By Noah Schumacher and staff

St. Paul, MN – On Saturday, September 12, the annual Justice for Stolen Lives March took place. The march is organized annually by Toshira Garraway and Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence (FSFAPV) to honor and demand justice for all lives stolen by police. Garraway’s fiancé, Justin Teigen, was brutally murdered and had his body dumped into a recycling bin in 2009 by the Saint Paul Police Department.

The three-mile march started at the Saint Paul Police Department on Hamline Avenue and ended in front of the Minnesota State Capitol, where impacted families spoke powerfully about their loved ones and their fights for justice.

The chanters of the march included Mississippi organizer Marquell Bridges of the Building Bridges Coalition, who travelled to Minnesota with Daveon Williams, the father of Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old baby who was shot and killed in the arms of his mother earlier this year by a Senatobia, Mississippi police officer.

Bridges spoke to the shared struggle between organizers in Minnesota and Mississippi. Bridges stated, “It's important for us to build this network. It’s important for us to build community and share this space together. Continue to lead the world. We need you to come to Mississippi and show us how you got ICE out. Show us how you created the 2020 movement.”

There was no shortage of stories from impacted families to be shared at the Justice for Stolen Lives March. The family of David Storbakken, an unhoused Native man whose disappearance has not been investigated by SPPD; Ebony Dobbins, a mother who had her home broken into unlawfully by Minneapolis police; Amity Dimock, the mother of Kobe Heisler, an autistic Black man shot during a mental health crisis, and others, all spoke passionately about the painful impacts of experiencing police violence, only to face the indifference of government and the public.

Karen Wells, the mother of Amir Locke, who was murdered in 2022 by Minneapolis Police Department officer Mark Hanneman, spoke candidly about Mayor Jacob Frey’s role in protecting MPD from consequences. Wells called out Frey for dancing in the streets with Black folks while failing to protect communities from MPD’s well-documented racism and violence.

“I have a problem with that, because you’re still trying to cover up my son's murder,” said Wells. “After you shoot our loved ones, you tie their hands behind their backs? There is going to come a time today when [Frey] is going to meet me in person and you are going to have to deal with Amir Ricardo Locke’s mother.”

Many impacted family members are still finding their voices while going through the pain of losing their loved ones and the fear of reprisals from police criminals. That is why organizations like FSFAPV, the Building Bridges Coalition and the Wrongfully Incarcerated & Over-sentenced Families Council are so important. Impacted families need the support of the people’s movements, because the onslaught from the enemy does not cease after the police kill a community member. Those who speak up and fight for justice, like Garraway is currently doing for her fiancé Justin Teigen, often face retaliation and threats from police or their sycophants.

The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, a branch organization of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, played key roles in helping organize and execute the march by volunteering as marshals, emcees, chanters and speakers. Members also petitioned and spoke about their ongoing campaign to win community control of Minneapolis police.

Jae Yates, a TCC4J organizer, told the crowd, “Someone in the crowd reminded me that disabled people are twice as likely to be killed by police, and it’s important that we uplift that. So many of the families we advocate for had their loved ones murdered because of mental health or mobility problems that made police perceive them as uncooperative or dangerous. We have to commit to protecting all marginalized people, because if the person next to you can’t live in safety and peace, neither can you. We are being kept down by the exact same people, and we only win by fighting together.”

On Friday, September 11, at the Capri Theater in north Minneapolis, community members and organizers gathered for a screening of the 2024 documentary The People’s Way.

The documentary, created by two Black filmmakers, Ashley and William Tyner, follows three Black women leaders in Minneapolis: George Floyd Square caretaker Janelle Austin, City Council member Robin Wonsley and Toshira Garraway, founder of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence. The film was a powerful reminder of the strength of the movement for Black liberation here in Minneapolis.

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