Category: Police
St. Paul Police Release Body Camera Video of Billy Hughes Shooting
St. Paul, MN – On August 17, 2018, St. Paul Police released body camera footage of officers fatally shooting Billy Hughes on August 5. The footage was released 12 days after the lethal shooting, and is the fastest release of police bodycam footage in Twin…
No Charges Filed in Blevins’ Killing as Body Camera Footage is Released
Minneapolis, MN – In an arduous 16 hours for Thurman Blevins’ family and friends, body camera footage showing Blevins death was published and the next morning it was announced that no charges would be filed against the officers involved in fatally shooting Blevins.
Hennepin County…
Record Numbers of Complaints Against Minneapolis Police Amidst Ketamine and Killings
Minneapolis, MN – The public has filed staggering numbers of complaints against the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) in 2018, and high-profile incidents of police misconduct, brutality, and killings have embroiled the department. A year after an MPD officer killed an unarmed Australian, Justine Damond, and…
Questions Remain in Blevins Killing as Mayor Promises Footage Release by End of July
Minneapolis, MN – After continued pressure, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced Friday, July 21 that the body camera footage from the officers who killed Thurman Blevins last month will likely be released to the public by the end of July. Official reports have shown inconsistencies…
Denver Police, City Workers Throw Away Belongings Amid Lawsuit
Denver, CO – On July 9 and 12, 2018, Denver Homeless Out Loud (DHOL), an advocacy group for people without housing, published two videos documenting Denver police and city workers seizing people’s belongings and throwing them away; also known as “sweeps.”
These ongoing sweeps continue…
Public Forum Focuses on Flawed Police Education
Minneapolis, MN – Recent controversy regarding ‘fear-based’ training for law enforcement officers has led to dozens of Minnesota officers being pulled from training courses and a protest outside of the Mall of America, where a training was held on May 16.
On Wednesday, July 11,…
Lawsuit Dropped Against Four Anti-Fracking Activists in CO
Greeley, CO – On June 20, 2018, the first hearing in the lawsuit by Extraction Oil & Gas took place against four anti-fracking activists (a fifth person made a deal prior to the hearing) stemming from a non-violent direct action on March 8, 2018. The…
Body Cam Videos of Police Killing Blevins to be Released Post-BCA Interviews
Minneapolis, MN – Mayor Jacob Frey announced the City of Minneapolis will release police body camera footage of Thurman ‘Junior’ Blevins’ death as soon as the Blevins family is consulted and all of the witnesses have been interviewed by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).…
Witnesses Claim Thurman ‘Jun’ Blevins was Unarmed when Killed by Minneapolis PD
Minneapolis, MN – On Saturday, June 23, 2018, Minneapolis Police officers shot and killed 31-year-old father, Thurman ‘Jun’ Blevins, in the Camden neighborhood of north Minneapolis. The police and the mayor’s version of events place Blevins with a gun, yet all witness statements contradict that…
Police Kill Man in North Minneapolis
Minneapolis, MN – Unicorn Riot is reporting from the site where Minneapolis police just killed a man in North Minneapolis, Thurman Blevins, who is said to be 30 or 31 years old. We are at the scene and collecting witness testimony.
UPDATED POST – Sunday…
Bulletproof Warrior Training Manual Released
Bloomington, MN – Highly controversial ‘Bulletproof Warrior’ training manuals from the same session that Jeronimo Yanez, Philando Castile’s killer, attended in 2014 were released to the public by community organizers during a press conference at the Mall of America (MoA). MoA security hosted the Bulletproof…
Scores of Officers Pulled from Contentious ‘BulletProof’ Police Training as Community Protests
Bloomington, MN – Around 20 law enforcement officers have been pulled from a highly contentious tactical training course called BulletProof that is taking place on May 16 and 17 at the Mall of America in Minnesota. At least three agencies have publicly stated that they’ve…
Georgia Police Used Fake News From Militia To Plan For Nazi Rally, Emails Show
Newnan, GA – Emails obtained by Unicorn Riot through a public records request to the Coweta County Sheriff suggest that law enforcement relied on false ‘alt-right’ posts in their planning for an April 21, 2018 rally by the neo-nazi National Socialist Movement (NSM). The NSM…
Families of Police Victims Create Community Amidst Tragedy
Roseville, MN – Over a dozen family members of loved ones killed by police graced a packed banquet in remembrance of Cordale Handy on Saturday, March 18, 2018. At the Radisson Hotel in Roseville, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul, around 100 people came out to…
Remembering Cordale Handy, One Year Later
St. Paul, MN – Last year, on March 15, 29-year-old Cordale Handy was killed by police in St. Paul, Minnesota. Since her son’s death, Cordale’s mother, Kim Handy-Jones, has continuously championed an end to police violence and a change in training and tactics during mental crisis…
