Minneapolis, MN – On August 5, 60 people gathered alongside Washington Avenue near Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Minneapolis office to demand an end of U.S. aid to apartheid Israel. The protesters stretched down the block with signs and Palestinian flags, greeting the rush hour drivers, who were overwhelmingly supportive and honking wildly.

The protest was called after Klobuchar, a ‘centrist’ Democrat, failed to respond to a petition signed by over 1000 of her constituents supporting the Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act (HR 2590) which would prevent U.S. funds from being used by Israel for violence and oppression of the Palestinian people. Minnesota Representatives Betty McCullom and Ilhan Omar have supported the bill already in the House, and the petition calls on senators like Klobuchar to put forward similar bills in the Senate.

The first speaker, Autumn Lake from the MN Anti-War Committee, explained, “This year the movement in the U.S. for solidarity with the people of Palestine has reached incredible heights. Thousands of us took to the streets of Minneapolis and in dozens of other cities across the country in the wake of continued violence against Palestinians on their own land. This topic has actually started to become mainstream in U.S. politics. Politicians whose voting bases are even remotely progressive are going to be finding it unsustainable not to stand with Palestine as time goes on.”

The recent sea change in public opinion follows massive protests that erupted worldwide in response to the evictions of Palestinians from the East Jerusalem neighborhoods Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, as well as a brutal Israeli attack on Gaza that killed 260 people, including 66 children. The overwhelming support of passersby during the protest was evident, but speakers urged cautious optimism and stressed the importance of resilience, staying vigilant and keeping up the pressure.

Naomi Hornstein of IfNotNow Minnesota shared a concept from her time in Palestine, “There’s a term that a lot of the Palestinian organizers I worked with used which is sumud, which is steadfastness. The everyday resistance of Palestinians is this steadfastness that cannot be taken away and I think we’ve really seen that over the summer and over the years: the steadfastness of Palestinian organizers.”

“I know that Palestine only makes national news when it’s being bombed,” said Sam Sanchez from American Muslims for Palestine, “but there have also been children who have recently been murdered. One of them is named Mohammed Abu Sara, he’s eleven years old. He was sitting in his father’s car when Israelis pulled them over for no reason. They were grocery shopping and trying to make it home. The Israeli army unloaded 13 bullets, one or multiple hit Mohammed Abu Sara, he was rushed to the hospital and then later died. This just goes to show you that they don’t care about Palestinian life, even if they’re children, even if they’re babies, they will continue to kill them.”

Many speakers acknowledged the fact that the protest took place on stolen indigenous land and drew connections between the ongoing fight for indigenous rights in the Stop Line 3 movement.

Loretta VanPelt of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J) likened the Palestinian liberation fight to the current eviction crisis in the U.S., which disproportionately impacts BIPOC Americans, to the Palestinian struggle for land and rights: “I see my liberation as a Black woman is tied to the liberation of the people of Palestine, it’s tied to the liberation of the people in Venezuela, it’s tied to the liberation of the people in Colombia, it’s tied to the liberation of the people of all oppressed nationalities across this world.”

The protest was organized by the MN Anti-War Committee and American Muslims for Palestine MN, and was cosponsored by Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) and IfNotNow Twin Cities.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #MNAntiWarCommittee #AmyKlobuchar

St. Louis Park, MN – Amy Klobuchar supporters couldn’t fill the gymnasium, March 1, at Saint Louis Park High School, even with the help of some 250 protesters demanding freedom for Myon Burrell, an innocent Black teen she sent to prison for life when she was the county district attorney. Myon Burrell’s family, the Racial Justice Network, Minneapolis NAACP, Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, Communities United Against Police Brutality, and Black Lives Matter Minnesota called for community members to mobilize to protest at the Klobuchar rally, two days before the primary vote. For more than a month, they’ve been calling on Klobuchar to drop out of the race. Hours after the protest, she announced she’s doing just that.

After rallying outside briefly, protesters marched into the campaign rally, easily overcoming the resistance of a few campaign staffers. The marched to the front of the space, and soon took over the stage and much of the area directly in front of the stage. Doors opened at 7 p.m., and protesters were running the program. The campaign turned up the rally music to full blast, including tracks by the Indigo Girls, Bob Dylan and, shamelessly, Prince. As the music got louder, so did protesters’ chants, “Free Myon!” “Black lives matter!” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Klobuchar has got to go.” As Klobuchar was supposed to take the stage at 8 p.m., the campaign scrambled, asking organizers to meet with Klobuchar off-stage, and to let her rally proceed.

