Killing of Dolal Idd

Dolal Idd protest march at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, January 3, 2021.

Idd's death provoked a strong reaction in the community as it was reminiscent of recent, fatal police encounters, particularly the shootings of black men.[14] Minneapolis police had shot at people 17 different times from 2015 to the end of 2019, killing a person in five circumstances,[5] most notably Jamar Clark, a black man, in 2015 and Justine Damond, a white woman, in 2017.[15] In the Minneapolis suburb of Falcon Heights in 2016, a police officer from another nearby suburb, St. Anthony, shot and killed Philando Castile, a black man, during a traffic stop.[14]

Idd's also death came as Minneapolis officials attempted to reform the city's policing policies in aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, by a white Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020. Officials were also addressIng a wave of violent crime that followed widespread civic unrest in late May and early June of 2020 after Floyd’s death.[12] Idd's death was the 83rd homicide in the city in 2020,[1] a number that eclipsed the previous two years combined.[5] The Powderhorn Park area that featured the George Floyd Square, a street intersection that protesters transformed to an "autonomous zone", had been the location of several violent crimes since Floyd's death and authorities had investigated firearm dealers that used the barricaded area as cover for illicit activities.[16][17]

After Idd's death, some felt police in Minnesota approached the situation differently for black men than they had for white men.[18] Idd's circumstances were compared to a September 2020 incident involving Ricardo Manuel Baldazo of Prior Lake, Minnesota. When police responded to a 9-1-1 call to his mother's house in Burnsville, Baldazo, who later admitted he was under the influence of drugs, fired gunshots from inside the house in the direction of responding officers. Baldazo exited the house with firearms in his hands and complied with police orders to drop the weapons, and was then arrested by police. Some questioned why Baldazo, Hispanic, was given the opportunity to surrender peacefully, but Idd was fired upon by Minneapolis police officers.[19][18]

Protest at Cedar Avenue and East 36th Street in Minneapolis, January 3, 2021.

Dolal Bayle Idd (July 18, 1997 – December 30, 2020) was born in Somalia.[20] His father resettled in the United States from war-torn Somalia in 1997, the same year Dolal Idd was born.[3] Dolal Idd was three-years old when he emigrated with other family from Somalia to the United States.[20] The family first resided in San Diego, California and then in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area to be near extended family who already lived there.[3] The Idd family had 10 or 11 children, including Dolal Idd.[21][22] In 2015, Idd graduated from Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, a western suburb of Minneapolis.[20]

Idd had a felony drug conviction in 2017 and a felony theft conviction in 2018.[9] In addition to felony charges, Idd had a history of minor traffic violations[9] and a 2019 misdemeanor conviction for carrying a pistol.[9]

In 2019, Dolal Idd was convicted in a Hennepin County court of illegally possessing and firing a gun, which was related to a July 2018 incident where he had fired a gun in the shower of his parents' Eden Prairie home as two children slept nearby.[1] At the time of the July 2018 incident, Idd was not allowed in the house by his family as he scared the young children who lived there, and he was believed to have broken in through the basement late at night. Idd fled the family's house after the gun discharged, leaving behind a box of bullets and a gun magazine. Police arrested him a few hours later when responding to a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot in Bloomington, Minnesota. Idd was found asleep in the vehicle and in possession of drug paraphernalia and a loaded Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun that had been reported stolen out of North Dakota.[23]

At the time of his death, Dolal Bayle Idd was a 23-year-old resident of Eden Prairie, a suburb of Minneapolis, approximately 13 miles from the city's downtown area.[24][25] He was finishing a three-year probationary period related to a weapons conviction[20] and was taking classes at Normandale Community College,[26] studying computers and pursuing a career as an emergency medical technician.[20] He was interested in learning more about Islam and the family discussed sending him to Egypt to study the Quran and the Arabic language.[20]

His last known address was his parents' home in Eden Prairie.[27] Idd's girlfriend said she had been to the family's Eden Prairie home and that Idd lived in the basement,[28][2]. Idd's family said he had not been living there for the past month prior to his death, though he had often helped with housework and babysitting.[20]

An unnamed female companion owned the vehicle Idd was driving. She was with him during the December 30 incident and sat in the passenger's seat as Idd exchanged gunfire with Minneapolis police officers.[28][29] She identified as his girlfriend.[2]

