St. Paul, MN – Saturday, May 9, on the fourth anniversary of Jaffort Smith’s death at the hands of police, community members joined his family for a socially-distanced caravan protest and balloon release to honor Smith’s life. They met in Cayuga Park, where speakers Monique Cullars Doty and mother Matilda Smith addressed the crowd. Balloons were released, and Minister Toya Woodland led the group in prayer. They then set out in cars, passing the nearby site where police officers Michael Tschida and Mark Grundhauser murdered Smith with at least 49 shots. The group proceeded to the Saint Paul Police Department Eastern District station, where they lined the block, posted signs on the building and chanted.

#StPaulMN #OppressedNationalities #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #SaintPaulPoliceDepartment #Antiracism #JaffortSmith

St. Paul, MN – Saint Paul police were soundly condemned on January 14 for a decade of crimes against families and communities. Monique Cullars-Doty, a community activist, chaired a press conference that highlighted some of these crimes and called on the city council to freeze the Saint Paul Police Department budget until there is an end to these disgraceful acts, along with a guarantee of transparency in the future and justice for victims and their families. She then invited others to speak about their loved ones murdered by police.

January 14 marks five years since her nephew, 24-year-old Marcus Golden, was killed by Saint Paul Police Officers Jeremy Doverspike and Dan Peck. He was unarmed when they shot him in the back of the head, through the window of his parked vehicle. Marcus’ murder came in the middle of a decade of disgrace – where Saint Paul distinguished itself as the deadliest department in Minnesota, and one of the deadliest in the country. The rallying cry #Justice4MarcusGolden has fueled Minnesota’s growing movement for accountability in policing and justice for all lives stolen by police violence.

Cullars-Doty spoke about Marcus Golden and presented a slide show titled “The Saint Paul Police Department: A Decade of Disgrace in Review.” The review included:

-- Several K-9 attacks, including one where the dog ripped the throat from a dying man who’d been shot 16 times by SPPD officers. -- Several incidents of women being publicly strip-searched by SPPD officers. -- The case of Sergeant Jeff “Run them over” Rothecker – the disgraced officer who publicly urged violence against protesters who were demanding justice for Marcus Golden and Jamar Clark, instructing people to “run them over” and justify it by claiming they feared for their lives from protesters. -- Officer Michael Soucheray, who claimed self-defense when he punched a handcuffed suicidal 14-year-old girl in the face two times -- Sergeant Heather Weyker, who manufactured false evidence, leading to the imprisonment of 30 Somali people, who filed lawsuits seeking a total of $200 million. In addition to false evidence, Wekyer lied in court. -- Several cases of brutality and wrongful arrest where the city has paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars. -- 38 people killed at the hands of Saint Paul police, including Marcus Golden.

Matilda Smith remembered sitting down her two sons for a talk when Marcus Golden was murdered, having no idea one of their lives would be taken the following year. Jaffort Smith was killed by SPPD in May 2016. She said of that conversation, “My grandmother used to talk to us. They went through slavery and they used to tell us, ‘Stay in, that’s how we how we live to get to be 100 years old.’ It’s not fair that we have to stay in while everybody else can come out!”

Toshira Garraway Allen spoke about her son’s father, Justin Tiegen, who was beaten to death by the Saint Paul police ten years ago; his body was thrown in a dumpster. Allen described her frustrating interaction with the governor’s “Working Group on Police-Involved Deadly Force Encounters,” convened by state Attorney General Keith Ellison and Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington. “Keith Ellison has seen the pictures of my son’s father’s body. He’s done nothing. He said to me, ‘What can I help you with?’” said Allen. “’You’re the attorney general of Minnesota, you tell me what you can do! Prosecute. Go in and find out who the officers were, they don’t need to be out here on the street to hurt more of our people.”

Del Shea Perry spoke about her son Hardel Sherrell, who was killed by racist jailers in Beltrami County Jail. She too brought her story to Attorney General Ellison, who has failed to take any action to protect people in this deadly jail.

Trahern Crews, of Black Lives Matter MN and Green Party United States Reparations Working Group, criticized Black politicians who have failed to act in the interests of the Black community. Rather than spending state funds to help real estate developers build luxury apartments, he called for reparations, including money to families and survivors of police terror.

Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar member Jess Sundin spoke: “In TCC4J, we don’t just want to live in our grief and our anger, we actually want to fight for change. The police shouldn’t make their own rules anymore, they shouldn’t be in charge of investigating themselves anymore, and it’s clear enough prosecutors cannot be expected to hold them accountable. We want to have an all-civilian police accountability council. We want to change the rules. No more dogs as weapons. No more killings – every police officer needs to be held accountable for their wrongdoing. When someone has the power to kill community members, someone else needs to have the power to put them away. In the jail, under the jail, wherever they need to go to get off our streets once and for all.”

