Minneapolis police say national outage impacting 911 network

The Minneapolis police are reporting that 911 lines are not operational nationwide.

The outage is impacting phone calls and text messages to 911.

Some 911 lines have returned to service following a reported nationwide outage, according to some law enforcement agencies

Both the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and the Benton County Sheriff's Office have reported 911 functionality has returned.

Other sheriff's offices and police departments are still reporting issues.

UPDATE 8:30:

After a multi-state outage, most 911 services have been restored in Minnesota.

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, some 911 centers are still experiencing abnormalities.

If reaching 911 is difficult, DPS urges residents call the 10-digit, 24-hour number associated with their county's 911 cente

Hennepin County attorney says no cases of ballot harvesting reported following allegations from Project Veritas, MPD evaluating claim

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office says it has not received information regarding potential ballot harvesting, nor does it have any active investigations into the matter.

The attorney's office released the statement after the right-wing activist group, Project Veritas, released a report claiming instances of ballot harvesting among "political allies and associates of Rep. Ilhan Omar."

Project Veritas has made headlines in the past for its track record of targeting Democratic groups and major media outlets, often by hiding their identities and using hidden cameras. James O'Keefe, the organization's founder, was convicted in 2010 as part of a scheme to illegally make recordings at the office of then-Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat.

The report from the organization makes a series of allegations about a scheme to get elderly Somali voters to turn over absentee ballots to people "harvesting" votes for Minneapolis City Councilman Jamal Osman, who was elected during a special election on Aug. 11. A video with the report shows what the organization claim are absentee ballots piled up in a car. Video also shows a man going door-to-door collecting ballots in the Cedar-Riverside Apartments, home to a large Somali population.

How a Pledge to Dismantle the Minneapolis Police Collapsed

Over three months ago, a majority of the Minneapolis City Council pledged to defund the city’s police department, making a powerful statement that reverberated across the country. It shook up Capitol Hill and the presidential race, shocked residents, delighted activists and changed the trajectory of efforts to overhaul the police during a crucial window of tumult and political opportunity.

Now some council members would like a do-over.

Councilor Andrew Johnson, one of the nine members who supported the pledge in June, said in an interview that he meant the words “in spirit,” not by the letter. Another councilor, Phillipe Cunningham, said that the language in the pledge was “up for interpretation” and that even among council members soon after the promise was made, “it was very clear that most of us had interpreted that language differently.” Lisa Bender, the council president, paused for 16 seconds when asked if the council’s statement had led to uncertainty at a pivotal moment for the city.

“I think our pledge created confusion in the community and in our wards,” she said.

4th grader suspended for having a BB gun in his bedroom during virtual learning

A 9-year-old Louisiana student was suspended after a teacher reported seeing a gun in the boy's bedroom during a virtual class.

The attorney representing the child's family said it was a BB gun and the school went too far -- applying its on-campus weapons policy without considering the privacy of the child and his family.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry announced Friday his office is investigating.

"I am alarmed by what appears to not only be multiple violations of both the State and Federal Constitutions, but also blatant government overreach by the school system," Landry said in a statement.

Judge rules Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, assistant attorneys off the George Floyd case

After a break, the discussion is now centered on a motion to disqualify the Hennepin County Attorney's Office from prosecuting, or participating in the prosecution of, the case.

Attorney Eric Nelson, who is representing former officer Derek Chauvin, claims the attorney's office violated attorney witness law and should be disqualified.

He is also arguing discovery documents, which reference officer training, indicate attorney's office members provided training to the Minneapolis Police Department's officers.

According to the court brief, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and several of the assistant attorneys "are potential witnesses due to their interviews of Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker, regarding his autopsy of George Floyd without having a non-attorney witness present."

Teen charged in Kenosha killings stalls return to Wisconsin

A judge agreed Friday to delay for a month a decision on whether a 17-year-old from Illinois should be returned to Wisconsin to face charges accusing him of fatally shooting two protesters and wounding a third during a night of unrest following the weekend police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha.

The Illinois judge postponed Kyle Rittenhouse's extradition hearing to Sept. 25 during a brief hearing that was streamed online. Rittenhouse faces five felony charges, including first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide, and a misdemeanor charge for possession of a dangerous weapon by a minor.

Rittenhouse did not appear in the livestreamed hearing, where his attorney Jennifer Snyder, an assistant public defender in Lake County, Illinois, asked for the delay. The judge said Rittenhouse had been permitted to speak by phone with his mother and was in the process of hiring an attorney.

Rittenhouse, a white teen who was armed with a semi-automatic rifle as he walked Kenosha's streets with other armed civilians during this week's protests, would face a mandatory life sentence if convicted of first-degree intentional homicide. Under Wisconsin law, anyone 17 or older is treated as an adult in the criminal justice system.

Minnesota governor told White House a Trump visit to George Floyd memorial is 'really bad idea'

President Donald Trump’s campaign team wanted to have the president visit south Minneapolis Monday during his trip to Minnesota, including the George Floyd memorial at 38th and Chicago. Gov. Tim Walz said he spent the weekend telling the White House why it was a “really bad idea.”
 
South Minneapolis is where George Floyd was killed while being detained by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day. His death led to civil unrest and riots in the days following. 

“I spent this weekend trying to tell the White House why it was a really bad idea to have President Trump go and stand at the George Floyd memorial and use it as a backdrop for his campaign and ignite the pain and the anguish that we are feeling in Minnesota,” Gov. Walz said on a Minnesota DFL delegation breakfast ahead of the Democratic National Convention. “We like all of you watched a man be murdered for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in front of us and it exposed systemic racism that dates back -- we’re proud of our state, but we’re also not so hardened that we don’t recognize that to live in Minnesota, if you’re white, is a pretty good deal. If you’re not, it becomes much more difficult.”
 
Trump’s team, however, appears to have decided not to stop in south Minneapolis. The president is only expected to do his previously announced campaign event at the regional airport in Mankato, a Walz aide told FOX 9. 

Children's theme park employee punched in the face for enforcing park's mask policy

A teen working at a children's theme park in Pennsylvania was punched in the face for enforcing the park's face mask policy, police say.

The 17-year-old employee was "aggressively punched by both a female and a male," on Sunday at Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, according to Middletown Township Police Lieutenant Stephen Forman. The park is located just 26 miles outside of Philadelphia.

There was no push back when the teen first approached the guests to remind them to wear their masks, according to CNN affiliate WPVI. But later, when the employee reminded them a second time, the guests turned violent. It's unclear where in the park these encounters took place.

The theme park reopened late July with a mask policy in place that mandates face masks be worn in all public spaces. Failure to comply with the park's policy will prohibit guests from entering or remaining in the park, their website says.

Military helicopter shot at over Virginia, injuring a crew member


A US Air Force helicopter was shot at near Manassas, Virginia, on Monday injuring one of two pilots on board, according to an Air Force official.

The UH-1N was flying 10 miles northwest of Manassas on a routine training mission at an altitude of 1,000 feet when the incident occurred. It landed safely at Manassas Regional Airport west of Washington, DC, and the pilot was taken to hospital where they were treated and released, the official said.

The incident is now under FBI and Air Force investigation to determine if the helicopter was deliberately shot at or if someone was randomly shooting into the air. The aircraft will be closely inspected for other damage, the official added.

The airport operations officer Richard Allabaugh reported its air traffic control tower was notified of an "an onboard emergency on a military helicopter that was inbound."