PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
Inside this Edition...
THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
October 14–20, 2021
Vol. 88
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NO. 11
Construction diversity is still a work in progress
Projects that meet inclusion goals remain ‘atypical’ By Abdi Mohamed Contributing writer
Part one of a two-part story
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onstruction season in Minnesota is often marked by warm weather, orange cones, and the occasional traffic jam. This year’s season had all the hallmarks and more as the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced that it had over 200 construction projects planned for 2021. The most prominent of these projects has been the 35W Down-
town-to-Crosstown freeway reconstruction project, which took four years and $239 million to complete. Though its size and scope were large, the project also received recognition for exceeding the expectations in its workforce diversity goals. The goals for the 35W project were to include 6.9% women and 32% POC as construction employees to meet state and local requirements of workforce inclusion. This feat was achieved through the efforts of State-led job training programs and private contractors joining resources to recruit more workers. Officials referred to this achieve-
ment as “atypical.” A recent report from the Star Tribune revealed that diversity goals for the workforce are rarely met on construction projects in the state. In the past two years, several construction companies have failed to employ a single woman or POC to become a part of their construction team. State and local agencies are working to fix these shortfalls by supporting job training programs and recruiting from diverse communities. They’re also encouraging prime contractors, the companies who work directly with government agencies ■See CONSTRUCTION on page 5
Construction workers pour concrete on a job site in Minneapolis earlier this fall. MSR file photo
Activists call for police accountability in Stallings case County Attorney Freeman charged victim of brutality, not the brutalizers
Nekima Levy Armstrong calls for prosecution of the police who brutalized Jaleel Stallings and randomly fired at peaceful protestors days after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. photo by MSR By Mel Reeves Community Editor
Speakers also called for an independent investigation into the actions of the MPD followhe case of Jaleel ing George Floyd’s murder.” Newly released video by Stallings continues to put the spotlight Stallings’ attorney Eric Rice on the actions of reveals police talking about the Minneapolis hunting people. It contradicts Police Department. A group of any claims that Stallings resistlongtime anti-police violence ed arrest after firing a gun at activists called a press confer- police in self-defense when he ence Friday demanding that the was shot with a 40mm round police who brutalized Stallings on May 30, 2020 on Lake and those who acted inappro- Street in South Minneapolis. The video also shows police ranpriately or engaged in random shooting of rubber bullets at domly shooting people with rubber bullets and seeming to enjoy it. civilians be fired immediately.
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The video captures police approaching Stallings, who was lying on the ground face down as he was ordered. The first cop who approached him is seen kicking him in the head repeatedly while others joined in by punching the already prone and subdued victim. “In this video we clearly see the pattern of behavior that many of the peaceful protesters have reported,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR Minnesota. “If it wasn’t for this video and those who were there, we would not know what actually took place. “Instead of helping those who in the middle of the night were defending their homes and their lives from the attacks of White Supremacists who came from all over this country to burn down businesses and to attack Black neighborhoods, North Minneapolis, Cedar Riverside, the Minneapolis Police Department looked and acted like the White Supremacists that were hunting people in our community.” Two of the ranking officers on the scene that night have recently left the department. Sgt. Johnny Mercil was caught
Remembering one AIDS victim among the millions Brian Coyle was a champion for the city’s poor By Jon Jeter Contributing writer Forty-one years ago this month, the first in a succession of five young gay men walked into a Los Angeles hospital, where he was diagnosed with an unusual lung infection known as pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, or PCP. In June of 1981, medical researchers in California authored a report alerting the public to a strange outbreak of a mysterious malady that would later become known as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. While the novel coronavi-
