illnesses were reported. The recall announced Monday covers several varieties of Gold Medal and Signature Kitchens flour produced on certain dates through February 10. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said flour produced at a General Mills plant in Kansas City, Missouri, is a likely source of the outbreak, which so far has sickened 46 people in 21 states. The CDC says 13 have been hospitalized, and one person has developed a type of kidney...

Thursday on MSNBC's coverage of the Republican National Convention, Senator Al Franken (D-M) declared the convention to be "the ugliest convention" he had ever seen and said it was "an extension of the candidate".

With Bernie Sanders’ recent appointment of Keith Ellison to the Democratic platform committee, the congressman from Minnesota will start to get some of the attention he deserves. Some have considered the possibility of a Hillary Clinton-Xavier Becerra ticket, which would certainly be interesting. But as a former Sanders supporter, I am near certain that the California congressman will not fire up the young, liberal base that has pushed so hard for Sanders.

The Minneapolis Police Department confirmed it is investigating a threat posted on the USA Today website. The post is written in the comment section following a story about the shooting deaths of three police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

ThinkProgress editor Zack Ford, in discussing the Baton Rouge shooting today, offered a take on police accountability and violence that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way: Given how police haven't been held accountable for murdering black people, it's no surprise some are taking justice into their own hands. — Zack Ford (@ZackFord) July 17, 2016 He argued in his subsequent tweets he’s just making a point about the frustration people feel in reaction to constant systemic injustice:

Black Lives Matter St. Paul plans to demonstrate at the Rosedale shopping center on Sunday to pressure the city of Falcon Heights into terminating its contract with St. Anthony police, the department responsible for Philando Castile’s death during a traffic stop last week. The 1 p.m. demonstration will be held at an undisclosed location inside the mall, so authorities won’t be able to fully prepare for it, organizers said. “Lets shut it down,” read the post on the group’s Facebook page. “lets hit them where it hurt$.” Activists warned those planning to attend the protest not to bring signs, just...

Prominent Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson said Wednesday he is attending a meeting with President Obama designed to help mend frayed ties between law enforcement and the communities they serve. “We are at the @WhiteHouse right now for a 3-hour convening w/ President Obama re: the recent events in #BatonRouge & across the country,” Mckesson tweeted Wednesday. Mckesson wrote he will be joined by fellow activist Brittany Packnett and Minneapolis-based Black Lives Matter leader Mica Grimm. The president is sitting down with nearly three-dozen law enforcement officials, civil rights leaders, educators and local politicians at the White House in...

Trump-resistant and election battling Republicans including two former Presidents, two former Republican nominees, and several former 2016 presidential hopefuls are offering up excuses for why they will not attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next week, notably among them a break with a history of former Presidents attending their party’s convention. Here are ten of the most prominent Republicans who say they’ll skip out on the convention and a few more who will or maybe won’t.

Donald Trump's political director, Jim Murphy, told House members that the campaign would focus on 17 states this fall, the Wall Street Journal reports. Included are 12 states Barack Obama won in both 2008 and 2012 (145 electoral votes) and five states Mitt Romney won in 2012. Not in the list are extreme longshots like California and New York, states Trump has previously indicated would be competitive for him.

The seminar was called “The Bulletproof Warrior,” and the instructors urged the law enforcement officers in the hotel conference room to make the decision to shoot if they ever feel their lives are threatened. Videos of bloody shootouts between police and civilians emphasized a key point: Hesitation can kill you. In the audience at the May 2014 seminar was a young St. Anthony police officer, Jeronimo Yanez, city records show. He’s now known around the world as the officer who killed Philando Castile minutes after making a traffic stop in Falcon Heights last week. Amid intensifying demands for changes in...

The family of Philando Castile has shared a copy of his permit to carry letter with Fox 9. The permit was issued by Hennepin County on June 4, 2015.

Over 40 people were arrested after a protest shut down southbound Interstate 35W near University Avenue Wednesday morning. A large group of people protesting the fatal shooting of Philando Castile began to gather on the I-35W bridge at University Avenue around 7:40 a.m.

As usual the media is covering up facts it finds uncomfortable. The policeman who shot Philando Castile in Minnesota is Jeronimo Yarez an Hispanic policemen. If this sounds familiar, it's because it is. When George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin it was the same media lie perpetrated. "White man shoots unarmed black person." Even though George Zimmerman is Hispanic.

At least four online fundraising campaigns on a popular website have raised more than $310,000 in less than a week on behalf of the loved ones of Philando Castile, who was fatally shot by a police officer in Falcon Heights. Representatives of the family, however, advised in an e-mail on Tuesday that all donations be sent to Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church at 501 W. Lawson Av. in St. Paul and not to the GoFundMe efforts. -snip - ...Burgin is directing potential donors to a GoFundMe page set up by Allysza Castile, Philando’s sister. So far, her page has collected more...

ACLU of Minnesota wants St. Paul to drop all charges against 46 people who shut down Interstate 94 Saturday night during a protest of Philando Castile’s death. Mayor Chris Coleman characterized the demonstration as a riot after it turned violent, leaving 21 officers injured. “These charges appear to be based on the actions of what most parties, including a St. Paul police spokesperson, agree were outside agitators,” said ACLU Minnesota’s executive director, Charles Samuelson, in a written statement Tuesday

Rapper Chuck D of the 80s group Public Enemy ranted against the police on CNN's New Day on Tuesday. When Chris Cuomo played up how "you have a lot more diversity in the police force," the guest wildly claimed that "when it comes down to enforcement...people feel like it's still a slave patrol." He also likened the Black Lives Movement to the anti-Vietnam War protests: "People feel is that Black Lives Matter is this violent movement. It's not what it is. It's a movement against the violence....almost like in the '60s, when you had people protesting against Vietnam." [video below]

A man accused of throwing rocks and construction debris at officers during a protest Saturday night is Philando Castile’s cousin. Hunter is charged with two counts of felony rioting. Twenty-one officers were injured during the overnight protests that shut down Interstate 94 and turned violent when people started throwing things at officers. Another 46 other people charged in the case are facing gross misdemeanor charges. His attorneys argued he be released from jail so he could attend his cousin’s funeral later this week. A judge agreed to release Hunter, but under supervision of a court-ordered monitoring program pending the outcome...

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges blasted the “jackass remarks” made by the head of the city’s police union on Tuesday, while Police Chief Janeé Harteau issued a more measured response in the wake of four Minneapolis police officers who walked off an off-duty job at a Minnesota Lynx game Saturday. The officers quit the job before the game over the decision by players to criticize racial profiling and wear pregame warm up jerseys, that said “Black Lives Matter,” but also included the Dallas Police logo. Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll said in an interview with the Star Tribune on Monday...

Four off-duty cops walked out on a WNBA game after seeing players wear warmup shirts with the message "Black Lives Matter," prompting questions about the future of security. The Washington Post reports the police officers were providing security for a Minnesota home game on Saturday when the shirts and and some player comments prompted them to quit. The president of the Minneapolis Police Federation defended their walkout Monday and said all other officers may do the same.