The campaign has since spun that story, claiming that organizers refused to meet. In fact, it was Klobuchar who backed out when organizers said they would speak to her with Myon’s family, but Klobuchar refused. Protesters were going strong for more than an hour and a half, facing off with upset Klobuchar supporters, almost all white, including some large men who attempted to physically intimidate women and children. Nothing stopped the protesters, and Klobuchar was unwilling to answer for her role in Burrell’s unjust imprisonment in front of her own supporters. Shortly after that, at 8:43 p.m., a voice came booming over the loudspeaker, “We’re sorry to say that the night’s event has been canceled.”

Protesters cheered, and Klobuchar’s supporters fled, like their leader. The rally closed with a performance by the TKO Drumline and Knockout Danceteam.

Myon Burrell was just 16 years old when he was wrongfully convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Amy Klobuchar’s office prosecuted Burrell on the basis of paid jailhouse informants, coerced eye witness testimony, questionable interrogation tactics, with no DNA, fingerprints, ballistics, or other tangible evidence linking him to the crime. Myon Burrell has spent nearly 18 years in prison and is now 33 years old. He has continued to maintain his innocence since day one.

Facing little support nationally, and losing support every day in her home state, the final nail in the coffin of Amy Klobuchar’s presidential bid was the fight to free Myon Burrell.

#StLouisParkMN #OppressedNationalities #US #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Antiracism #Elections #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJusticeForJamarTCC4J #AmyKlobuchar #MyonBurrell

Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, February 28, activists will be making noise on Twitter and other social media platforms to demand freedom for Myon Burrell and urging voters to reject Amy Klobuchar, who is responsible for his wrongful conviction. The Twitterstorm is being initiated by Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) using the hashtags #FreeMyon and #NoAmyK to spread their message.

Organizers say presidential hopeful Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar has used Myon’s case – a case full of holes – to claim success as Hennepin County attorney and as an example of her work for the African American community. In fact, the incarceration of Black men and boys increased by 600% during her time as top prosecutor, and she sent a Black teenager, Myon Burrell, to prison for life, for a crime he did not commit.

There was no gun, no DNA or fingerprints, and the only witness claimed to have seen 5’3” Burrell shooting over a five-foot tall fence. The real shooter, Ike Tyson, got a reduced sentence to testify that Myon was involved. Klobuchar pushed for a second trial after Burrell’s first conviction was overturned by the Minnesota Supreme Court. In that trial, Tyson testified that Myon Burrell was never involved. The judge from his first trial came out of retirement to ensure that his first ruling was upheld, and Burrell lost in a second trial. Before the second verdict, Klobuchar was senator, and never looked back.

“Except she did look back!” say organizers. “Time and again, she used this case as fodder for her political campaigns. And Myon Burrell has now spent half his life in prison for a crime that someone else has confessed to, and is also in prison for.” An in-depth report by the Associated Press brought forward evidence of Myon’s innocence, as well as misconduct by police and prosecutors in this case. When asked about these reports, Klobuchar sidesteps. She goes back to the victim of the case and how tragic it was and does not address the racism and injustice of Burrell's imprisonment.

All signs point to Myon Burrell not being the only case like this on Klobuchar's record. During her time as county attorney, she increased the imprisonment of Black and brown folks by 600%. She appealed to win extended sentences for immigrants to ensure mandatory deportation and family separation.

“Is this really who we want winning Minnesota on Super Tuesday? TCC4J says hell no! We are asking for everyone who finds the actions of Klobuchar disgraceful to join us in making some noise! We can make a nightmare for her campaign, and make sure everyone hears the truth about Myon Burrell by flooding social media with content to demand a #FreeMyon and #NoAmyK.”

Supporters can join the effort all day Friday on all social media platforms, though organizers are prioritizing 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. TCC4J will be posting all day, and is sharing sample content at http://bit.ly/FreemyonNoamyk.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #AmyKlobuchar #MyronBurrell

TCC4J demands freedom for Myon Burrell, despite Mike Freeman’s politically motivated endorsement of Klobuchar’s prosecution.