rus has roiled the American body politic for the past 18 months, its impact pales in comparison to AIDS, a scourge which has, over the course of 40 years, remapped the known world. It has sparked an international movement, redefined the way we view marriage and family, derailed South Africa’s antiapartheid movement, and claimed the lives of more than 32 million people worldwide. If it is true, however, that a million deaths are a statistic while one is a tragedy, then AIDS’ toll on our consciousness and hearts can be summed up by the death 30 years ago of a charismatic, progressive Minneapolis city councilman named Brian Coyle. Coyle was the first openly gay city council member in
on tape apparently trying to water down the fact that outsiders, primarily White Supremacists, were causing some of the chaos. “It’s time to start [expletive] putting… people in jail and just prove the mayor wrong about these White Supremacists from out of state.” He left MPD on May 4, 2021 according to the City of Minneapolis staff, giving no reason for his departure. Commander Bruce Folkens was captured on the video saying, “Tonight it was just nice to hear we’re gonna find some more people instead of chasing people around. You guys are out hunting people now. It’s just a nice change of tempo... [expletive] these people.” According to Minneapolis City staff, Folkens’ last day with the MPD was July 31, 2021. It has not been made clear by the City or the MPD that the officers left as a result of being disciplined. “Who tells people to go ‘hunting people’?” asked Hussein. “We know that police departments across this country have been hunting us for a long time. They [police] started out going after and
catching and hunting slaves, and they continue that dark past and that dark history by hunting peaceful protesters. The City of Minneapolis and the State of Minnesota have failed Black people.” According to Michelle Gross of Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB), under the Minneapolis city charter the mayor has the responsibility of disciplining police officers, but he has failed to do so. Gross said 89 people were sent to the hospital, 10 lost an eye, and one person died in the aftermath of the protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd. Freeman questioned “Mr. Stallings was charged by Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman even though Freeman had all the evidence that we see now,” said Gross. “Mike Freeman has had at all times in his office evidence that Mr. Stallings was innocent, that he was defending himself, and that the police brutalized him and viciously beat him even while handcuffed.” Gross called out Freeman for what she called a “grotesque
misuse of the criminal justice system” in bringing charges against Mr. Stallings in the first place. “Why has his office not brought charges against these officers?” she asked. Stallings was charged with second degree attempted murder and offered a plea deal that would have required him to spend 13 years behind bars. “That was a crime. It was an assault. Officers attacked him. Why are those officers not being charged? It’s outrageous that the wrong person was charged, that the wrong person was dragged through the justice system, while the cops have been given a free pass by Freeman, the mayor and the city council,” said Gross. Nekima Levy Armstrong of the Racial Justice Network criticized Freeman as well. “It’s unconscionable to continue with business as usual. These officers should have been disciplined and many should have been fired a long time ago,” she said. “It makes no sense that Mike Freeman’s office has not done anything to hold law enforcement accountable. We saw Mike Freeman prosecuting ■See STALLINGS on page 5
New MN law protects jail inmates Victims’ families seek justice for ‘stolen lives’
Former Minneapolis City Councilman Brian Coyle MSR file photo Minneapolis, an advocate for affordable housing and civil rights legislation. Many were unaware at the time that Coyle had contracted HIV in the mid 1980s and long before this writer had been assigned the city hall beat writing for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He had begun working covertly with a local magazine reporter on a story about his struggle with the virus that causes AIDS. Coyle was an intellectual, a conservative fat kid turned ■See COYLE on page 5
Del Shea Perry (center) and allies march in support of Hardel Sherrell Act .
By Niara Savage Contributing writer
Advocates demand that those responsible for these jailhouse deaths be held accountable. Gov. Tim Walz signed the Some Minnesota families who have lost loved ones as a bill into law in mid-September. result of alleged jail staff mis- It establishes a set of miniconduct gathered earlier this mum standards in jails related month to celebrate the pas- to mental health assessments, sage of the Hardel Sherrell Act. suicide prevention, medica-
MSR file photo
tion administration, and wellbeing checks. The law also bans chokeholds in jails and establishes policies for investigating in-custody deaths. The law is named after Hardel Sherrell, a 27-yearold Black man who died after ■See NEW LAW on page 5