Bob Kroll (police officer)

In particular, his comments following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 resulted in calls for his resignation, including from a number of unions, several former mayors of Minneapolis, and a former police chief.

[1] He was promoted to sergeant in 1994,[10] elected to the board of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis in 1996,[4] and named vice president in 2006.

[15] A 1995 lawsuit against Kroll in federal court alleged that he had used racial slurs while beating, choking and kicking a 15-year-old multi-racial boy.

[16] Kroll oversaw a botched Emergency Response Unit drug raid in 1996 where an officer was shot by friendly fire.

[15][10] A City of Minneapolis attorney recommended settling a lawsuit for $15,000 stemming from Kroll kicking and beating a suspect at an impound lot in February 2004.

[10] After a man allegedly bumped up against their vehicle, Kroll and the other officer, dressed in plain clothes, punched him, throwing him on the sidewalk and hitting his head on the ground.

The lawsuit described Kroll as having "a history of discriminatory attitudes and conduct,"[18] and alleged that he wore a motorcycle jacket that had a white power patch.

[20] During the grand jury investigation of the shooting of Justine Damond in 2018, Kroll challenged Hennepin County Attorney Michael O. Freeman's efforts to gather testimony from officers.

[21] Later that year, Kroll pushed back against requirements that police department squad cars have placards informing immigrants of their rights.

[17][25] Minnesota AFL–CIO President Bill McCarthy criticized Kroll in June 2020 for "a long history of bigoted remarks and complaints of violence made against him" toward black residents.

McCarthy, Education Minnesota (the state's teachers union), and former Minneapolis Chief of Police Janeé Harteau called for Kroll's resignation.

[30] Minnesota House of Representatives speaker Melissa Hortman and Minneapolis City Council member Steve Fletcher also called on Kroll to resign.

[7][31] A 100-person protest group led by Levy Armstrong's Racial Justice Network gathered outside Kroll's home in Hugo, Minnesota on August 15, 2020, to call for his resignation from the Minneapolis police union.

Protesters also criticized Kroll's wife, WCCO television reporter Liz Collin, asserting she had a conflict of interest in stories about police violence.

[32][33] In 2023, Kroll was banned from serving as a law enforcement officer in three of the state's most populous metro counties for 10 years, as a result of a successful lawsuit from the Minnesota ACLU.

[38] Kroll also sold "Cops for Trump" shirts, an act that generated concerns about political bias in the police force.