On Monday, February 24, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman released a statement defending Amy Klobuchar for the wrongful conviction of Myon Burrell. Freeman claims the attacks on Klobuchar for her highly questionable handling of the case are ‘politically motivated.’ They are not. Activists and community members want Burrell’s unfair conviction reviewed and overturned, and we want Freeman and Klobuchar to be held accountable for railroading an innocent Black teenager to gain political points for being “tough on crime.”

In truth, Freeman’s response is as politically motivated as Klobuchar’s choice to hold up this case as an example of her work on behalf of the African American community. Freeman’s statements are a combination of platitudes and attacks on Myon Burrell designed to do damage control for Klobuchar’s campaign heading into the Super Tuesday primaries.

This situation provided both Freeman and Klobuchar the opportunity to do the right thing and join the community and say that Burrell’s conviction should be overturned. Instead both chose political expediency over justice.

Freeman’s statements gloss over well-known facts about Myon’s case. It is known that the MPD [Minneapolis Police Department] illegally held Myon despite requests for his mother and legal representation. It is well known that Klobuchar chose to use an unreliable jailhouse informant to convict Myon, ignoring statements of two other suspects that Myon was not present.

After the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned Myon’s conviction based upon flawed, missing and false evidence, Klobuchar chose to try Myon again, because she was unwilling to lose a “victory” in her fight on crime. After Klobuchar became a senator, it was Mike Freeman who oversaw Myon’s second case, which found a conviction based upon Freeman knowingly using the same flawed evidence and a biased judge.

The situation is political. It is about the politics of Klobuchar and Freeman doing harm to yet another Black man for their own political gain. Community members demand politics get out of the way of justice. It’s time for Klobuchar and Freeman to stop talking, and get to work to free Myon Burrell.

#MinneapolisMN #OppressedNationalities #US #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Antiracism #Elections #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJusticeForJamarTCC4J #AmyKlobuchar #MyonBurrell

Jess Sundin, a leader in the fight against police crimes says, “Amy Klobuchar is a racist. When she was Hennepin County District Attorney, she always sided with law enforcement against the interests of community members. She never charged a single cop in 40 cases of police murder of civilians. She sent an African American child, Myon Burrell, to prison for life, despite evidence that he was not involved in the crime she prosecuted him for.”

Sundin continued, “The people of Hennepin County, especially Black and brown folks, know that Klobuchar has always believed we are guilty until proven innocent, and has never heard a police lie that she didn’t believe. She used her injustices against our communities as fodder for her senate campaign, and she’s still doing that in her run for the White House. I hope anyone who opposes racism will join me in opposing Klobuchar for president.”

Another Minnesota activist with nothing good to say about Amy Klobuchar is Wyatt Miller, of the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee. Miller states, “From her moves to criminalize the BDS movement [Boycott, Divest and Sanction, against the apartheid Israeli government], to her support for neo-Nazi militias in Ukraine, to her outrageous claims that Trump hasn’t gone far enough in his dangerous attempts to provoke a new Cold War with China, Amy Klobuchar wants us to know that she represents the interests of U.S. war hawks and imperialists. As a prosecutor, she sided with the FBI’s repression of anti-war activists, including several here in Minnesota. Peace and justice-loving voters should reject her candidacy as a continuation of the violent status quo.”

#MinneapolisMN #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #US #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #ChicanoLatino #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoners #Minnesota #PoliticalRepression #Elections #AmyKlobuchar #2020Election

Minneapolis, MN – “A young African American man by the name of Myon Burrell has spent more than half of his life incarcerated in Minnesota prisons under the leadership of Amy Klobuchar. She was the Hennepin County Attorney and she played a role in Myon Burrell being prosecuted for a crime that he did not commit,” said Nekima Levy Pounds of Racial Justice Network, as she opened a press conference on January 29. “We want to lift up family of Tyesha Edwards, who was the victim in this case, an 11-year-old innocent child who was shot and killed. The incident that happened to Tyesha is extremely devastating. It sent shockwaves through our community.”