#StPaulMN #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #SaintPaulPoliceDepartment #MarcusGolden #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJustice4Jamar

On the early morning of January 14, 2015, what likely began as a clumsy cop slipping on ice turned into belligerent gunfire by Saint Paul police officers, ending in the murder of a young Black man. The police department tried hard to keep the story out of the media, or they spewed lies about Marcus Golden and the incident. After Terrance Franklin and before Jamar Clark, the murder of Marcus Golden by the Saint Paul Police Department was one of the pivotal moments in the Minnesota fight against police terror.

Marcus Golden’s aunt, Monique Cullars-Doty, a leader in the Minnesota fight against police terror and for Black Liberation, emceed the vigil. She is a member of many groups, including the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar. She used the vigil to announce the “Golden Awards.” The awards will have categories such as “police federation president most likely to have a white hood in his closet.” The ‘winners’ will be announced February 14. The of #NoLove4Cops nominations can be posted at Bit.ly/goldenawards.

The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar’s Jess Sundin, spoke, “The fact is, the story of what happened to Marcus didn’t make the news. But Monique took that moment and transformed the community for the long-haul and so now we all know Marcus Golden. What we learned from this example is, ‘Don’t ever forget!’ We thank for Monique for teaching us the powerful place that families can have in the movement. We can’t all be Monique, but everyone can find a place in the movement. At TCC4J, we are committed to making sure that all the names and all the stories are told.” She added, “Monique is always talking about, ‘We need legislation! We need new rules!’ This is why TCC4J is fighting for community control of the police. We need an end to police terror in our communities! Justice for Marcus Golden!”

At the vigil, the true story of Marcus Golden was told. There were many speeches and eulogies from community members, including Pastor Brian Herron, vocalist Bridgette from Sounds of Blackness and Loretta VanPelt of TCC4J. They honored the truths of a young Black worker who dedicated his life to serving his community and specifically his grandparents, providing them healthcare services and home upkeep. VanPelt ended the vigil by leading the Assata Shakur chant. Vigil attendees pledged to honor the memory of Marcus Golden, fight for justice, Black liberation, and community control of the police.

#SaintPaulMN #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #SaintPaulPoliceDepartment #Antiracism #MarcusGolden #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJusticeForJamar

The Saint Paul house raid was one of several police actions taken against protesters days before the RNC began, including the search and seizure of a central political meeting space, which is also the subject of pending litigation.

“The City of Saint Paul and the federal government were forced to pay for their politically-motivated attack on organizers,” said Sarah Coffey, one of the plaintiffs. “Rather than spend years in court fighting the government over its political surveillance program, we decided to use settlement money to invest in projects that oppose such repressive tactics.”

The lawsuit, which was filed in August 2009 and accused the Saint Paul Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of violating plaintiffs' First, Fourth and Fourteenth amendment rights, is so far the largest settlement of its kind stemming from the convention protests. “We hope this sends a message to law enforcement officials who would enter homes illegally or suppress political dissent,” said Coffey, “there is a cost to their actions.”

The raid garnered significant media attention at the time due to an hours-long standoff between 10 activists and residents and a heavily armed police force that had surrounded the duplex. Because the police attempted to raid the home without a search warrant, those inside refused them entry. After allegedly getting verbal authority from a local judge, the police used force to enter 949 Iglehart Avenue and detained everyone inside. The owner, several tenants and activists, including members of the I-Witness Video collective were detained for hours. No illegal items were found, no one was arrested and nothing was visibly seized, although computers and camera equipment were searched.

The search warrant affidavit, which was under seal until a month after the raid in a likely attempt to avoid media scrutiny, relied solely on a confidential informant who made the claim that weapons were being shipped to 951 Iglehart using the U.S. Postal Service. In a sensationalist move, the police also tried to tie property owner Michael Whalen to a defunct 1970s political group, the Symbionese Liberation Army, in order to bolster the warrant's outrageous claim of arms shipments. However, once inside 951 Iglehart, police discovered that the boxes contained only vegan literature. Unsatisfied, police broke through a locked attic door to enter the neighboring but separate 949 Iglehart, which plaintiffs claimed was the operation's true objective.

Saint Paul Police Officer David Langfellow was in charge of the operation as a cross-deputized FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) agent. Langfellow testified during a deposition that although the FBI had been surveilling the duplex for more than a week before the convention, the investigation was not targeting Whalen, the main subject of the search warrant affidavit. Langfellow either was not told or refused to reveal details about the underlying investigation, which plaintiffs speculate had nothing to do with the shipment of boxes.

Plaintiffs' attorneys also contributed a portion of the award to the Impact Fund, which provides money to small law firms and nonprofits for lawsuits involving issues of civil rights, environmental justice, and poverty.

Tom Burke of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression states, “We are grateful for the contribution to our effort to defend the anti-war and international solidarity activists who were raided by the FBI or received subpoenas to the grand jury. Last week we saw an escalation of the attacks with the LA raid on the home of immigrants’ rights leader Carlos Montes. We need all the resources we can muster.”

#StPaulMN #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #FederalBureauOfInvestigationFBI #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #2008RepublicanNationalConventionRNC #SaintPaulPoliceDepartment