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Inside this Edition...
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THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
November 18-24, 2021
Vol. 88
www.spokesman-recorder.com www.spokesman-recorde
No. 16
Racist video stirs protests over Prior Lake schools’ inaction By Feven Gerezgiher Contributing Writer
D
ozens of community members—students, parents and activists—gathered outside Prior Lake High School on Thursday afternoon denouncing the racist environment at the school
while also rallying behind a Black student targeted by a racist video shared on social media. Earlier this week, a video went viral of two White students addressing racial slurs towards 14-year-old Nya Sigin, a Prior Lake student who has struggled with her mental health in the past. “I have had to deal with racism in my city
for as long as I can remember,” said Sigin, speaking with a crowd of Black students and activists behind her. “It’s disgusting. It needs to stop now. “You don’t understand how much this means to me and my family,” she continued. “This is where we can create real change. This happens here right now. I am so thankful for every
single one of you.” Current and former students recounted experiences with racism and Islamophobia in the school district going back to elementary school, receiving supportive cheers from the audience. They said school administrators have long failed to address their concerns. Student Suleka Adam said
earlier in the school year a student said the n-word in class and the teacher did nothing: “I feel like [the school] don’t take us seriously and they’re only talking about [the racist video] because all they care about is their reputation. “I don’t really think they care about the students here,” said Adam. “A lot of the things that
“It’s disgusting. It needs to stop now,” Nya Sigin said at a protest about the racist video attacking her that has gone viral.
have been reported are always swept under the rug. They never really listened to us.” At nearly the same time, the City of Savage organized a press conference at city hall in an effort, they said, to show support for the community. Speakers included Savage Police Chief Rodney Sawyer; Dr. ■ See PROTEST on page 5
Photo by KingDemetrius Pendelton
hy it seems like Kyle Rittenhouse shot W Black people fessor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in an NBC News interview. “All signs are this is going to be the case that vindicates White people. If the By Mel Reeves peak of the country’s social justice reckoning was Community Editor George Floyd, then this is the pendulum swinging “I assumed the guys he shot were White guys,” back. This is the tipping point back.” A Washington Post podcast concluded that said a neighbor when the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial came up in casual conversation. Others if Rittenhouse is acquitted it would “embolden seconded that opinion as an informal poll con- anti-Black figures” to believe “if you shoot them, ducted by the MSR found most people, like our you might be able to get away with it.” White neighbor, holding this assumption. Why Similarities with White shooter and Black victim would that be? All the elements that exist when a White (l-r) Judge Bruce Shroeder, Kyle Rittenhouse, and defense attorney Mark Richards view a “I think the mood in Wisconsin, not just Kenosha, is that they’re over the whole racial awaken- person is on trial for killing a Black person are video during his trial. ing,” said John Eason, an assistant sociology pro■ See RITTENHOUSE on page 5 Pool photo by Sean Krajacic News Analysis
Ward One newcomer suggests council audits to monitor MPD The Minneapolis City Council will have a majority of BIPOC members starting when the newly elected members take their seats in January. Over the next few weeks the MSR will give our readers an opportunity to get to know them and their thoughts on the pressing issues in the city, especially as these relate to Communities of Color. This week we talk with Elliott Payne, newly elected Ward 1 council member.
By RB King Contributing Writer
Elliott Payne
to attend the University of Minnesota, where I got an MBA in engineering. At the time of George Floyd’s murMSR: Tell our readers who you der, I was actually working on a project are, where you come from, and around developing alternative responswhat makes you tick as a person? es to police. I’d been working indepenPayne: I’m originally from Mil- dently as a consultant for maybe about waukee, but I moved to Minnesota four years by that point, and the focus Submitted photo 20 years ago because of reciprocity of my consulting practice was to do
work that could create an impact, and had some purpose behind it. I had a full-time salaried job when my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it was this life event that just kind of shifted my focus and trajectory towards work that felt like it had a little more substance and meaning behind it. And I was happily doing that for a while, not
only working with the City but also with nonprofits and working for some startups that were doing work around health care. [I asked myself,] “Can I take my unique skill set and apply it to problems that are impacting people?” That was kind of the context that I woke up to when I found out about
■ See PAYNE on page 12
Mpls cops still face little discipline for misconduct Current oversight called ‘complaining to police about police’
By Niara Savage Contributing Writer
death and the controversial ballot question that followed it. It’s “not random” that the Communities United Against murder of George Floyd, a trigPolice Brutality (CUAPB) Presi- ger for racial justice protests dent Michelle Gross says the around the globe, happened in now-failed ballot question that Minneapolis, said Dave Bicking, would have replaced the Minne- a CUAPB board member. According to Bicking, efforts apolis Police Department with a department of public safety was counterproductive to the divisive as a proposed charter pursuit of an efficient form of amendment and would have civilian review and consistent been ineffective had it been disciplinary actions against officers who commit misconduct approved and gone into effect. “That ballot question was not have allowed a police culture to ian Review Authority served as a police reform,” Gross said. “That persist that is void of account- measure of oversight for police in Minneapolis. Bicking served on wouldn’t have changed anything ability and rife with abuse. the CRA from 2008 until 2010. about the police except give them “That was truly a civilian a new name and a different boss. Evolution of Mpls police overbody,” he said. “It did not have A lengthy history of failed sight Until Oct. 1, 2012, the Civil- police officers in it. If someone police reform preceded Floyd’s
allowed a backlog of cases to pile up. But the system also had its strengths. “They did a good job of investigating and sustaining cases,” Gross said. “It was just that the police chief wouldn’t discipline those cases.” The next form of police oversight in Minneapolis managed to be even more dismal and ineffective than its predecessor. “It’s MSR file photo about as far from civilian review as you can get,” Gross said. The current system, the filed a complaint, it went to Office of Police Conduct civilians for review.” The CRA was created by Review (OPCR), is a hybrid ordinance in January 1990 to police-civilian body, rather investigate claims from the than solely a civilian body. It public against the police. It took the place of the CRA. The OPCR’s review panel was weak, underfunded, and
is composed of four members—two civilians and two sworn panelists, including an officer with the rank of lieutenant or higher and an individual assigned by the chief of police or the chief’s designee. Bicking described the current system for handling civilian complaints as “complaining to the police about the police.” The panel makes a determination about the merit of the complaint but not about the level of discipline. Next, the case goes to internal affairs, where a panel of officers can override the determination made by the hybrid panel. The officer accused of ■See SDISCIPLINE on page 12