The Minneapolis police are finally owning up to their major screw-up. They failed this poor Black man named Davis Moturi, who ended up getting shot by his white neighbour, John Herbert Sawchak. Can you believe it?
It’s about time they recognize their failures and take some responsibility. I mean, how could they let something like this happen? It’s their job to protect and serve, but they clearly dropped the ball big time.
Minneapolis police have apologized for failing to address a local Black man’s complaints of repeated, racist harassment from his white neighbor until after the neighbor shot the victim in the victim’s own yard.
The attack on 34-year-old Davis Moturi this past Wednesday as he performed yard work left him with a fractured spine, two broken ribs and a concussion. Authorities by Thursday had obtained criminal charges against John Herbert Sawchak, who is accused of shooting from an upstairs window in his home to wound Moturi – but they waited until early Monday to arrest him.
“We failed this victim 100%,” Brian O’Hara, Minneapolis police chief, told reporters. “And to that victim, I say I am sorry that this happened to you.”
Moturi’s shooting comes after a US justice department investigation last year concluded that the Minneapolis police department had a “pattern or practice” of discrimination against Black Americans, among other findings.
Since Moturi purchased his home in 2023, he and his wife contacted authorities at least 19 times to report Sawchak for vandalism, property destruction, harassment and threats of physical harm while hurling racist slurs, court records state.
Police obtained at least three warrants to arrest Sawchak in connection with threats or violent acts against Moturi and other neighbors. But none resulted in his capture, with police claiming Sawchak “actively evaded [them] during prior attempts to contact or arrest him”.
Finally, from an upstairs window in his home, Sawchak shot Moturi in the neck while the victim pruned a tree that was near the property line with a chainsaw in his own yard. Sawchak had apparently planted the tree with his mother, O’Hara said.
A day later, the Hennepin county attorney’s office charged Sawchak with attempted murder, first-degree assault, felony harassment and stalking – with prosecutors explicitly accusing him of racism.
But it wasn’t until 1.30am on Monday that police took Sawchak into custody.
Omar Fateh, Minnesota state senator, released a statement saying that the police’s “refusal to make an arrest on the basis of avoiding a violent conflict” stood in “stark contrast to other instances in which Black men have been killed” despite alternatives being available.
“We must hold law enforcement accountable and ensure our public safety policies prioritize community wellbeing over convenience,” Fateh said. “Minneapolis residents deserve better.”
O’Hara apologized to Moturi for his agency’s failure to prevent him from being shot.
“That should not have happened,” O’Hara said. “The Minneapolis police somehow did not act urgently enough.”
But O’Hara has also sought to excuse his department’s performance, saying his officers “are scared of being prosecuted if they get into a situation where they make a mistake trying to do their job and protect the public”.
“Anyone who suggests that the cops don’t want to arrest this person is simply wrong,” O’Hara said on Friday.
On Monday morning, shortly after Sawchak’s arrest, Jacob Frey, the Minneapolis mayor, gave O’Hara and his police department a vote of confidence, saying he was “grateful” for their work.
“What we had tonight was an extraordinarily dangerous situation,” Frey said. “Our officers did this the right way.”
I hope this serves as a wake-up call for the Minneapolis police. They need to seriously reevaluate their priorities and ensure that they’re doing everything in their power to protect everyone in their community, regardless of their skin color. No one should go through what Davis had to endure.
Flip to the next page to watch Davis Moturi speak…
