Board to review licenses of ex-officers in Floyd death

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota board that licenses and set training standards for all peace officers in the state plans to review the death of George Floyd.

The Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) is required to review all misconduct complaints against licensed police officers. If the complaint is ruled justified, the board can revoke any officer’s license, the Star Tribune reported.

All four Minneapolis police officers who have been charged in the May 25 death of Floyd were fired from the department, but they are still licensed Minnesota peace officers.

The POST Board has asked the court for copies of the criminal complaints against former officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, as well as former officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Kueng, who are all charged with aiding and abetting. A witness video captured Chauvin, who is white, pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck before the handcuffed black man died in Minneapolis.

In a statement, the board said Chauvin’s actions do not reflect any training that officers receive.

“The video is troubling and disturbing and it is the Board’s position that sanctity of life must be the guiding principle for all law enforcement officers,” the statement said.

Protesters demonstrate for a second night in St. Cloud

ST. CLOUD. (AP) — Police used tear gas to disperse a crowd early Tuesday during a second consecutive night of unrest in St. Cloud.

About 100 people demonstrated with some protesters chanting some of George Floyd’s last words “I can’t breathe” before he died on a Minneapolis street.

A dumpster was set on fire and pushed into the middle of a street, the St. Cloud Times reported.

Officers used their patrol cars to cordon off Southtown Liquors store, which appeared to have been broken into with glass and bottles strewn about.

Police arrested 37 adults and two juveniles on unlawful assembly charges. One adult was arrested on suspicion of burglarizing the liquor store.

A similar crowd had gathered early Monday after a rumor spread on social media that police had shot two black men. In fact, a police officer was shot in the hand while struggling to make an arrest. No officers returned fire while struggling with the man, officials said.

Th protests come about three weeks after Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, some 65 miles southeast of St. Cloud.

The death of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, has sparked worldwide protests over police brutality and racism. He died after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, used his knee to pin down Floyd’s neck for several minutes as Floyd pleaded for air and eventually stopped moving.

Iranian CEO pleads guilty to conspiracy to violate sanctions

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The founder and CEO of an Iranian financial services firm has pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said that Seyed Sajjad Shahidian, 33, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against and to defraud the United States.

Shahidian, a citizen of Iran, was arrested in London on Nov. 11, 2018. He was extradited to the U.S. last month.

According to court documents, Shahidian was founder and former CEO of Payment24, an internet-based financial services company with about 40 employees and offices in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan, Iran.

Prosecutors alleged that the primary business of Payment24 was helping Iranian citizens conduct prohibited financial transactions with businesses based in the United States, including the unlawful purchase and exportation of computer software, software licenses and servers from U.S. companies.