Jury Finds Minneapolis Cop Not Guilty for Shooting at Car With Six Youth
Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday, February 20, a Hennepin County jury found Minneapolis Police Officer Efrem Hamilton not guilty on multiple felony charges for shooting at a car occupied by six young adults. Hamilton was charged with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless discharge of…
Neo-Nazis Driven Off CSU Campus After Turning Point USA Event
Fort Collins, CO – On Friday night, Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a right-wing xenophobic student group, held a “Smashing Socialism” speaking event featuring its founder Charlie Kirk, at Colorado State University (CSU). A call to protest the event came from the Northern Colorado Antifa Collective,…
Youth March Demands ‘Cops Out of Schools’ on Super Bowl Eve
Minneapolis, MN – On the day before Super Bowl LII, youth organized and led a march to the home of the chair of the local school board with a series of demands, including an end to employing police inside of Minneapolis Public Schools. Unicorn Riot…
Police Divestment Activists Blockade Minneapolis Mayor’s Residence During Super Bowl Week
Minneapolis, MN – With Super Bowl LII three days away, dozens of community members blockaded the streets around Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s condo to implore the mayor to divest resources from the police and invest into communities. Protesters dropped a banner that read “Frey, Cops…
Minneapolis Unrolls Corporate Red Carpet & Largest Security Op for Super Bowl LII
Minneapolis, MN – Super Bowl LII and its corporate partners have begun their 10 days of events in and around Minneapolis. The National Guard, federal agencies, and law enforcement from across the country are patrolling festivities in the Twin Cities from January 26th until February…
Criminalizing Dissent: Trials Begin for Trump Inauguration J20 Protests
Washington, DC – In the courtroom of Judge Lynn Leibovitz, DC Superior Court, proceedings are underway for the first trial group of those mass-arrested during Trump’s inauguration protests. The individuals who were rounded up indiscriminately by police using a crowd-control tactic known as “kettling”, are…
Reports From Greece – 13 Part Series – 2017
During the summer of 2017, Unicorn Riot documented over a dozen stories from Athens, Greece. The stories were varied, most displaying networks of mutual aid, including housing, healthcare, food, detainee support and more, created by anarchists and anti-authoritarians in and around Exarcheia.
We produced three…
Frustrated Neo-Nazis Attack Locals After Bungled Rallies in Tennessee
Shelbyville, TN – On Saturday, October 28, hundreds of neo-Nazis and white supremacists descended on middle Tennessee, with at least twice as many anti-racist counter-protesters converging in opposition. A morning “white lives matter” rally was scheduled to take place in a Shelbyville park, as well…
Denver Human Rights Activist and Community Organizer, Terese Howard, Faces Up to 30 Days in Jail
UPDATE (8/24/17 at 11:30 AM MDT): On Thursday morning during the press conference outside the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse in Denver, Terese Howard spoke to a group of supporters and fellow activists about the city’s back-tracking:
Because of a lot of the public pressure that has ensued…
Philando Castile’s Cousin Has Felony Riot Charges Dropped After Community Outcry
St. Paul, MN – Louis Hunter, Philando Castile’s cousin, had two second-degree felony riot charges dismissed on August 2nd, 2017, less than two months before his trial was to begin. Hunter was alleged to have thrown rocks and construction debris at police during a protest…
Greece: Political Prisoners Pt. 2 – Targeting of Anarchists & Autonomous Groups
Athens, Greece – While state repression in Greece is thousands of years old, modern Greek state repression has its roots in anti-communist and anti-anarchist policies from the 1920s, the World War II U.S.-imposed Marshall Plan, and a seven-year military dictatorship that ended in 1974. With…
Sheriffs’ Association Secretly Waged “Information War” on #NoDAPL Movement
Morton County, ND – A new investigation by DeSmog and Muckrock reveals the behind-the-scenes role played by the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) in crafting narratives for law enforcement tasked with protecting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) from resistance by indigenous peoples and their allies.
Emails…
Minneapolis Police Kill Woman Who Called 911
Minneapolis, MN – Late in the night of July 15, 2017, Justine Maia Ruszczyk called 911 after she heard a sound in the alley of her Southwest Minneapolis home. That call turned into her death. Two Minneapolis Police officers responded to the 911 call in…
Protesters Face 80 Years as US Attorney Brings Unprecedented Mass Felony Charges
Washington, DC – Dozens of the over two hundred people arrested protesting President Trump’s inauguration on January 20 (‘J20’) have appeared in court over the last two weeks.
(Content Advisory: Sexual Assault)
The arrests took place on the morning of January 20 during an ‘anti-capitalist/anti-fascist’…