Minneapolis, MN – On April 15, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J) hosted a press conference to denounce police violence against protesters. Sam Martinez of Twin Cities 4 Justice for Jamar emceed the rally.

The opening speech featured TCC4J member DJ Hooker, standing alongside Victor Ramirez of MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, whose face was covered in bruises due to broken facial bones from a police projectile.

Speakers noted that police and city authority action are restricting First Amendment rights, the freedom of speech and to protest, including:

-- Posting official signage asking for no “offensive” slogans

-- Removing and cutting down peaceful protests of hanging locks and ribbons on fences on multiple occasions

-- Citing “cleanliness” as an excuse to deploy police

-- Holding over 100 protesters in jail for 36 hours

-- Having state agents from Operation Safety Net the National Guard, attack the press and even residents of the apartments across from the Brooklyn Center Police Department

-- Having the groups referred to as “Street Navigators” intentionally deployed to disrupt organizers from protesting, and including them among the only exempted groups from curfews

-- Turning off the lights at the Brooklyn Center Police Department so that visibility of badge numbers would be obstructed in protestor and press coverage

-- Destroying press equipment and recording storage to remove evidence of their brutality

Hooker’s talk included a testimonial regarding the “Street Navigators,” groups that are paid by the city to physically threaten organizers and interrupt their organizing. Street Navigators from Push for Peace literally pushed Hooker around, after already threatening to beat them up, while they were on the mic and speaking to the crowd. The Street Navigators also unplugged the mic during the speeches. Hooker said, “we are target practice for them,” noting that the cops intentionally targeted and shot Black and brown bodies with rubber bullets. They mentioned this as another reason why community control of police is needed – the community would never act as monstrously as these militarized cops.

Victor Ramirez’s testimonial was especially emotional, as the trauma of his facial fracture from rubber bullet wounds is rearing its ugly head. He cannot even hear any “small popping noises,” can’t watch the videos from the press covering the protests and can’t even cry. He ended saying that police are out in body armor, fully armed and in formation – but they’re saying they’re scared of him, in no gas mask, a t-shirt and sweatpants.

Nekima Levy Armstrong of the Racial Justice Network added that even the press has been injured, mentioning a journalist shot in the ring finger and others injured, and others detained and arrested. Most of these journalists said they have never experienced anything like this level of brutality before. Emcee Martinez added after this speech, that people have lost eyes and limbs from these so called ‘non-lethal weapons.’

Michelle Gross Communities United Against Police Brutality spoke up and mentioned that she has personally seen dozens of protestors with injuries that they do not get treated for because they are uninsured, and it would be cost-prohibitive. Among these is a young man with a hole in his neck, and many people with three-inch holes in their body from 40 mm rubber bullets.

Levy Armstrong declared that Minnesota is the “Jim Crow North” in its targeted lynching of Black people, and called out Sherriff Dave Hutchinson, Governor Tim Walz, and the Minnesota Democrat Party for their complacency and outright animosity against the protest movements. She also called out Christian conservatives and evangelicals who claim to believe in Jesus to truly walk the path of the Gospel, and fight against the criminal justice system, as Jesus was crucified by the criminal justice system.

Speakers expressed outrage at the lies put out by state and local officials in a press event the day before.

Jaylani Hussein of CAIR-MN noted that those children and families in the apartments across from the Brooklyn Center police station are not terrorized by the protests outside, but by state violence. He said, “We did not want to come out here, we were forced to come out here,” because the police refuse to listen to one simple request: “Stop killing us.” He said he is tired of fighting for the rights already guaranteed in the constitution.

Toshira Garraway Allen, of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, closed the press conference by asking, “Who listens to the families? Not the police – if they listened, then there would be no George Floyd and no Daunte Wright. Our community listens to the families. Human sacrifices should not be necessary to change the law.”

