XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, mn.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.politics.democrats   
   From: democrats@vote.stupid   
      
   MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Minneapolis   
   Police Chief Brian O'Hara are clashing once again over how to handle youth   
   crime after a weekend shooting in Minneapolis left four children injured   
   inside a stolen car.   
      
   What we know   
   Around 1 a.m. on Sunday near the intersection of West Broadway and Girard   
   Avenue, four minors were injured, one critically, after automatic gunfire   
   struck a stolen Kia while the children were inside.   
      
   A total of five children, three boys and two girls, between the ages of 11 and   
   13 years old, were in the stolen Kia during the shooting.   
      
   Four were hospitalized after the shooting, while police said the fifth child,   
   an 11-year-old boy, was detained and brought home to his parents. A police   
   spokesperson told FOX 9 the 11-year-old couldn't be charged, citing state law.   
      
   O'Hara also added on Sunday that two of the minors had been arrested less than   
   two weeks ago inside another stolen vehicle.   
      
   Hennepin County Attorney issues statement   
   On Monday, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office released a statement   
   saying, "The shooting of four children in a car over the weekend is tragic and   
   unacceptable. We must act with urgency to implement effective solutions to gun   
   violence and ensure that    
   no one in our community is victimized in this way."   
      
   The statement went on to say that collaboration was needed to "intervene   
   effectively with youth who are engaging in auto theft-related behaviors" while   
   saying MPD Chief O’Hara, "inaccurately stated that children under 14 cannot   
   be referred for    
   prosecution."   
      
   According to the attorney’s office, law enforcement has the ability to refer   
   offenders to the Youth Auto Theft Early Intervention Initiative.   
      
   However, MPD has not referred any youth to the initiative in the second   
   quarter of 2024, and has only made four referrals in the third quarter to   
   date, the statement said.   
      
   "None of the children aged 11 to 13 who were shot while riding in a stolen car   
   over the weekend had been referred to our office by law enforcement for youth   
   auto theft early intervention," the statement says. The office claims that of   
   the youth served by    
   the early intervention initiative, 81% have had no new cases submitted.   
      
   "Through this Initiative, we have created a new pathway for referral and   
   intervention when police do not have sufficient evidence to submit a case for   
   charging," the statement says. "This is critically important given the low   
   clearance rate of 1.4% in    
   2024 for auto theft cases in Minneapolis; police often tell us they know who   
   is involved but do not have the evidence to prove it."   
      
   The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has not yet received any case   
   submissions for the shooting over the weekend, the statement says.   
      
   O'Hara responds during a heated news conference   
   The statement from the Hennepin County Attorney's Office was issued around   
   3:30 p.m. on Monday. A little over two hours later, Chief O'Hara held a news   
   conference during which he accused the county attorney of not telling the   
   truth.   
      
   In fact, O'Hara claimed, the Minneapolis Police Department had referred at   
   least two of the kids involved in Sunday's incident for charges.   
      
   "It is not true to say no one from this case [was referred]," said Chief   
   O'Hara. "That's not true at all. Two of the kids in this stolen car were   
   referred for charges on August 9th for auto theft. Nothing was done. They   
   didn't put them in their diversion    
   program. They didn't charge. Nothing."   
      
   O'Hara says even the family of the children were "begging" for legal   
   intervention.   
      
   "Despite pleas from their parents, begging for help, begging for them to be   
   detained," O'Hara explained. "They were let back into the street, into the   
   same environment, to commit more crimes. We've had several of the parents   
   involved with the kids    
   involved in the shooting this weekend asking for us to arrest their kids,   
   begging us to detain them. Because they can't control them and they're afraid   
   they're going to get killed."   
      
   O'Hara said the police department communicated these fears to the attorney's   
   office but to no action. "The county attorney's office isn't listening," said   
   O'Hara. "The idea of catch and release for violent juveniles is not working."   
      
   Previous issues   
   This isn't the first conflict between the Hennepin County Attorney's Office   
   and the Minneapolis Police Department.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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