Police paid a jailhouse informant $600 for names anyone he heard was involved, and within five days of the shooting, Klobuchar was announcing that Burrell and two others would be prosecuted in the high-profile case. The state convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence and coerced eyewitness testimony, with no DNA, fingerprints, ballistics, or other tangible evidence linking him to the crime. His codefendants, who have admitted responsibility and are in prison for the murder, say that Burrell is telling the truth. He was not there.

To date, Klobuchar has taken no steps to remedy the wrongful conviction of Myon Burrell. To the contrary, she has used this case on the presidential campaign trail to build more political capital. Advocates are calling for Amy Klobuchar to immediately suspend her campaign for president, given her role in sending an innocent Black teenager to prison for life.

Nekima Armstrong explained, “On the campaign trail, we have seen Amy Klobuchar use this very case as a talking point during the debate to tout her ‘tough on crime’ record. And again, this is completely unacceptable because there is an innocent man on the other side of her tough on crime record, who has not seen the light of day as a result of her actions.” She and other speakers called for Klobuchar to drop her bid for the presidency, and called for freedom for Myon Burrell, demanding action by the current county attorney, Mike Freeman.

Leslie Redmond, president Minneapolis NAACP, said, “When we think about when they see us, that wasn’t just a situation that happened to the Central Park 5 in New York alone. This is a situation that happens all around America. This is a situation that happens right here in Minnesota. Young people, young adults, were given life, sent to rot away in prison, which benefits no one.” She pointed out one exception, “However it does benefit politicians that have used criminal justice to advance their political careers, and enough is enough.”

Communities United Against Police Brutality President Michelle Gross blasted Klobuchar for knowingly basing the case against Burrell and a police frame-up, and added, “Under her leadership, the Black prison population out of Hennepin County increased by 600%. She felonized non-violent drug offenses and filled up our jails and prisons with brown and Black bodies.” She also noted that Klobuchar failed to prosecute any of the police officers that murdered some 40 civilians during her tenure.

In her campaign for president, Klobuchar has touted Burrell’s conviction as a feather in her cap, claiming she helped the Black community by being tough on crime. Sam Martinez, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar organizer, countered, “Amy Klobuchar is gaslighting the Black and brown and indigenous and working people that she threw in jail and let the police kill. Also she is victim-blaming and saying, ‘Oh, they are the ones who asked me to do this and lock their own people up.’ That is not right. She is gaslighting people and she is trying to defend herself by blaming the people that she threw away and let the system kill and that is not right.”

Marques Armstrong represented the Racial Justice Network, “This man should be free. The last 16 years of his life should not have been spent behind bars. But they should have been spent out here raising a family, loving his wife, and he should have been able to go to his mother’s funeral. The trauma that she experienced, of her son being falsely accused, in my opinion, contributed to her death, and the accident that she had leaving the prison to visit him.” He explained how cases like this have a far-reaching impact of “psychological warfare… trying to get us to believe that our lives don’t matter. But with every breath in my body I am going to continue to scream it – Black lives matter.”

KingDemetrius Pendleton of Listen Media spoke about the importance of this case coming to light, “This is not the movie Just Mercy. This is just life for a Black man every day.” He added, “Think about what Amy Klobuchar has done. This is the only case that has brought worldwide attention to it, but let’s think about the other cases that no one is saying nothing about.”

Michael Toussaint recalled when Klobuchar and the media falsely painted his son as a gang member and tried to further shame the family. “They used me coming out of prison – I was in a halfway house when this happened. ‘His father was just released from prison and this and that. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,’ – versus the simple fact of was he guilty or not, and, “Amy’s thing is that she wasn’t blind to it. She coerced it too. She went along with it. That’s why her name’s brought up. The reason why Amy should be held accountable [now] is because here she is playing as if she’s fighting for people, but then she’s corrupt too.”

Toussaint laid blame for his son’s wrongful conviction, not only on Klobuchar, but also the judge and police. “Me being a Black man and knowing how the system works, it’s not like I just learnt how the system worked. I grew up in the system that’s corrupt. I grew up with the police stepping on my neck, telling me that if they catch me in a dark alley, they’ll kill me. You know these are things that happen to us that y’all never hear about. But they make it seem as if they put these badges on to serve and protect. No, it’s not to serve and protect.