Martinez ended the event by listing the demands TCC4J have for the city, including:

-- Reopening the cases of police murders in Minnesota with independent investigations

-- Indict, convict, send the killer cops to jail

-- Stop the street navigators program entirely

-- End the curfews

-- Free all the protesters and drop their charges

-- Community control of police via the Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC) legislation in the city of Minneapolis

-- Passing the nine police reform bills the groups are pushing at the state capitol

TCC4J and other speakers also announced that their coalition of 20-plus other activist groups will protest for the April 19 closing arguments of the Derek Chauvin trial and on the day the jury returns a verdict.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJusticeForJamarTCC4J #GeorgeFloyd

Minneapolis MN – The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) has come out against the city council’s proposed Community Safety and Violence Prevention charter amendment (2020-00668), that would rename the Minneapolis police department and would give the city council and mayor the power to anoint the head of the newly-named “Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention.” The measure was heard in the online city council meeting June 26.

Instead, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar advocates community control of the police via CPAC – an all-elected, all-civilian council with power over the police department to hire, fire and prosecute cops.

TCC4J presented to the council via email – the only method for public input, because of the rules of the city council’s online meeting. TCC4J outlines the reasons for opposing the council’s measure, “First, all the power would still be in the hands of the council and mayor's office. Both bodies have a long track record of letting the police murder and maim with impunity. They had their chance, many chances over several decades, and they blew it. There is no reason to believe that in a few months, the city council won’t revert back to appeasing the police force and the FOP.

“Also, there are no details in the proposal about how things would change, except in name and in letting the city council have a say (instead of just the mayor) in picking the new ‘director.’ Our CPAC proposal spells out in great detail what needs to be done. When CPAC gets onto the ballot or before the council, the people will know what they are voting for.

“The city council’s proposal does not spell out any new disciplinary measures or oversight of the police, nor does it spell out what community involvement will look like beyond a vague ‘consistently engaging the public…’ Without discipline and true community engagement (and not token community involvement, either), change will not occur. This proposal is trying to take the easy way out: saying what they think the public wants to hear without doing the hard work of getting rid of violent cops.

“Since the righteous uprisings in Minneapolis and around the world after the murder of George Floyd, elected officials have been scrambling like cockroaches after the lights got turned on. Then they retreat to the dark again and do most of their business in secret.”

The measure goes before the city charter commission on July 1.

#MinneapolisMN #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #MinneapolisPoliceDepartment #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJusticeForJamarTCC4J #CommunityControlOfThePolice

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J).

Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J), is committed to protecting our most vulnerable community members during this pandemic; at the same time, we continue the fight against police abuses. Problems of police violence and economic and health inequalities are rising to the surface of day-to-day life under quarantine. Unlike billionaires, corporations, and politicians, TCC4J is staying on the front lines to defend our communities.

Minnesota’s Stay At Home Order aims to reduce the spread of the deadly coronavirus. That makes sense for the public health, but we worry about the role of police as enforcers. It can’t be a blank check to raise the levels of policing in our communities or destroy our democratic rights. The Stay At Home Order doesn’t mean you lose the right to leave your house until May 4, it means you should not gather in public. We do not trust police to respect our rights.

City and state officials said police would “educate community members” violating the order, before resorting to other means; but some police have charged people going about their business, in no way violating the order. Police are not educators, and we don’t see them setting aside their force-first routine, especially with Black, brown and Native people. Without community control of the police, racist and violent policing will continue. If you see or experience police abuses, please reach out!

In New York, Detroit, Chicago and St. Paul, cops have tested positive for COVID-19. Police can spread the virus in our communities. In most of Minneapolis, arrests and traffic stops are down; in North Minneapolis, police activity is up. We see cops in our neighborhoods taking no efforts to avoid exposing community members. This needs to change. The enforcement of petty violations is not worth risking lives.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, we were in the fight to free Myon Burrell. His wrongful conviction got a lot of attention when Amy Klobuchar used his case in her (failed) campaign for president. Now Myon, and thousands of others are at risk in jails, prisons and immigrant detention centers, with no protection from the virus and no access to adequate health care.