The Minneapolis police officers who fired at Idd during the December 30 incident were Paul Huynh, Darcy Klund, and Jason Schmitt.[30] By the time of the shooting, Huynh had been with the police department for six years, Schmitt for 23 years, and Klund for 33 years.[31] The three officers were members of a community response team that focused on issues such as drugs and street-level crimes.[1] Klund was the sergeant in charge of the team.[32]

Prior to the December 30 incident, the officers had been the subject of several civilian complaints against them. Huynh had seven, Klund four, and Schmitt 24. None of the officers were disciplined for the complaints. In 2014 the police department settled a misconduct lawsuit for $7,000 stemming from a 2007 incident involving Schmitt; he was accused of striking a man with his rifle during an arrest.[33] Early in his career, Klund was reprimanded for berating another officer and he was temporarily demoted from being a sergeant until he was reinstated by an arbitration process.[34]

The officers had also received recognition for their service. Klund had been praised for quick response and showing respect to the family of a homicide victim.[34] In mid 2020, he was one of several city police officers that signed a public letter that condemned the killing of George Floyd and pledged to improve community trust.[35][32] Schmitt received a Medal of Honor for his role as a responder to the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse in 2007.[34]

The Minneapolis Police Department attempted a sting operation the evening of December 30, 2020. Officers from the city's first precinct arranged for a confidential informant to purchase a MAC-10 semiautomatic pistol from Idd, the suspected seller, at a Holiday gas station at East 36th Street and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis.[2] Idd's alleged attempt to sell a firearm was illegal, and a state law prohibited Idd from possessing a firearm because of a prior felony conviction,[36] circumstances the Minneapolis police were aware of as they attempted to set up Idd for arrest.[29]

Idd arrived at the Holiday gas station parking lot in a white Chevrolet Cobalt, a sedan-style automobile, with a female companion in the passenger's seat.[4][2] The vehicle belonged to the female passenger who was Idd's girlfriend.[29] At approximately 6:15 p.m.,[12] Minneapolis police officers—who had claimed "probable cause" in a weapons investigation and suspected that the driver had a weapon[3]—moved in on the white vehicle driven by Idd in the parking lot.[37]

In a chaotic scene captured on video, three police squad cars converged on the white vehicle.[38][1][35] One officer approached the white vehicle on foot with his gun drawn.[35] Officers identified themselves as police and called for the driver to "stop your car" as an officer pointed his gun at the white vehicle.[1] One officer demanded the driver get out of the car.[39]

Two marked police cars had lights flashing and blocked the front of the white vehicle driven by Idd.[38][3] The white vehicle struck the police vehicles, causing visible damage.[40] When Idd attempted to go in reverse, the vehicle's tires struggled for traction as the parking lot was covered in snow,[3] and a third police vehicle moved in to box the white vehicle and prevent Idd from escape.[1][38]

Officers then yelled, "Hands up! Hands up!"[38][39] After Idd ignored repeated commands from the police,[1] he pulled out a handgun[35] and shot through the driver's side window that was rolled-up,[1][3][35] which shattered the glass[35] outward[2][12] with visible smoke,[41] and indicated that Idd fired at the officers.[3][2][35][6] One officer then yelled, "Fuck!"[38] The officer that approached the vehicle ducked for cover.[5] Two seconds later, officers Huynh, Klund, and Schmitt returned over a dozen rounds of gunfire.[1][5][30]

Idd died at the scene. The woman in the passenger's seat of the white vehicle was unharmed.[4][16] No police officers were injured.[41]

Minneapolis police recovered a black-and-silver colored handgun in the white vehicle driven by Idd that was located between Idd's body and the vehicle's center console[40][9][3] and a spent 45-caliber cartridge on the floor of the driver's side.[8]

Investigators recovered six bullets and seven bullet fragments that had been fired by the three police officers.[8]

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reported that a MAC-10 assault-style gun was found in the white vehicle driven by Idd;[42][10] the actual gun model was a MAC-10 variant known as Leinad PM-11.[8] Authorities recovered the Leinad PM-11 and ammunition in a backpack on the passenger's side.[8]

Soon after the shooting, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension interviewed the female passenger of the white vehicle who said she was Idd's girlfriend and that she knew him only as "Bird", a nickname known to authorities from past investigations,[10] and that she had been with Idd to his family’s home in Eden Prairie.[28] The confidential informant who attempted to purchase a gun from Dolal Idd also told authorities that Idd had additional guns at his home.[29] Authorities used both sources of information to establish probable cause for a search of Idd's home in Eden Prairie for firearms, ammunition, and other materials.[29]

