Minnesota

Police Reform Advocates Press Minnesota Legislature For More

January 7, 2021 Zoë Jackson, Star Tribune. Resist! Accountability, Minnesota, Police violence

Civil rights organizers were back at Minnesota's Capitol as a new legislative session got underway Tuesday, ready to mount another push for changes to police accountability laws less than a week after another fatal police shooting in Minneapolis. "We know that George Floyd is not an anomaly," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "George Floyd represents the history of state violence against people of color in this country and particularly against Black people." Floyd's death last May in the custody of Minneapolis police officers made Minnesota ground zero for the debate over police brutality, Hussein said...

Minnesota Is Changing The Way It Teaches Social Studies

January 5, 2021 Josh Verges, TwinCities.com. Create! climate crisis, Education, Minnesota, Multicultural

Minnesota’s K-12 social studies standards are undergoing extensive revisions in search of a more inclusive approach that teaches about people previously left out of the discussion. A diverse committee’s first draft, now open for public comment, gives greater consideration to the Dakota and Anishinaabe tribes and covers for the first time the civil rights struggles of LGBTQ people. The draft standards, according to Doug Paulson, the state education department’s academic standards director, are “more inclusive” and “culturally affirming.” Still, some committee members think the first draft doesn’t go far enough in that direction.

Water Protector Locks To Enbridge Pipe Yard Gate On Black Friday

November 27, 2020 Giniw Collective, Popular Resistance. Resist! Enbridge, Minnesota, Native Americans, Oil and Gas

Backus, MN - This morning, one water protector locked their neck to the gate of one of Enbridge’s massive pipe yards south of Backus, Minnesota, as other rallied and shoppers consumed on Black Friday. Black Friday falls on Native American Heritage Day. Earlier in the week, the Trump administration approved the last major permits of Enbridge’s Line 3 project, following state approval through 818 wetlands and Anishinaabe treaty territory in northern Minnesota by Democratic Governor Tim Walz’ administration.

Community Wants Justice For Mother Of Three Killed By Teen Driver

November 26, 2020 Georgia Fort and Niko Georgiades, Unicorn Riot. Resist! Indigenous Rights, Minnesota, Police, Racism

Saint Paul, MN – A small crowd gathered on the West Side of St. Paul Sunday afternoon to demand justice for a woman who was fatally run over by a teenage driver. According to family and witnesses, Karina Chosa, a 35-year-old mother of three fell in the street and was fatally hit by a 16-year-old driver who has not been charged. The incident took place November 17, around 6 p.m. near the corner of George Street and Stryker Avenue in Saint Paul. Karina’s mother, Michelle Gonzalez, said that the vehicle dragged her body down the road before stopping, leaving Karina with more than a dozen broken bones.

Unhoused Community Forms Tenants Union

November 13, 2020 Jenn Schreiter, Unicorn Riot. Organize! Houseless, Housing rights, Minnesota, Tenants Union

Minneapolis, MN – A tenants union was formed this past weekend by unhoused community members who have been living at the Extended Stay America hotel in Bloomington, MN. After a deal for Hennepin County to purchase the building unexpectedly fell through, residents say they are standing up for their rights as tenants. Their lawyers are helping them argue that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s suspension of evictions during the pandemic protects people experiencing homelessness who had been housed in hotels as an emergency temporary measure.

Feds Leverage Civil Disorder Charge Against George Floyd Protester

November 2, 2020 Niko Georgiades, Unicorn Riot. Educate! First Amendment, Legal System, Minnesota, Rebellion2020

Saint Paul, MN – Charges against an Illinois man facing federal felonies from this summer’s uprising in Minneapolis showcase the tactics, techniques and procedures applied by the U.S. government against some of the more enthusiastic participants in the George Floyd rebellion. Repressive responses by the federal government to anti-police protests illustrate the ease with which they can charge and indict people who document their own activities on social media. The case also shows how federal agencies are using their deep access to both physical and technical surveillance to nab targets associated with George Floyd protests.

Economic Justice Rally Pushes For City Level Reparations

July 9, 2020 Unicorn Riot. Create! Black America, Minnesota, Racial wealth divide, Reparations

St. Paul, MN – After weeks of intense protests following the murder of George Floyd by police, Minnesota organizers are pushing legislative changes to bring forth justice for the Black community. One of those items is a bill that would distribute reparations for descendants of slaves in Minnesota’s capital city of Saint Paul. The St. Paul Recovery Act, spearheaded by Minnesota Green Party spokesman Trahern Crews and Ward 7 city councilor Jane Prince, is what the pair call “economic justice“. The Recovery Act was created out of H.R. 40 which was passed in 2019 by Congress and commissioned research on discrimination against freed slaves, the role of the government in slavery and the development of proposals for reparations.

Can The President Call In The Military To Stop Uprisings Over Killing Of George Floyd?

May 30, 2020 Mark Nevitt, Just Security. Educate! George Floyd, militarism, Militarized police, Minnesota

The Minnesota National Guard has been activated by Minnesota Governor Timothy Walz. These Minnesota National Guard members report to the governor and can actively take part in law enforcement functions, which they are doing. But now, President Donald Trump is involved too. The president tweeted Thursday night that he "can’t stand back & watch this [the riots] happen to a great city, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the city under control, or I will send in the National Guard and get the job done right." Can he?