TCC4J is still working to free Myon Burrell and has joined with others to demand that more people be released from jails, prisons and ICE detention centers. The fight to end racist police violence in our communities, means we need to win community control of the police. Supporters are encouraged to get involved.

#Minnesota #MN #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoners #Antiracism #PoliticalRepression #civilianPoliceAccountabilityCouncilCPAC #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJusticeForJamarTCC4J #MyonBurrell

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

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

St. Paul, MN – Activists and relatives of victims of police killings held a press conference in front of the state capitol, August 8. They marched into the capitol chanting, “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” and seized the governor’s office, chanting, giving speeches and demanding the governor follow through on his broken promise to meet with community members about police violence and take action.

Governor Tim Walz had previously scheduled meetings with members of Racial Justice Network (RJN) and Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB), but then he bowed out of the meetings, sending aides who stated the governor would not meet with community members.

Members of the groups explained that the aides said that the governor would not call for reopening the case of Jamar Clark because “there is no new evidence.” Activists called this response a lie and pointed out community investigators have found pages of false and misleading information in the BCA [Bureau of Criminal Apprehension] report on Clark’s murder. The recent trial of Minneapolis officer Mohamud Noor for killing Justine Damond documented many examples of incompetence and cover-up by the Minneapolis police and the BCA in investigation of police shootings.

The governor’s only action on police killings has been to form a commission. According to activists, no member of the commission except one member of the ACLU has been active in investigating, researching or responding to police violence. Locations and times of meetings are being kept hidden from the public, and community members and family local members of police killings are not being invited to speak on the panel. The secret location of the first meeting turned out to be a small room in the capitol – expressly limiting access to the community. The co-chair of the commission, Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington, previously oversaw a notoriously murderous era of the Saint Paul police department, then moved to the state senate, where he co-authored a bill crippling the Minneapolis police civilian review authority. These facts led activists and community members to call the commission a sham.

Governor Walz was aware the protesters were coming. He had the state patrol send emails described as “intimidating” to organizers, and he sent aides out to intercept and discourage protesters at the beginning of the event. Then he again cowered away from meeting with activists and did not provide an aide authorized to discuss the community’s concerns.

At the press conference, Sam Martinez from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J) stated, “The governor could get involved if he wants to. He says he has no power, but that’s not true.”

Todd Schuman, from Justice for Justine Damond Ruszczyk, stated that Justine’s trial demonstrated to the public “the corruption and the incompetence of the Minneapolis police department and the BCA as well. There were so many incidents of mishandling of evidence and failures to follow through on investigations that it honestly is a miracle that a conviction was secured. Given that the BCA is responsible for all the police shooting investigations in the state, one has to imagine that these kinds of failures have been endemic to the system.”

Leslie Redmond, president of the Minneapolis branch of the NAACP said, “We scream to the state of Minnesota ‘Black lives matter,’ because the state of Minnesota continues to show and tell us that Black lives do not matter. We know that we have some of the worst racial disparities in the nation, and we know that will never get better as long as we continue to justify the killing of unarmed Black men and women.” She added, “This is not just a civil rights issue. This is a human rights issue, and it is time to stand up. Silence equals consent.”

In the governor’s office, the group chanted “Black lives matter” and “Where’s Governor Walz?”

Nekima Levy Armstrong from RJN said, “Enough is enough. We have a message for you, Governor Walz. We will continue to disrupt the status quo. We will show up at your meetings. We came here nicely, asking for a meeting with you. You knew that we would be here, and instead of facing the people – people of all hues and all backgrounds – coming in solidarity, you chose to run. We are expecting a governor who will stand up for the rights of the people.” She went on, “It should not be the case, that the only person in the state of Minnesota to get any semblance of justice when being killed by an officer is an affluent white woman.” The only conviction in the history of Minnesota for a police officer killing a civilian was against a Black Somali officer, Mohamed Noor, who killed a white woman, Justine Damond.

