Media
Category: Prison
Prison Abolition Advocates Rally Outside Federal Prison on NYE
Lakewood, CO — As 2020 comes to an end, prison abolition advocates around the world will be continuing an annual tradition of demonstrating outside of prisons on New Year’s Eve.
A call for New Year’s Eve prison solidarity demonstrations was circulated earlier in December by…
Myon Burrell Released Following 18 Years in Jail
St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Board of Pardons announced Tuesday evening Myon Burrell’s life sentence will be commuted to 20 years and that he should be released immediately from the Stillwater Prison. Burrell was convicted as a teenager for the murder of 11-year-old Tyesha…
Slain Oglala Lakota Woman’s Convicted Murderer Granted Parole, Release Delayed
Sacramento, CA – An Oglala Lakota woman’s convicted killer had his sentence commuted earlier this year by California Governor Gavin Newsom, which made him eligible for parole seven years earlier than his original sentence. Rodney “Patrick” McNeal was found guilty of second-degree murder and on…
Feds Leverage Civil Disorder Charge Against George Floyd Protester
Saint Paul, MN – Charges against an Illinois man facing federal felonies from this summer’s uprising in Minneapolis showcase the tactics, techniques and procedures applied by the U.S. government against some of the more enthusiastic participants in the George Floyd rebellion.
Repressive responses by the…
Former Probation Officer Convicted of Double Murder Commuted by California Gov., Granted Parole
Sacramento, CA – On Tuesday, October 20, the State of California granted parole to Rodney “Patrick” McNeal, who had been sentenced to 30-years-to-life on May 3, 2000, for the 1997 murder of his wife and unborn child. He was suspected for the brutal killing of…
Chauvin Has 3rd Degree Murder Charge Dropped, 2nd Degree Charges Upheld
Minneapolis, MN – Unintentional second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges have been upheld on Derek Chauvin while the third-degree murder charges were dropped in a pretrial ruling made by Judge Cahill on Thursday, October 21.
Responding to motions and orders filed in the run-up to…
Whistleblowing RN Complaint Revealed Two Years After Death of Inmate
Sartell, MN – Complaints from a nurse surfaced during a recent investigation into Hardel Sherrell’s 2018 death in the Beltrami County Jail. The whistleblowing complaints of medical neglect, further findings, and a new Kare 11 investigation has led to the director of the Minnesota’s Department…
Reports of Forced Sterilizations in ICE Facility Spark Protest
Minneapolis, MN – Nearly a hundred people gathered in South Minneapolis to protest recent revelations of non-consensual hysterectomies sterilizing detained immigrant women in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Georgia.
Unicorn Riot was live for most of the protest at the Emiliano Zapata…
Pretrial Begins: County Attorney Freeman Pulled from George Floyd Police Prosecutions
Minneapolis, MN – The pretrial hearings for the officers charged in the murder of George Floyd began on the morning of Friday, September 11. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse and chanted for hours as several motions were heard in court.
Hennepin County Attorney…
Two Years Later: Protest at MN-BCA Seeks Justice for Hardel Sherrell
ST. PAUL, MN – 27-year-old Hardel Sherrell died in a cell in Minnesota’s Beltrami County Jail on Sept. 2, 2018. He died a tortuous death of medical neglect, suffering from an undiagnosed case of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare condition that attacks the nervous system.
Family…
GEO Group’s ICE Jail Lies to Immigration Lawyer, Attempts Unlawful Deportation
Aurora, CO — On the morning of June 30, 2020, Pablo Mackleen Grijalva’s lawyer tried to contact him at the GEO Group’s ICE jail where he is detained, but to her shock, the officer on the phone told her he was not there. She immediately…