Nationwide Rebellion Against Police Violence Demands Justice For George Floyd

May 28, 2020 Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance. Resist! George Floyd, Legal System, Minnesota, Police abuse

Minneapolis - The horrific killing of George Floyd in broad daylight with people watching and videotaping the incident while yelling at the police to stop is being described as a public lynching. It showed contempt for the lives of Black people by the police involved. It is one event of many that show police violence is a major national problem that people have seen too often, a police culture of violence. This is a pattern and practice of US policing especially in black and brown communities. While four officers have been fired over the murder, none have yet been arrested despite the overwhelming evidence that they lied in their police report. They killed Floyd who did not resist the police and who cried out that he could not breathe.

Law Enforcement Has Quietly Backed Anti-Protest Bills In At Least 8 States

May 28, 2020 Simon David-Cohen and Sarah Lazare, In These Times. Educate! Lobbying, Minnesota, Police abuse, Protests Against Police

Law enforcement in at least eight states—Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Washington and Wyoming—lobbied on behalf of anti-protest bills in 2017 and 2018. The bills ran the gamut from punishing face coverings at protests to increasing penalties for “economic disruption” and highway blockage to criminalizing civil protests that interfere with “critical infrastructure” like oil pipelines. Emboldened by the Trump administration, at least 31 states have considered 62 pieces of anti-protest legislation since November 2016, with at least seven enacted and 31 still pending. The full scope of police support for these bills is not yet known. As in the case of Kroll, police support often takes place in private meetings, far from the public eye.

Teens Convince Their Minnesota Town To Go Solar

March 12, 2020 Staff, Yaleclimateconnections.org Create! Climate Change, Minnesota, Youth

In 2018, the city of Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, made the commitment to become carbon neutral. The decision was the result of pressure from local high school students. “They felt passionate, like a lot of youth around the country do, that there is an urgency,” says Jessi Wyatt of the Great Plains Institute. “And so they brought the urgency to their city council in the form of letters...

Minnesotans To Protest Washington Football Team’s Racist Mascot

October 25, 2019 By Morgan Gstalter, Thehill.com Resist! Minnesota, Racism, Sports

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) is joining other Native American leaders on Thursday to protest the “racist” name and mascot of the Washington Redskins ahead of the NFL team’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. As a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, Flanagan is the highest-ranking Native woman elected to executive office in the history of the United States. “In this role ― and in my role as a mom ― I will march with fellow Minnesotans who are making clear that our state does not tolerate a racist mascot," Flanagan wrote in a Thursday op-ed for the HuffPost.

On Indigenous People’s Day, Anishinaabeg Leaders March Against Enbridge’s $7.5 Billion Oil Pipeline

October 16, 2019 Amelia Diehl, Inthesetimes.com Resist! Indigenous Peoples, Minnesota, Pipelines, Protests

CLEARBROOK, MINN.—On October 14, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, more than 200 Indigenous leaders and allies marched down a highway to Enbridge Inc.’s U.S. pipeline terminal in Northern Minnesota, to protest the proposed Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project. Braving cold temperatures and a foul stench in the air from the oil terminal, supporters from across the state and region held up signs with messages such as “Water is Life,” “Protect the Sacred” and “Honor the Treaties,” and chanted “Stop Line 3!” As they marched toward the terminal, a large, loud tractor with a “Minnesota for Line 3” sign drove ahead of the group, trying—unsuccessfully—to drown out the chants.

Hundreds Rally In Opposition To Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline

September 29, 2019 Unicorn Riot. Resist! climate crisis, Line 3 Pipeline, Minnesota, Oil and Gas

The rally comes at the end of a week of protests across planet Earth designed to bring attention to the ongoing mass extinction event tied to human-accelerated climate change. Protests and actions have been continuous against the tar sands Line 3 pipeline as indigenous groups and allies defend native treaty rights and cultural resources. The actions have included lock-downs across the state, and a constant legal battle in the courts. Although recently the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline has been denied a necessary water crossing permit, it is uncertain how this most recent decision will affect Enbridge’s timeline. The company already has pipe materials stored in northern Minnesota, and seems to be operating under the assumption that it will have the permits by the end of 2019 and be able to enter service by the latter half of 2020.

Protest Shuts Down Highway, Marches Through Eagan’s High-End Outlet Mall

July 31, 2019 Niko Georgiades, UnicornRiot.ninja Resist! Minnesota, police brutality, Protests

Eagan, MN – Protests shut down roads around Eagan’s Outlet Mall and miles of Minnesota Highway 13 on Saturday, July 27. About 100 protesters marched through the area seeking justice for 23-year-old student and entrepreneur, Isak Aden, who was killed by police after a standoff in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan in early July. Braving the mid-day summer heat, community members gathered at the parking lot in Eagan’s high-end Outlet Mall to continue to press their demands that Eagan Police release any of the police videos and transcripts related to Isak’s case.

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