Michelle Gross from CUAPB documented the evidence for reopening the case against Jamar Clark’s killers and described how police investigators ignored the testimony of almost 20 witnesses, took away civilian video footage from witnesses at gunpoint, and misrepresented the incident leading to Jamar’s murder as a domestic violence incident. She closed by telling the absent governor, “Your next three years can be easy, or they can be hard. We can make them hard.”

Dinni and Sumaya Aden, the siblings of Isak Aden – a young Somali man who died after being shot by seven police officers last month – spoke about the disrespect and the lack of cooperation family members of victims are treated with. Sumaya Aden explained that two of the officers who killed her brother had killed before, “One of them killed somebody in 2015, while he was laying on his stomach, in front of his mom and his wife in his mom’s backyard. Shot him in the back. And he just moved from Duluth to Eagan.” They also described how the officers that killed their brother are already back on the job after only three days of administrative leave.

Monique Collars Doty, of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar and other organizations and the aunt of Marcus Golden, who was killed by shots in the back from the Saint Paul police, said, “We have to continue to force the system’s hand to give us the justice we need,” and explained how all of the information needed to charge Jamar Clark’s killers is documented and readily available on the internet.

Other speakers included representatives from Women’s March Minnesota and Native Lives Matter. Representatives of The Anti-war Committee, Blue Lies Matter, and the director of the Justice Forgotten documentary about Jamar Clark’s murder, were also present.

Although police officers lingered outside the governor’s office, the event ended without a police incident. The protesters marched out chanting and promised to continue to disrupt the governor’s schedule until he takes real action against police violence.

#StPaulMN #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #CommunitiesUnitedAgainstPoliceBrutality #Antiracism #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJusticeForJamarTCC4J #GovernorWalz

Eagan, MN – Some 200 community members gathered here July 16 to demand justice for Isak Aden, a Somali man who was killed by police in this Saint Paul suburb on July 2. Aden was a 23-year-old college student who was killed by police after a four-hour standoff with 90 officers from nine different agencies. Five police officers from the cities of Eagan and Bloomington were named responsible for his death.

Marching behind a 30-foot banner, about 100 protesters took to the streets around the municipal center, which includes the Eagan Police Department and the Eagan City Hall. Then, the crowd poured into the center, past the police department and into the room where a city council meeting was scheduled to take place.

In the meantime, messages were pouring in via text and social media that Eagan police were continuing to block roads, preventing community members from reaching the protest and council meeting. Despite police roadblocks and threats of arrest, more people made their way, swelling protest numbers to 200, and packing the city council chambers.

While the biggest number of protesters were youth from the Somali community, there were Somali community elders, many from the African American community, and white folks and others who have been organizing for years against police murders and brutality. Fifteen organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Minnesota (CAIR-MN), Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB), and Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J) called for the demonstration, which was led by Isak Aden’s sister, Sumaya, and brother, Badrdin.

Because of several last-minute changes to the council’s schedule and agenda, protesters filled the council chambers ahead of the meeting. When councilmembers arrived and stood for the Pledge of Allegiance, protesters took a knee or raised fists in protest.

CAIR-MN director Jaylani Hussein opened the public comments with the family’s demands that Eagan release body camera and dash footage, that the BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) do a thorough investigation, and that Aden’s killers be fired and prosecuted. He demanded that the city of Eagan do the right thing and bring justice to Isak’s family.

Isak’s siblings and Michelle Gross (CUAPB) were the first speakers, followed by more than a dozen friends of Isak, community members and residents of Eagan. They called on Eagan’s city council to support the family demands. Many pointed out that two of the killers, including one from Eagan, have killed before. Others recalled standoffs with racist white mass-murderers where killers have been taken alive into custody. Some criticized Eagan police for trying to intimidate and block protesters standing with the Aden family.