When the authorities looked up Idd's address, they found that police had been called to the house several times before for weapons offenses and that Idd had a history of possessing stolen firearms.[28] Officials felt it was necessary to search the home overnight before evidence could potentially be destroyed or moved.[40] At 12:13 a.m. on December 31, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill approved a warrant to search the home.[40]

Before searching the home, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents spoke with the Eden Prairie Police Department, who had a history with Idd and the family home. Eden Prairie police had responded to 19 different incidents with Idd and had 27 calls to the Idd family home over the past six years.[10] Dolal Idd was convicted of firing a gun in the basement of the same home, previously.[43] Two of Idd's brothers who had lived at the home were also the subject of recent law enforcement actions.[10] At the time of the search, Idd's 26-year old brother was being held in a Hennepin County jail on a $1 million bond for a murder charge related to a November 30, 2020, incident in Bloomington, Minnesota in which he allegedly shot and killed another person with a firearm he possessed illegally.[20][44] Another brother, a 25-years old, was by the date of the home search in the fifth year of a prison sentence for robbery and assault of a person at a Life Time Fitness gym in Eden Prairie, and for breaking into a random home in Bloomington, Minnesota and assaulting the homeowner.[20][10]

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office assisted the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in executing the search warrant at 2:35 a.m. on December 31.[12][43] The type of warrant issued at the home was a "knock and announce"—which became a key issue in the Breonna Taylor case, a fatal officer-involved shooting in Louisville, Kentucky in March 2020—where officers announce their presence before entering.[45] After the search of the Idd family home drew controversy, and left the family feeling "terrorized" by the ordeal,[3][24] the sheriff's office released a 28-minute video from officer body camera footage.[46] The footage revealed deputies announcing, “Police, search warrant!” as they pushed their way into the home with drawn assault riffles and pistols. Several adults in the home had their hands zip-tied by officers, even while appearing cooperative, as questions they had for the officers about the search largely went unanswered.[43] The family was not informed that Dolal Idd had been fatally shot earlier until the end of the two-hour search of their home.[29]

Authorities did not recover any firearms in a search of the home.[3][10]

In a press conference the night of December 30, 2020, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo confirmed that an outside investigation was underway, gave a preliminary report about the incident, and vowed to release body camera footage the following day.[50]

On December 31, 2020, the Hennepin County medical examiner's office identified the deceased person from the shootout as Dolal B. Idd, a 23-year-old black man.[5] An autopsy by the medical examiner revealed the cause of Idd's death to be multiple gunshot wounds.[41] The manner of Idd's death was characterized as a homicide, which meant the death was caused by another person, and was not necessarily an indication of a crime.[47]

The Minneapolis Police Department released a 27-second video from an officer's body camera on December 31.[1] A spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city released the video footage to dispel rumors about the incident, and that the segment released had the clearest view of footage they had in possession.[37] Minneapolis police and city officials acknowledged that the shooting would bring back painful memories for the city's residents who were still dealing with the aftermath of Floyd's death the prior May.[5]

Release of the body camera footage within 24 hours of the incident was considered an unprecedented move in Minnesota where such releases can take months or even a year. Minneapolis officials used a special provision in a Minnesota Statute to release information from an active investigation to "dispel widespread rumor or unrest". The same provision was last used in August 2020 when false rumors of a police shooting led to violent rioting in downtown Minneapolis, and officials released a graphic video of a man committing suicide to calm the community.[51]

On December 31, 2020, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said that video evidence and eyewitness accounts of people who were nearby the shooting suggested that Idd fired his weapon at police first.[52][12] Arradondo also said the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension would take over the investigation of Idd's death.[4] In a preliminary report released on January 4, 2021, the bureau said that Idd struck several police vehicles with his car and fired at officers who then returned fire.[11] The bureau also said additional footage of the shooting would not be released until the investigation is closed.[37]

Idd was killed in Hennepin County. Following an agreement signed by several Minneapolis–Saint Paul metro counties in mid 2020 concerning deadly police encounters, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said it would defer to prosecutors from another county, in this instance Dakota County, about whether to file charges against the officers who shot and killed Idd.[53][10] The three officers were placed on administrative leave after the incident, a standard practice pending further investigation.[33] Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said his office would review the case to determine if the officers were legally justified to use force.[11]

