Community Targets MN Republicans in Push for #BlackAgendaMN

St. Paul, MN – On Thursday, May 19, 2016, a few dozen community members took space in Minnesota’s House Majority Caucus office for several hours demanding a meeting with Republican Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt, to discuss legislation supporting the United Black Legislative Agenda.
Unicorn…

Forty Arrested in Sit-Down at BP Refinery – Break Free Midwest

Whiting, IN – Forty arrests were made in a ‘soft’ direct action at British Petroleum’s (BP) largest United States Tar Sands refinery in Whiting, Indiana as part of international actions (Break Free 2016) to break free from fossil fuels.
On May 15th, 2016, over a…

Charges Dropped Against Unicorn Riot Journalist Weeks Before Trial

Minneapolis, MN – The State of Minnesota dropped charges against Unicorn Riot journalist Niko Georgiades in a case that was set for trial in early June, citing “Prosecutor Discretion”.

[UPDATE – May 22, 2016: Below is ALL of the police reports –22 page PDF- received…

Grand Jury Announces No Indictment in Michael Kirvelay Case

Columbia Heights, MN – On May 6th, 2016, a federal grand jury decided to not prosecute two Columbia Heights police officers with unlawfully killing Michael Kirvelay.

The shooting occurred on the evening of November 24th, 2015, at the workplace of Michael’s sister, Jamie Castilla. As…

One Year Later: A Cop’s Eye View of Protest Repression in Denver

Denver, CO – One year ago today, protesters in Denver took the streets in solidarity with the uprising taking place in Baltimore in response to the police killing of Freddie Gray. The Denver Police Department (DPD) forcefully repressed the march as soon as it began,…

Denver Takes the Streets for Justice for Dion

Denver, CO – April 26, 2016
https://vimeo.com/388915559
At around 6 PM, friends and family as well as concerned community members gathered in the 1300 block of Bannock Street outside the Denver Art Museum, just feet from where Dion Avila Damon was killed on April 12th,…

Anonymous Takes Down Denver City Website over Dion Avila Damon Shooting

April 23, 2016
Denver, CO – Shortly after 4 pm on Friday, April 22, the twitter account for ‘New World Hackers’ (NWH), a hacktivist crew associated with several Anonymous operations, announced a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack against DenverGov.org, the official website for the City…

Records Release: Denver Police Twitter Block List

Denver, CO – After filing a request under the Colorado Open Records Act, Unicorn Riot has received a list of all twitter accounts that have been blocked by the official @DenverPolice twitter handle.
According to Mary Dulacki, records custodian for Denver’s Department of Safety, no…

Interview with Christopher Soghoian about Analyst’s Notebook

For our story about the Denver Police Department’s use of the surveillance analytics software program Analyst’s Notebook, we were happy to be able to speak by telephone with Christopher Soghoian, Principal Technologist with the American Civil Liberties Union.  He answered some questions for us about…

Tribal Citizens Build Camp in Path of Oil Pipeline

April 1st, 2016 – Standing Rock Sioux Nation

Unicorn Riot attended the opening of the “Iŋyaŋ Wakȟáŋaǧapi Othí” (Sacred Rock Camp), a Spirit Camp, on the Standing Rock Nation, to bring attention to the proposed route of the Dakota Access Pipeline [DAPL].” A caravan of…

Community Responds to Jamar Clark Decision

Minneapolis, MN – On the morning of March 30th, Hennepin Co. Attorney Mike Freeman announced that the evidence against officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, for their execution-style murder of Jamar Clark was insufficient to press charges. Community members who have been engaging the prosecutor’s…