Loretta VanPelt, an organizer with TCC4J, demanded that Isak get the same justice that Justine Damond received; Damond’s family was awarded $20 million in damages from the city of Minneapolis after a cop murdered her in 2017. VanPelt said, “If you truly believed, like you said in the pledge, that justice is for all, then mean it!” TCC4J is working in Minneapolis for community control of the police, which would prioritize ousting violent and corrupt cops, especially those who have killed civilians.

Protesters left the chambers after everyone who wanted to speak had spoken, with chants of “We’ll be back.” Family and community members are determined to hold Eagan accountable, along with the other cities and agencies responsible for the murder of Isak Aden.

#EaganMN #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #PoliceBruatality #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJusticeForJamarTCC4J #JusticeForIsakAden

Minneapolis, MN – For the third year in a row, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar has held a protest during the downtown Minneapolis Pride parade, June 23, against the presence of cops, and contesting the corporatization of Pride.

The action itself had around 200 participants and enjoyed nearly universal participation from onlookers, as they joined in on the chants, and raised their fists in solidarity.

The planning began in April via a call to action and endorsement letter. Meetings were held weekly up until the day before the parade and endorsements came in up until the wee hours of the morning on the day of the protest. An art day and banner-making were held the week before to ensure that the slogans of “Pride for the people,” “Black Trans lives matter,” and “No cops at Pride” would be front and center. After final reviews of the route, the starting locations was announced a week in advance.

The day of the event, a lookout was assigned for the parade beginning and once the signal was given, protesters entered the streets to the chant of “Off of the sidewalks, and into the streets! Queer and Trans liberation now!” The protests cut off the corporate Pride parade with the help of a local marching band named Unlawful Assembly and with chants of “Stonewall means? Fight back!” and “At Stonewall, we fought the cops!” Autumn Lake, an organizer with the Anti-War Committee, led the off the chants.

Protesters gave out candy which bore a sticker with a link to http://bit.ly/NoCopsInPride. The website was designed by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J) to get out the reason for the protest and history about the Stonewall Riots. It also covers the story trans BIPOC (Black, indigenous and people of color) women who are the backbone of the LGBTQ+ movement and still today are victims of hate crimes which often go unsolved, like the murder of Marsha P. Johnson, one of the founders of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries.

A coalition organizer gave an impassioned speech in which many protesters and parade goers cheered and raised their fists in solidarity. “50 years ago, Pride started when Black, brown and indigenous trans women said enough is enough, and fought back against the police who harassed, abused and murdered them. If you ignore the voices of people of color, femmes, trans folks, sex workers, immigrants, or any marginalized group when they are crying out for justice or demanding their basic human rights, if you ignore or try to silence those voices, then you are disrespecting everything that Pride stands for. Remember and honor those we have lost. And listen to, support, and defend those of us who are still here.”

When a reactionary flaunted his appreciation of the police and such state actors, the crowd and the participants shouted him down, which eventually required some police intervention, in order to protect the reactionary agitator – which, by the way, contradicts the promises of the Pride organizing committee that no cops would be present in the parade.

A die-in took place in front of the grandstand for the parade, where members of the TC Pride committee and people who paid money were seated. Protesters held the space by laying on their backs or kneeling for several minutes. The intention was to highlight the silence of TC Pride on the rise of violence on the transgender community. Before the die in, Loretta Van Pelt, from TCC4J, elaborated on the significance of the action, “A group called ACT UP used to do these in front of Congress and churches because they were ignoring people who were dying. And the Black Lives Matter movement have done these for years cuz we continue to be ignored – we’re dying in the streets every day and we continue to be ignored.”