Protests first emerged the evening of December 30, 2020, when few details were known about the shooting incident.[4] On social media, as news about the incident spread, many disputed the police narrative, and pointed out that George Floyd's death the past May was initially described by the police department as a "medical incident", though a bystander's video later showed that Floyd was pinned by a police officer's knee for nearly nine minutes as he struggled to breathe.[54] Protesters over Idd's death demanded more information about the shooting and questioned if police officers could have de-escalated the situation to prevent firing on Idd.[52]

Approximately 100[4] people gathered at the Holiday gas station near East 36th street and Cedar Avenue that night in below-freezing temperate, arriving soon after the shooting incident, and faced off with police officers wearing riot gear.[6] Some protesters shouted expletives and threw snowballs at police officers who were investigating the scene. In response, officers requested and received dispatch approval to use pepper spray if assaulted by demonstrators, but they did not use it. By late evening, the scene was calmer as protesters blocked an intersection and lit a bonfire.[4] The tone of the scene was described as angry, but not violent.[12] A van played loud music and several people gave speeches.[12] Protesters dispersed around midnight and no arrests were reported.[12]

Hours after the release of the body camera footage on December 31, 2020, several people attended a vigil near the intersection of Cedar Avenue and East 36th Street in for Idd and other victims of police violence.[1]

As many as 1,000 protesters marched peacefully in south Minneapolis on January 3, 2021, to express outrage over the killing of Dolal Idd and a controversial search of the Idd family home. The march from the East 36th Street and Cedar Avenue intersection to Lake Street and back featured signs, speeches by activists, and chants in a scene reminiscent of local unrest in mid-2020.[13] Participants in the march, which was organized by the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, did not condone Idd's actions, but felt the use of lethal force was unnecessary and that police were leaving questions about the incident unanswered.[55] Activists called for an independent investigation.[13]

Protests over the killing of Dolal Idd broadened to themes of racial injustice and outrage over other police-related violence.[56] In an event organized by the Minnesota chapter of Black Lives Matter,[57] several hundred people gathered in downtown Minneapolis on January 9, 2021, for a rally that featured speeches, hand-drawn signs, and chats. Protesters connected Idd's death to aggressive police action against black men, such as with the killing of George Floyd and shooting of Jacob Blake, which protesters contrasted to the mob that stormed the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021, when Capitol police took little action to stop them.[56]

Approximately 150 people gathered for a vigil for Dolal Idd and racial justice protest rally outside a public library in Tukwila, Washington on January 10, 2021. The day's events were coordinated by Somali- and Muslim-American communities in the Seattle area. The rally turned into a march to the Tukwila Justice Center, where protesters also called for defunding the police by 50% in lieu of greater investment in the community and youth programs.[58]

After his death, the police in Bloomington, Minnesota investigated Dolal Idd's possible connection to a shootout and homicide on November 30, 2020.[8] Surveillance video at 2:30 a.m on November 30, showed Dolal Idd attempting to enter an apartment building on Old Shakopee Road in Bloomington, texting on his phone, and taking photographs of the building.[8] Three hours later, at approximately 5:30 a.m., an exchange of gunfire at the same apartment building left the 22-year-old Shakur Freed Muhammed of Hopkins, Minnesota dead.[8] Dolal Idd's 26-year old brother, Mohamed Amin Bayle Idd, was arrested at the apartment building on November 30 and had suffered gunshot wounds, and was later charged with second-degree intentional murder in connection with the man's death. Dolal Idd's 27-year old cousin, Abdi Bishar Mohamed, who was also arrested at the apartment building on November 30 and suffered gunshot wounds, was charged with aiding an offender and illegal weapons possession.[59][22][60] At some point hours before the shooting, Muhammed had met up with Mohamed Amin Bayle Idd, and Muhammed told this girlfriend that he had stolen Percocet pills from him. Witnesses reported seeing two men outside the apartment where Muhammed was found dead saying, "I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you."[61] Bloomington police had not commented on the investigation or provided an update by mid January 2020.[8]

Eight days after Idd's death, on January 8, 2021, police officers in the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale shot and killed Eugene Andren, a 47-year old white man from Ramsey, Minnesota.[62][63] Andren had a warrant for his arrest in South Dakota. He had admitted to a child pornography charge, but he failed to show up to be sentenced in December 2020.[64] After a brief car chase with Robbinsdale police, Andren wielded a knife as officers attempted to subdue and arrest him, and after attempting to use a taser, an officer fired his weapon three times, killing Andren.[62][63] The shooting was the subject of a protest and counter-demonstration.[65]