Minneapolis, MN – On January 3, over 1200 people marched in South Minneapolis to demand justice for Dolal Idd, who was killed by the Minneapolis police department on December 30.

The lead organization was the Minnesota Council on Islamic Relations (CAIR), supported by the rest of the anti-police terror movement. The rally started at the spot where Dolal Idd was killed, at the Holiday gas station at 36th Street and Cedar Avenue. The large crowd heard speakers, including Dolal's father, then went on a spirited march to Lake Street and looped back to the starting point. This is the third protest since Idd was murdered.

Monique Cullars Doty, a prominent local activist, spoke about the raid on the Idd family home – which happened before the cops informed them that Dolal Idd had been killed. “I am the aunt of Marcus Golden who was shot in the back of his head while parked in his vehicle. They came and raided my mother’s house to get a gun that he legally owned, some 11 hours later, as they tried to craft their lies [that Marcus was armed when they killed him].”

Cullars Doty made the connection: “I watched the video of this [Idd’s] family in their home at 2 a.m. – door busted down, handcuffed, and the little baby who needs help, the police giving him orders, the officer telling the other child ‘You’re OK.’ No, he’s not OK, because there’s been an invasion! I’m tired of the police trying to tell us how we feel in the face of injustice. This has got to stop. This is what happens when police come into the home to look for evidence because they have to create a justification for murder.”

Loretta Van Pelt and Jess Sundin spoke for Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar. In addition to demanding justice for Idd, they called for community control of police, to ensure that the community has the power to get rid of racist and violent cops once and for all.

The crowd continued to swell for hours, with protesters still arriving at the starting point as the march returned to the site. Attendees included a large majority of women and youth, many from the Somali community.

There are still many unanswered questions about the night of December 30, when MPD killed the young Somali American man. It is the second killing of a Black person by the MPD in 2020. It is also the second police murder of a Somali man in about a year and half in Minnesota, after Isak Aden was killed by several police in Eagan in July of 2019.

Much like with the murder of George Floyd, the MPD immediately began their public relations smear campaign, including releasing a 27-second body cam video which doesn’t shed light onto the sequence of events. However, it does show how police penned in Idd and fired several shots into his car as he was ambushed – a fate that is unfortunately all too familiar to Black people across the United States. Unbelievably, a woman who was in the car at the time remained unscathed but unheard from after the incident. The community has many questions regarding the whereabouts of this woman. The community is also demanding answers as to why Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies raided Idd's family home hours after he was murdered.

The Washington Post keeps database of people killed by police terror since 2015, the same year Jamar Clark was killed. Each year they have tracked almost 1000 cases. Again, with the murder of Idd and others the total count stands at 999 across the U.S. for 2020. It is clear that, without a major overhaul to the policing system via community control of the police, we will continue to see high levels of police terror in our communities.

The rally and march ended with additional speeches and the community vowed to continue the fight for justice and police accountability.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #CouncilOnAmericanIslamicRelations #TwinCitiesCoalition4JusticeForJamarTCC4J #JusticeForDolalIdd