21 Black Trans folks murdered this year

In the last year, at least 21 black trans folks have been killed, including Cathalina Christina James, Keisha Wells, Sasha Garden, Vontashia Bell, Dejanay Stanton, Shantee Tucker, Londonn Moore, Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier, Regina Denise Brown, Tydi Dansbury, Keanna Mattel, Dana Martin, Jazzaline Ware, Ashanti Carmon, Claire Legato. Muhlaysia Booker, Michelle 'Tamika' Washington, Paris Cameron, Chynal Lindsey, Chanel Scurlock, Zoe Spears.

This number doesn’t include other queer and trans folks who suffer from national oppression like Johana ‘Joa’ Medina. She died after being denied medical treatment while in ICE custody. Layleen Polanco was found dead in her Rikers cell in New York. It also doesn’t inlcude the many other women like Aubrey Dameron of the Cherokee Nation who went missing from Grove, Oklahoma on March 9. Crimes against trans people often go unreported or underreported and unresolved in the U.S. and across the world.

Against ‘corporate’ Pride

As Pride became more and more of a cultural phenomenon, it also has become more and more corporate. As Pride has represented the acceptance of the LGBTQ community into the common society, Pride has also represented the continued commodification of LGBTQ identity, as nearly every corporation capitalizes on the opportunity to boast about their supposed acceptance of the community. The Target corporation, for example, was notably anti-gay in the past, when it was still acceptable and encouraged to be reactionary in such a way.

An organizer with the Anti-War Committee said, “Of the 118 contingents in this year's parade, about half are private businesses. Of those, roughly 38 are corporations – including Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank, both of whom gave funding for Trump's militarized border wall, only pulling out after two years of pressure from grassroots activism. Why does Twin Cities Pride celebrate institutions that helped foot the bill for the death of Johana Medina Leon, the Salvadoran trans woman who died in ICE custody? Judging from Amy Klobuchar’s contingent, I guess queer Afghanis and Palestinians don’t deserve a spot at Pride – because voting to prolong the Patriot Act, voting known torturers to positions of power, and voting for every U.S. bombing and imperial war is queer now! Twin Cities Pride celebrates Wells Fargo, who sure queered predatory lending to Black and Latinx homeowners, leaving them destitute in the wake of the housing market crash that those lending practices created! Lyft and Delta Airlines both have parade contingents, because apparently it’s cool to be queer as long as you’re not a worker demanding your rights!”

Demands to the TC Pride organizers

Demands for the action included that the organization Twin Cities Pride honor the legacy and life of trans women of color, recognizing Pride as the byproduct of their resistance against police brutality and repression. This means making space for activist voices in the Pride parade and park by eliminating costs and restrictive selection processes. Make Pride more accessible for people with disabilities. Combat state violence with the total elimination of police and law enforcement at all of their events. This means no police in the Pride parade or park – including police in plain clothes. Traffic control should be moved away from the parade and the police shouldn’t delay the parade. TC Pride should divest of all corporations, as they promote the marginalization, exploitation and criminalization of marginalized communities. Don’t blame activists for delays caused by the police. Reorganize TC Pride leadership to be a majority of LGBTQ+ BIPOC, including people active in fighting current threats to the LGBTQ community who can resist these threats with the support of the community in the streets.

The protest was organized by a coalition of organizations, such as the AFSCME 2822, Anti-War Committee, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, Black Lives Matter Twin Cites Metro, Blue Lies Murder, Communities United Against Police Brutality, Freedom Road Socialist Organization – Twin Cities, Justice for Cordale Handy, Justice for Marcus Golden, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Minnesota Women’s March, Native Lives Matter, Racial Justice Network, Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America, TIGERRS (Transgender, Intersex, Gender-Expansive Revolutionary Resources and Services), Welfare Rights Committee and Women’s Prison Book Project.

