MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota State Patrol purged documents to cover up officer attacks on journalists during protests after the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020, according to court documents. The Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said that its investigators are stymied without police messaging that would help prove State Patrol’s behavior. The ACLU claimed that emails and texts messages were deleted from Patrol records immediately after the protests. The ACLU claims that the Patrol targeted journalists in violation of the First Amendment prohibition of government interference with a free press. The accusation of self-serving purges was in testimony at June 28 hearing, the transcript of which surfaced belatedly. A State Patrol spokesman, Bruce Gordon, responded to the ACLU charge that officers followed all data retention requirements.
