Senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials repeatedly declined Wednesday to provide details on why the government launched a “Patterns and Practices” civil investigation of the Minneapolis Policy Department (MPD). Attorney-General Merrick Garland announced the investigation earlier in the day, and reporters were later given a background briefing on condition the names of the participating officials would not be published. The purpose of the investigation is to determine if the MPD engaged in “a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing,” Garland said. Garland’s announcement came the day after former MPD Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted on three counts in the July 2020 death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was detained after trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after being pinned to the ground chest down by Chauvin’s knee on his neck for nearly 10 minutes. The former officer now faces as much as …