Minnesota State Patrol Colonel Matt Langer stands by as bodycam and dash cam footage of the police shooting death of Ricky Cobb II plays at a press conference on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, in St. Paul, Minnesota. | Source: Star Tribune via Getty Images / Getty
T he police officer accused of murdering an unarmed Black driver in Minneapolis last summer didn’t follow the proper law enforcement protocol during the fatal encounter, according to a noted criminologist who played a pivotal role in legal proceedings surrounding George Floyd’s police murder.
Minnesota State Patrol Trooper Ryan Londregan was charged last week in the killing of Ricky Cobb II with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter more than six months after a pretextual traffic stop led to what critics say was unnecessary police violence.
Among those critics is Dr. Geoffrey Alpert , an internationally recognized law enforcement expert who testified as a witness in the civil lawsuit filed by Floyd’s family against the city of Minneapolis and the four officers convicted for their roles in the police murder. Alpert, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina specializing in police use of force, pointed to the video footage recorded via body and dashboard cameras as showing evidence supporting criminal charges against Londregan, who is white.