PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
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THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
November 27 - December 3, 2025
Vol. 92
No. 17
Phone: 612-827-4021 www.spokesman-recorder.com
Jellybean Johnson: National boycott brings A legacy of joy and genius Target ‘to its knees’ Minnesotans urged to shop elsewhere through holidays By Jasmine McBride Editor
cuts in an effort to recover weakened sales and falling consumer sentiment. The coalition, led by the ivil rights leaders gathered in Minne- Racial Justice Network, CAIRapolis on Nov. 20, Minnesota, Unidos Minnesota, days before the busy and original organizers of the
inauguration committee. Target, which has long marketed itself as a Minnesotabased brand aligned with community values, has experienced notable financial turbulence this year. In the months
By Scott Selmer Assigning Editor
“His hugs, his kisses, his joy. it was the Grammys, Bunkers or on the street… positive, enThat’s what comes first.” Johnson: drummer, guitarist, couraging, hilarious. His stage n stage, Jellybean producer, and an architect of persona was just an amplifiJohnson was thun- the Minneapolis Sound, died cation of who he already was.” der and electricity. suddenly Nov. 21, two days af- Hines learned of his passing Behind the drum kit, ter his birthday, sending shock- the same day the two traded behind the guitar, and behind waves through a community their usual affectionate texts. the curtain of Minneapolis that has long regarded him as “We always said, ‘I love you.’ I’m fame, he was a force so steady one of its brightest cultural so glad we said it that day,” he and full of joy that even those pillars. His loss has left Min- said. “What comes from the who played beside him for 50 nesota’s musical elders griev- heart reaches the heart, and years still struggle to believe ing, young musicians reflective, Bean’s heart was enormous.” To many in Minneapolis, and his family determined to he’s gone. But for his daughter, Bianca protect his legacy. And across Johnson was the connective Rhodes, the first image that the Twin Cities, the stories tissue between musical genflashes is simpler: a towering pouring out reveal a man who erations. He could be at Flyte man in a long coat stepping lived his life tuned to one fre- Tyme [the Minneapolis funk band Harris and Johnson were into her North Side daycare, quency: connection. “Bean was the same person a part of] one night, mentoring arms outstretched. “‘Daddy’s big baby, how’s that baby?’” wherever you saw him,” said high-school players the next, he would say, scooping her up. Gary Hines, bandleader of then dropping in at Minnesota ■ See JELLYBEAN on page 5 “I’ll never forget that,” she said. Sounds of Blackness. “Whether
MPD accused of hiding lethal incompetence
Photo courtesy of KingDemetrius Pendleton holiday shopping season, urg- Target Boycott, reiterated ing Americans to “hold the line” their call for shoppers to avoid on a months-long nationwide Target through Black Friday boycott of Target. Speakers and the holidays, saying the emphasized that the timing company “capitulated” to forof the press conference was mer President Donald Trump intentional, coming as Target by rolling back its diversity, rolls out deep seasonal dis- equity and inclusion initiatives counts and aggressive price and donating $1 million to his
following the February launch of the boycott, Target’s stock price fell sharply and traffic numbers declined nationwide. The company recently announced thousands of corporate layoffs and replaced its CEO amid continued pressure ■ See TARGET on page 5
High-profile names blacked out in Epstein files
Three residents of color called for help. Only one survived. ing signs that advocates say 10 restraining orders over the contributed to the deaths of years. Moturi and his wife, CaroLussier and Samuels. line, who moved in during fall avis Moturi is alive to 2023, say they called police tell his story. Allison Repeated warnings at least 29 times in the year Lussier, an Indigenous answered On Oct. 23, 2024, Moturi before the shooting. “We woman, and Mariah Samuels, was trimming a tree outside are living in constant fear of a Black woman, are not. The pattern is tragically fa- his home on Grand Avenue So. John,” Moturi wrote in an April miliar: people of color repeat- when he suddenly felt a surge restraining-order petition. He edly calling 911, warning po- of pressure in his chest. He said Sawchak frequently told lice about violent neighbors or thought he was having a heart him to “go back to North Minex-partners, doing everything attack. Doctors discovered he neapolis.” A Black family who lived authorities ask, only to be had been shot in the neck. The alleged shooter was his in the same home before the met with inaction. Lussier and in the files.” He said the AmeriSamuels were killed this year next-door neighbor, 54-year- Moturis told them Sawchak’s By Stacy M. Brown can people want the truth. old John Sawchak, a White harassment pushed them to despite those warnings. According to Bloomberg move. The family has since he fight over the Epconfirmed this to the MSR. stein files reached a News, Donald Trump’s name But what Moturi didn’t boiling point Nov. 18 as appears throughout the Epknow was the most devastat- Congress moved to force their stein materials. What has not ing: Sawchak had an active release, but the real story has been widely reported is that an felony warrant for his arrest already unfolded behind closed FBI FOIA review team blacked that police never executed. doors. The documents were out Trump’s name and the scrubbed long before lawmak- names of other high-profile figures. Three people familiar A warrant ignored ers ever approached the floor. Hennepin County Attorney What should have been a with the review process said Mary Moriarty told the MSR moment of transparency has the redactions were completthat her office charged Saw- become a demonstration of ed before the Justice Departchak with felony threats of how political power shields itself ment and FBI declared that no further disclosure would be violence on July 10, 2024. “Mr. while the public is told to wait. “Once the House passes the appropriate or warranted. Davis Moturi, shot in his yard last fall by his white Sawchak was not arrested on “The only reason the House neighbor, sits with his dog at his Minneapolis home on March 24. that warrant and remained in bill to release the Epstein files Kerem Yücel | MPR News the community until he shot today, I will move for the Sen- is voting today is because the Mr. Moturi on Oct. 23, 2024,” ate to immediately take it up Trump administration is refusand pass it,” stated Sen. Chuck ing to comply with a subpoena,” Moturi survived a gunshot man whose history includes Moriarty wrote. Moturi discovered the war- Schumer of New York, the Rep. Kelly Morrison of Minneto the neck last October. His multiple harassment allegacase is now raising serious tions and criminal convictions. rant only because he refused Senate Democratic leader. He sota, a Democrat, stated. She questions about whether the According to court records to stop asking questions. “I added that “Republicans have said the president and his adspent months trying to protect ministration “are legally required Minneapolis Police Depart- and neighbors, Sawchak has called 20 people,” he said. ment ignored the same warn- been the subject of at least ■ See MOTURI on page 5 Donald Trump and hide what’s to release the files to Congress,”
By Clint Combs Contributing Writer
adding that leaders have “been complicit in covering up the horrific abuses of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.” Inside the FBI, the work stretched across two facilities in Winchester, Virginia. Director Kash Patel ordered agents from the New York and Washington field offices to join FOIA employees and review every Epstein-related document. Nearly 1,000 staff worked through the night to process grand jury testimony, prosecutors’ materials, and decades of investigative files. Not everyone agreed with how the review unfolded. Michael Seidel, section chief of the Record and Information Dissemination Section, objected to the directives. Patel blamed him for delays in getting records to Special ■ See EPSTEIN on page 5