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Read about the movie ‘Missing’ on page 6.
THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
January 26 - February 1, 2023
Vol. 89
No. 26
Phone: 612-827-4021
www.spokesman-recorder.com
Mpls police reform won’t happen overnight An interview with Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara
By Abdi Mohamed Contributing Writer
T
People are simply asking to be heard and to have a voice and to be respected.
hroughout the year ahead, MSR will take a look at those people and issues that will significantly impact our community—from elected officials, to public policy and infrastructure, to housing and homelessness, to economic development and policing. This week MSR sat down with the recently appointed Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara (BO), to discuss the challenges that lie ahead, what changes he wants to make in the MPD, how he plans to reshape the department, and how he hopes to repair the relationship between the community and the police department. MSR: How does your previous experience as deputy mayor and as a police officer in Newark, New Jersey inform your role as Minneapolis police chief? BO: I think just the way my career has progressed, particularly since the police reform work in Newark was underway. It was just kind of a natural progression. I was dealing with a consent decree, a court order to mandate reform; but I was doing a lot of work outside of that to change policing, to
There’s also change in terms of finding ways to support [the] community to have a voice, not only in terms of the process of how policies and training are developed for police, but also having a voice and informing what safety looks like in neighborhoods.
Chief O’Hara speaks to clients at New Creation Baptist Church’s food shelf in South Minneapolis. Facebook/Minneapolis Police Department change what public safety looks like in Newark and involve [the] community and be supportive of other community-based organizations. We were trying to do things differently. In general, I think people think about police
reform too simply, almost one-dimensionally. They think let’s just fix a list of things and sort of be done with it. That’s not how this works. There are deep-seated issues in policing that need to be changed.
MSR: What did you know about Minneapolis before taking on the role as police chief and what are you learning about the city that can best help you lead this department? BO: Ironically, the only other time I’d been in Minneapolis was when I was with the Newark mayor [Ras Baraka] and a couple of community-based groups. We came to have some discussions with some community-based groups ■ See O'HARA on page 5
Missing and murdered Black women are the focus of House bill Bill HF55 would create a State office to investigate violence, support families
By Grace Deng Minnesota Reformer
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n Jan. 12, Minnesota House legislators advanced a bill that would create an office to investigate murdered and missing Black girls and women. This comes a month after a State report showed Black women are nearly three times more likely to be murdered than White women in Minnesota. The report from the Missing and Murdered African American Women Task Force recommended establishment of an office to investigate the violence. While Black women make up seven percent of the state’s population, 40 percent of reported domestic violence homicide victims in 2020 were Black women. In the United States, there are more than 60,000 estimated missing Black women— and the number of unresolved homicide cases is skyrocketing. “This is a crisis, and it doesn’t have to be this way. Behind these numbers are real people and real families
trolled Senate. It’s modeled on Minne- 2021 as the first State office of its kind devastated,” said chief author of the task force. Similar bills passed the House twice sota’s Office of Missing and Murdered in the nation. Richardson said passing bill Rep. Ruth Richardson, DFL-Mendota Heights, who also sits on the but stalled in the formerly GOP-con- Indigenous Relatives, established in the bill is long overdue, given that family members of murdered Black girls and women must relive their trauma every time they return to testify in support of the office. The Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls would provide grants to community organizations, require the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to operate a missing person alert system, and support families on cold cases. Advocates said the office would also legitimize family reports to police officers, who are more likely to dismiss violence against Black women and girls than their White counterparts, according to the report. Missing and murdered Black women are less likely to receive media attention or Amber Alerts, and the media sometimes portray them as complicit in their homicide. Lakeisha Lee, co-chair of the task force, told legislators that newspaCourtesy of MGN pers in St. Paul called her 18-year-old ■ See MISSING on page 5
St. Paul pays $1.3m settlement to Golden family By Cole Miska Contributing Writer The family of Marcus Golden held a press conference at Rondo Public Library on Thursday afternoon, January 19, following the St. Paul City Council’s vote to approve a $1.3 million settlement over the 2015 slaying of Golden by St. Paul Police Department (SPPD) officers. Golden was fatally shot in the back of the head while in his vehicle on Jan. 14, 2015, by officers Dan Peck and Jeremy Doverspike. SPPD claims Golden drove towards the officers at a high speed, but Golden’s family and activists dispute this claim, saying Golden was attempting to leave the scene and drove past officers. Officers also claimed that Golden discharged a firearm during the encounter, but the autopsy failed to find any gunpowder or other evidence that would indicate Golden had fired a gun. The conference was cohosted by Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB). CUAPB had been working on an independent investigation into Golden’s killing for two years and has released a report alleging SPPD’s initial claims were factually incorrect and part of a cover-up.
on St. Paul’s Neighborhood Safety and Community Council. While St. Paul City Council approved the settlement, neither the City or SPPD have admitted to any wrongdoing. Golden’s mother, Ericka Cullars-Golden, and his grandmother each reached separate settlements for their treatment by SPPD following the killing. Cullars-Golden, who worked as a reservist officer for SPPD for 20 years, was forcibly committed to a psych ward by SPPD shortly after Golden’s death. Cullars-Golden’s family maintains the committal was done with hostile intent, and that a doctor at the ward did not find Cullars-Golden to have any mental health issues. The Golden family’s lawyers, Kevin O’Connor and Paul Bosman, said the case set a new precedent in Minnesota. The case had passed the three-year statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim, but Bosman was able to convince a Members of Marcus Golden’s family and CUAPB speak at a January 19 press conference. Photo by Cole Miska judge to allow the suit to commence as a claim for death caused by an intentional act constituting murder. “I don’t believe that you give a family $1.3 They knew it. They were scared of it.” O’Connor said he only knew of three times Along with the financial settlement commillion and think that nothing happened,” Michelle Gross, president of CUAPB, said. pensation, a bench and plaque will be set up that the intentional act constituting murder “They knew that their officers were subject as a memorial for Golden in Como Park, and complaint had been used. ■ See SETTLEMENT on page 5 to being prosecuted in civil court for murder. a member of the Golden family will be placed