# Mount Vernon *This entry concerns the Mount Vernon named in U.S. Department of Justice release No. 25-534. For George Washington's estate in Fairfax County, Virginia, see the Wikipedia article* Mount Vernon.[^1] Mount Vernon appears in the Minnesota record in one instrument. On May 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division issued release No. 25-534. In it the Department moved to "dismiss with prejudice" the [[Minneapolis]] and [[Louisville]] suits, closed both investigations, and retracted the Department's findings as to Mount Vernon and five other jurisdictions in the same action.[^2] The record contains no other dated fact, filing or count about Mount Vernon.[^2] As carried in the record, the release covers eight jurisdictions. Its suits were dismissed and its investigations closed for Minneapolis and Louisville. Its findings were also retracted for [[Phoenix]], [[Trenton]], [[Memphis]], Mount Vernon, [[Oklahoma City]] and the [[Louisiana State Police]].[^2] The at-issue entry on the action calls the others "six others", but it names seven. This article follows the release's list.[^3] The release stated its purpose in the words of Assistant Attorney General Dhillon: "ending the Biden Civil Rights Division's failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders".[^2] The documented output, as to Minneapolis, was the retraction of a June 16, 2023 finding of reasonable cause against the [[Minneapolis Police Department]].[^4] It also ended the suit in which a [[consent decree]] had been filed on January 6, 2025.[^5] ## Where - The record's source for the retraction names the jurisdiction only as "Mount Vernon", without a state.[^2] - This entry is catalogued as Mount Vernon, New York. That identification rests on the catalogue, not on a quoted passage of the release.[^2] - The release lists Mount Vernon with Phoenix, Trenton, Memphis, Oklahoma City and the Louisiana State Police. It retracted the findings as to each of them.[^2] ## In the at-issue record At-issue entry 031 ([[At issue 031 - When DOJ retracted the Minneapolis findings it retracted]]; AI-031 and AI-Hennepin-031) records the retraction as a single action covering several jurisdictions. In the entry's words, "Minneapolis was not singled out. It was in a batch."[^3] The entry's cited source domain is justice.gov.[^3] The entry gives as its anchor a March 2025 presidential action, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos*. The record quotes no text of that order concerning police findings.[^6] The record shows that these jurisdictions were treated in one release. It does not establish why they were grouped.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### When - April 21, 2021: the Department opened a pattern-or-practice investigation of the [[City of Minneapolis]] and its police department under 34 U.S.C. § 12601. The investigation was announced one day after the [[Chauvin verdict]].[^7] - June 16, 2023: in release 23-674, the Department found reasonable cause that the police department "uses excessive force, including unjustified deadly force". It also found that the department "unlawfully discriminates against Black people and Native American people".[^4] The full findings report runs 89 pages.[^8] - January 6, 2025: a consent decree was filed in *[[United States v. City of Minneapolis (MPD consent decree)]]*, No. 0:25-cv-00048 (D. Minn.). The decree runs 169 pages and provides for an independent monitor.[^5] - May 21, 2025: the Department moved to dismiss with prejudice and retracted the Minneapolis findings, together with those as to Mount Vernon and the other listed jurisdictions.[^2] - May 2025: Judge [[Paul A. Magnuson]] granted dismissal with prejudice. He denied the settlement-approval motion as moot. Sahan Journal reports that the order issued May 28, 2025.[^9] The Clearinghouse docket dates the dismissal May 27, 2025.[^7] ### What - In granting dismissal, Judge Magnuson cited "grave misgivings about the proposed consent decree serving the public interest."[^9] - A state instrument covering the same department was not affected by the federal retraction. - The Minnesota Department of Human Rights filed a charge on June 1, 2020. - On April 27, 2022, it found "probable cause that the City and MPD engage in a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the [[Minnesota Human Rights Act]]".[^10] - The same MDHR report found that 13 of the 14 people killed by MPD officers since 2010 were people of color or Indigenous. - It found that Black residents were 19% of the population but accounted for 63% of recorded use-of-force incidents from 2010 to 2020. - For 2017 to 2020, it found that Black residents accounted for 54% of officer-initiated traffic stops and 78% of all searches.