“If you’re being treated like animals, imagine how you would feel. Imagine how your children would feel. It’s injustice, it’s unfair,” Toussaint continued. Then he pointed to the courtrooms on the floors over head and said, “The train is running through here right now, to somebody’s life. They railroading somebody right now.”

Toussaint says that Klobuchar has been unwilling to speak to him about the case. Community members vowed to fight for freedom for Myon Burrell and will never vote racist Amy Klobuchar into the White House.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #AmyKlobuchar

Minneapolis, MN – 20 people picketed in front of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office during a blizzard, January 17, for her legitimizing Trump’s targeting of Iran and for her silence on the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Autumn Lake of the Anti-War Committee spoke to the crowd, “Minnesota’s favorite hometown disappointment, Senator Amy Klobuchar, is somehow still on the campaign trail, seemingly for no other reason than to prove what many of us have known for years; that the Republicans and the Democrats will always unite to serve the interests of the powerful over the interests of the broad masses. She's managed to distinguish herself from more progressive candidates by embodying the status quo and supporting the Trump administration's most heinous acts. Amy Klobuchar’s work in the Senate has facilitated the Trump administration's recent attacks on Iraq and Iran, making the Minnesota senator complicit in the most recent iteration of the U.S.'s terror campaign in the Middle East.”

When asked why she was at the protest, Meredith Aby-Keirstead told Fight Back!, “We protested Klobuchar in a blizzard when she announced her presidential campaign and now we are here protesting her foreign policy about a year later in another blizzard. I’m here because as Minnesota’s senator and as a presidential candidate she has been a hawk, and it would take more than a blizzard to keep me from expressing my outrage. She shouldn’t be demanding congressional authorization for war. We need a voice to say no to war with Iran!”

The Anti-War Committee organized the protest with the support of the Council on American-Islamic Relations – Minnesota, Women Against Military Madness, and the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition.

#MinneapolisMN #International #AntiwarMovement #Iraq #Iran #US #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarCommittee #DonaldTrump #AmyKlobuchar #NoWarWithIran

Protesters also plan on denouncing Klobuchar’s attempts to further legitimize the targeting of Iran. On CNN Tonight with Don Lemon Senator Klobuchar said, “They [Iran] are now announcing that they're going to start developing a nuclear weapon and move toward busting through the cap on uranium enrichment” which CNN has reported as false in its fact-check reporting.

Christine Hauschildt, a spokesperson for the Anti-War Committee, explains, “Minnesotans want Klobuchar to stand against all sanctions on Iran and Iraq. Sanctions can be as dangerous and deadly as war violence and have a lasting impact on the people that suffer under them from lack of income, access to medical supplies and more. Iran is suffering more peacetime sanctions than any other country in history. A naval blockade to the same degree would be an unambiguous act of war. The Trump administration is dragging the United States into a war with Iran that could engulf the whole region and could quickly turn into a global conflict of unpredictable scope and the gravest consequences. We are calling on Senator Klobuchar to demand an end to escalations and sanctions and listen to the concerns of her constituents who will be looking to her to represent their interests now and after the 2020 election.”

The Anti-War Committee is co-sponsoring the event with the The Council on American-Islamic Relations – Minnesota, Women Against Military Madness, and the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition.

#MinneapolisMN #International #AntiwarMovement #Iraq #Iran #US #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarCommittee #DonaldTrump #AmyKlobuchar #NoWarWithIran

Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a leader of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee responded, “It doesn't surprise any of us in the anti-war movement that Klobuchar doesn't want to reverse Trump's decision to move the U.S. embassy from Jerusalem. Her voting record on foreign policy is in lockstep with the Republican Party. On Palestine she is a friend of AIPAC and has been ignoring her constituents' demands to show any level of compassion for Palestinians for her 13 years as our senator.”

Aby-Keirstead continued, “I've been at meetings with her and seen her Palestinian constituents cry as they tell their families stories of being bombed and shelled by the Israeli military and have seen her callous response. No one who looks at her record should think that a vote for Klobuchar would be a vote for much change at all from the Trump administration on foreign policy.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #AmyKlobuchar #MiddleEast