2017 and 2018 protests at Pride

The spark for protests at Twin Cities Pride parade protests began in 2017. During the summer, the acquittal of officer Jeronimo Yanez for the murder of Philando Castile caused the community and LGBTQ+ people to decry the injustice. After LGBTQ+ people cause an uproar about the police being allowed to march in the parade, TC Pride agreed that police would not be allowed – and reversed course almost immediately without consulting the affected community. TC Pride threw the concerns of communities of color and anti-police brutality organizations under the bus in favor of pleasing the police. To some, this didn’t come as a surprise. The prior year, nonprofits and DFL leaders tied to the city’s top politicians quelled a protest at Pride in the wake of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shootings.

In 2018, a protest was also held after the murder of Thurman Blevins by the Minneapolis Police Department on June 23, 2018, less than 24 hours before the parade. Since the initial protest, the TC Pride has refused a town hall meeting on the issue. They held a meeting that included police, which the community would not attend, misrepresented protesters’ intentions and actions in the media, and blamed TCC4J for the lifeless five-hour parade in 2018 – even though the protest only took 45 minutes (the real delay being caused by the police, who stopped the parade for traffic every few minutes). TC Pride did not reach out to protesters in 2019 until both TCC4J and TC Pride representatives were present at a Stonewall DFL [Minnesota’s Democrat party] meeting in late May.

The relationship between the Twin Cities Pride Committee and the community has been antagonistic at best. The 2017 protest was well-received by the community. In 2018, there was a public relations campaign and misinformation spread by TC Pride which made community members hostile towards the protest. This year’s protest held on the one-year mark since Thurman Blevins was killed was entitled “Taking Back Pride: Defending our Trans Family and Community!”

Mayor confronted

The protest culminated at the “Power to the People” stage tun by local queer/trans activist Rox Anderson. BIPOC performers and bands are exclusively at this stage. This year included a drum team that performed at memorial events for Jamar Clark. But a surprise appearance by Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frye was a special treat for TCC4J members. They confronted him about the settlement for Jamar’s families. To which the mayor replied, “I cannot comment.” It ended with the crowd chasing Frye out of the park yelling at him, “Cut that check for Jamar’s families! You protect killer cops! Get the fuck out of our Pride!” TCC4J will continue to hold those who protect racist killer cops accountable and defending our Trans family and community by fighting for community control of the police.

#MinneapolisMN #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Pride #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJusticeForJamarTCC4J #TwinCitiesPride

St. Paul, MN – On March 15, the mother of Cordale Handy, members of the community and other families who lost loved ones to police violence gathered here to remember Cordale Handy, who was murdered by police on this date in 2017.

The most impactful part of the evening was hearing from other families from across the country who have been affected by police, including Pamela Brooks, whose teenage son Amir, was killed by an off-duty Prince George's County, Maryland officer; Lisa Simpson, whose son was killed by Los Angeles police, and two families from Minneapolis, Thurmond Blevins, who was killed by Minneapolis Police in June 2018 and Jerome Gordon Jackson who was murdered by Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies in 2013.

Kim Handy Jones, who is the mother of Cordale Handy, has fought for justice for not only her son, but for the other families who have lost loved ones to the police. She brought the mothers and loved ones to Saint Paul for the Friday night vigil and for a Saturday banquet to raise funds to help other families.

Trahern Crews, who emceed the event, made a demand that Saint Paul Police should seek atonement for the harm they caused the community. The SPPD is the most deadly and dangerous force in the state of Minnesota.

On March 16 a second night “Boots on the Ground, Cordale Handy Remembrance Celebration” was held. The night again brought together mothers and family members of those lost to police crimes. Many of those involved in the movement to stop police crimes were in attendance.

The event was hosted by the Racial Justice Network. Speakers during the event included the Minneapolis NAACP, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J), Black Lives Matter Minnesota, Justice for Justine Damond Ruszcyk, Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB), Trio Plant Based restaurant, Hope and Healing Counseling Services, and the Racial Justice Network.

#StPaulMN #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #TwinCities #CordaleHandy #TwinCitiesCoalitionForJusticeForJamarTCC4J