Milwaukee, WI – On the morning of July 28, nearly 50 community members gathered outside a limited capacity courtroom in downtown Milwaukee to await the verdict in a special John Doe hearing. The case being determined was an old one: the June 23, 2016 police murder of Jay Anderson, Jr.

After the initial investigation of the murder, Anderson’s killer, former Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah, was cleared of all wrongdoing by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. Anderson was Mensah’s second victim, and he would go on to murder 17-year-old Alvin Cole in February 2020.

This time, Milwaukee County Judge Glenn Yamahiro, at the conclusion of the initial phase of this John Doe process, has determined there is probable cause to charge Mensah with second-degree reckless homicide, reckless endangerment, and potentially other crimes. A tentative date for the beginning of the next phase in the process has been set for 60 days from now. A special prosecutor will be selected to oversee those proceedings.

As Judge Yamahiro’s decision sounded from the dozens of cell phones playing the livestream, the gathered crowd roared their approval, breaking into loud chants of “Jay Anderson!” and “Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail – the whole damn system is guilty as hell!” The Anderson family emerged from the courtroom with fists raised and were received warmly by those in the hallway, many of whom have been working for a moment like this for at least the last year.

While this ruling is not Mensah being charged for his crimes, it does open the door in a case that some feared was closed. This decision not only paves the way for some kind of justice for Jay Anderson’s family, but also for the families of Mensah’s other victims, known to the community as “thEE thrEE”. Despite their own struggles, the family of Alvin Cole has remained in full support of the Anderson family’s fight for justice. Today marked a bittersweet moment for them, particularly considering that the same DA that cleared Mensah of his two initial murders cleared him of Alvin’s murder in October 2020.

Kimberly Motley, the attorney for the Andersons and the Coles, gave some comments after the judge’s announcement. “Had the Jay Anderson case been properly investigated, Alvin Cole would still be here today, and that is something that can never be made right. Ever.”

Yamahiro’s decision is also historic in that it is the first time Wisconsin’s John Doe statute has been used against a police officer. The proceedings led the judge to remark on the questionable practices of police investigating other police in situations of alleged misconduct or criminal activity.

“The court's review of the investigation in this case raises serious concerns regarding the adequacy of the current statutory framework for investigating officer-involved deaths,” Yamahiro said.

This victory – because that’s what the decisions represents to both the Anderson family and their many supporters – is unquestionably the result of the mass protests in Milwaukee and Wauwatosa in the summer and fall of 2020. Led by The People’s Revolution and the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression, the movement presses onward for justice and change.

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #MilwaukeeAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression #JayAnderson #Jr #JosephMensah

Minneapolis, MN – Around 50 protesters gathered outside the John B. Davis Education and Support Center, the main headquarters for the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education, on April 25 to demand justice for Anthony J. Thompson, Jr., a 17-year-old Black youth who was murdered by Knoxville, Tennessee police on April 12, in his own school. The Knox County district attorney already declared that Jonathan Clabough, the officer who shot and killed Thompson, will not be charged. The protest to demand justice was organized by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) and the Student Movement Activists of South High (SMASH), an affiliate of Students for a Democratic Society.

Protesters marched from the Davis Center down W. Broadway Avenue, receiving much support from bystanders, with cars honking in solidarity. Chants of “Say his name, Anthony Thompson!” and “When Black youth are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” among many others, were heard as they made their way down the road.

“The murders of Anthony Thompson, Jr., Ma’Khia Bryant, Adam Toledo, and far too many other Black and brown youth illustrate fully that the cops feel perfectly justified in even murdering children, and they’re not held accountable for it,” said Zach Moore of SMASH. “These murders make clear that cops, no matter what school districts are calling them, do not belong in our schools.”

During the uprising last summer against police crimes which was sparked by the murder of George Floyd, the MPS Board of Education was forced by the combined efforts of students, teachers and educational support professionals to end its School Resource Officer (SRO) contract with the Minneapolis police department. However, they later replaced it with a similar position under a new name, ‘Public Safety Support Professional,’ and hired many former police and prison officers to this new position.

“When I was at school,” said Francisco Sanchez, of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, “we had to organize a walkout in 2016, the year I graduated, because one of the police officers threw a Black girl down some stairs, and at the bottom of the stairs he put his knee on her back as she screamed and cried.” Sanchez highlighted the brutality that police in schools employ against Black students, and the use of police and prison tactics to criminalize students.

Monique Cullars Doty of TCC4J spoke of another instance of police crimes committed against Black youth and students. “Just about three years ago, there was a student at Saint Paul Central, and he had just transferred out like a week before to the recording arts school. He went back to his school to see his teacher, a Saint Paul police officer dragged him to a secluded area,” she said, “and beat him like a grown man.”

The protest raised demands that Tennessee officer Clabough be charged and convicted for the murder of Anthony Thompson, Jr., that there be community control of the police in the form of a Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC), and that there be an end to police presence in schools.

Organizations that supported the protest include: Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, Student Movement Activists of South High, MN Youth for Justice, Communities United Against Police Brutality, Students for a Democratic Society at UMN, Minneapolis Cop Watch, the Anti-War Committee, the Climate Justice Committee, the MN Justice Coalition, MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, among others.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #Jr #AnthonyJThompson

Chicago, IL – Fight Back! learned May 9 that Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., at a meeting in Las Vegas, has joined with the corrupt Teamsters officials in Chicago to remove President Richard Berg and Secretary Treasurer Gina Alvarez from office in Local 743. Berg and Alvarez are rank-and-file reformers who fought for years against the gangsters who ran their union while Hoffa and officers of the Joint Council in Chicago turned a blind eye to the corruption in the local.

While the official decision has yet to be received, Berg confirmed that he has been notified. The decision rests upon a charge brought against Berg and Alvarez by other officers in 743 who had turned against the reform agenda.

The factual basis of the charge is that Berg had let go a former staff member who was no longer able to perform his duties. A severance was agreed upon, which the local executive board was informed of and to which they assented. Six months later, the same board members cooked up a scheme with the top Teamster old guard in Chicago. These ex-reformers knew the Joint Council was dominated by officials who were hostile to Berg and Alvarez’ agenda – reviving a fighting union with power in the hands of the members. The sole charge upon which the two are being removed was Berg’s failure to get an official vote from the board.

While the immediate impact of this is a blow to efforts to rebuild a fighting workers’ movement in the Teamsters, the members of Local 743 are not likely to watch the sell-outs turn back the hands of time. At the members meeting last week, worker after worker rose from the floor to speak against threats to remove Berg and Alvarez. Black, Latino and white, workers remember what the union was like under the old gangsters, with sweetheart deals that favored management, and crummy contracts.

#ChicagoIL #Teamsters743 #RichardBerg #JimmyHoffa #Jr