[^10] - A court-enforceable settlement was filed on March 31, 2023. The [[Hennepin County District Court]] approved it on July 13, 2023, in *Minnesota v. Minneapolis Police Department*, [[No. 27-CV-23-4177]].[^11] The case docket is maintained by the Clearinghouse.[^12] - The settlement terminates only on a finding of "full, effective, and sustained compliance".[^11] - The [[independent evaluator]], ELEFA, began work on March 18, 2024.[^11] MDHR maintains a document hub for the agreement.[^13] ### Who - Assistant Attorney General Dhillon issued the statement accompanying the May 21, 2025 retraction.[^2] - Judge Paul A. Magnuson granted the federal dismissal.[^9] - Hennepin County District Court Judge Karen Janisch approved the state settlement.[^11] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Mount Vernon* (revision 1380899777, retrieved 2026-10-28) — the article concerns George Washington's estate in Fairfax County, Virginia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vernon [^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Release No. 25-534* (May 21, 2025) — establishes the following: the motion to dismiss with prejudice the Minneapolis and Louisville suits; the closing of both investigations; the retraction of findings, including as to Phoenix, Trenton, Memphis, Mount Vernon, Oklahoma City and the Louisiana State Police; and AAG Dhillon's statement. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-department-justices-civil-rights-division-dismisses-biden-era-police-investigations-and [^3]: Freeman Apex Dossier, *§V.d The federal instruments, and the one that was retracted* (2026-09-02), at-issue entry AI-031 / AI-Hennepin-031 — the text of the entry; the entry's cited source is DOJ release No. 25-534. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-department-justices-civil-rights-division-dismisses-biden-era-police-investigations-and [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Justice Department Finds Civil Rights Violations by the Minneapolis Police Department and City* (release 23-674, June 16, 2023) — establishes the reasonable-cause findings on excessive force and discrimination. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-civil-rights-violations-minneapolis-police-department-and-city [^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Justice Department Reaches Agreement with City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Police Department* (January 6, 2025) — establishes the consent decree in No. 0:25-cv-00048 (D. Minn.), its 169-page length, and its independent monitor. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-reaches-agreement-city-minneapolis-and-minneapolis-police-department [^6]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — the presidential action the at-issue entry gives as its anchor. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^7]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *United States v. City of Minneapolis*, case 18178 — establishes the investigation opened April 21, 2021 under 34 U.S.C. § 12601 and the docket date of dismissal (May 27, 2025). https://clearinghouse.net/case/18178/ [^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Investigation of the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (findings report, June 2023) — the full 89-page findings report. https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-06/minneapolis_findings_report.pdf [^9]: Sahan Journal, *Minneapolis federal consent decree dismissed* (May 2025) — reports Judge Magnuson's order of May 28, 2025 and quotes its stated misgivings. https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/minneapolis-federal-consent-decree-dismissed/ [^10]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (April 27, 2022) — establishes the charge of June 1, 2020, the probable-cause finding, and the force, stop and search figures. https://mn.gov/mdhr/assets/Investigation%20into%20the%20City%20of%20Minneapolis%20and%20the%20Minneapolis%20Police%20Department_tcm1061-526417.pdf [^11]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Civil rights update* (newsroom item 1061-584578) — establishes the following: the settlement filed March 31, 2023; its approval July 13, 2023 by Judge Karen Janisch in No. 27-CV-23-4177; its termination standard; and the start of independent evaluator ELEFA on March 18, 2024. https://mn.gov/mdhr/news-community/newsroom/civilrightsupdates.jsp?id=1061-584578 [^12]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *Minnesota v. Minneapolis Police Department*, case 43326 — the docket for No. 27-CV-23-4177. https://clearinghouse.net/case/43326/ [^13]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *MPD court-enforceable settlement agreement* (document hub) — the agreement and related documents. https://mn.gov/mdhr/mpd/agreement/