Minneapolis, MN — Family members and advocates of two men serving life sentences in Minnesota — Deaunteze Bobo and Jermaine Ferguson — renewed their demands for their loved ones to be released from prison, saying they were wrongfully convicted.
During a press conference in the…
Minneapolis, MN — Minneapolis Police killed a man who they say was “acting irrationally” and not obeying direct orders to drop a weapon he was holding around 9:30 p.m. on June 12. The victim was publicly identified on June 14 as 39-year-old Michael Ristow. He…
Minneapolis, MN — Overlooked details have emerged casting serious doubt on Mahdi Hassan Ali’s conviction for a 2010 triple murder, as well as the integrity of the investigation by the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
“I was the perfect scapegoat.”…
Minneapolis, MN — Target Corp. pioneered the Community Prosecution Program in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) more than two decades ago during the era of mass incarceration. As part of a broad anti-crime campaign that employed new advanced technology and reshaped the criminal justice…
Minneapolis, MN — The city of Minneapolis evicted Camp Nenookaasi, the city’s largest encampment of unhoused people, three times over the past month in an attempt to prevent encampments of this size and level of infrastructure from forming. After each eviction, Nenookaasi pops up again…
Minneapolis, MN — In a historic ruling, Hennepin County Judge William Koch vacated Marvin Haynes’ murder conviction, dismissed his charges with prejudice, and ordered his release from prison where he was sentenced to serve life. Haynes walked out of MCF-Stillwater as an exonerated man into…
Minneapolis, MN — Minneapolis has decided on a new site for housing its police department’s 3rd Precinct. Three and a half years after thousands of community members ransacked and torched the precinct at 3000 Minnehaha Avenue during the George Floyd Uprising, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey…
Minneapolis, MN — Over a dozen members of families impacted by police violence marched from the ruins of the former Minneapolis Police 3rd Precinct to one of the proposed new precinct sites chanting “No new precinct” on the 28th annual National Day of Protest Against…
Minneapolis, MN — In what appears to be a first in city politics, the Minneapolis City Council voted to reject former Minneapolis Police Sergeant Andrew Bittell’s workers’ compensation claim of $145,000. With over 23 years on the force, Sgt. Bittell had a violent history of…
Minneapolis, MN – High-tech surveillance video and audio communication from a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter, obtained and first published by Unicorn Riot, reveals some of the planning and tactics behind the largest mass arrest in recent Minnesota history. On Nov. 4, 2020, a multi-agency law…
Minneapolis, MN — Results from the recent listening sessions hosted by the the City of Minneapolis and a consulting firm about the future location of the Minneapolis Police 3rd Precinct that was torched after George Floyd was murdered by former 3rd Precinct officer Derek Chauvin…
“‘They’re in place on the roof.’ When I heard that I was pretty sure how the night was going to end. I was beginning to panic.” – Mark Sundberg, Tekle’s father
Cindy and Mark Sundberg arrived at their 20-year-old son Tekle’s apartment building late on…
Minneapolis, MN – U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the Department of Justice (DOJ) has completed a two-year review of Minneapolis Police Department practices, and found widespread discrimination especially against Black and Native Americans. In a Friday morning press conference, Garland said that Minneapolis police…
Minneapolis, MN — During the month of May, the City of Minneapolis has been busy evicting encampments of unhoused people, displacing hundreds and throwing away many people’s only belongings. Minneapolis Police (MPD) displaced about 80 unhoused people on East Franklin Avenue in South Minneapolis on…
Minneapolis, MN — On May 10, 2013, Minneapolis Police killed two people in the span of 30 minutes. Terrance ‘Mookie Moe’ Franklin, 22, was hunted, cornered and gunned down with ten shots, including five bullets to the head. Thirty minutes later, Ivan Romero-Oliveras, 24, was…
Minneapolis, MN — Almost a full three years after Minneapolis Police killed George Floyd, the final court case of the four officers involved is nearing an end after Tou Thao was found guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Thao remains in custody and faces…
Minneapolis, MN — A standoff that reportedly started at dawn with a man barricaded in a house ended around noon on April 27 when federal agents killed him as he exited his home armed. Community member and independent media maker Ben Bump live streamed from…
Hennepin County District Court, Minneapolis, Minnesota. September 2, 2005. The trial of Marvin Haynes began 12 days ago, just 15 ½ months after the murder of Randy Sherer at Jerry’s Flower Shop on the Northside of Minneapolis. Haynes, now 17, sits at the defense table…
Minneapolis, MN – About 145 days after going missing, the family of Alexis White Hawk-Ruiz announced that she has unfortunately been found deceased. Alexis disappeared after leaving her North Minneapolis house the night of November 16, 2022, five days before her 21st birthday.
During a…
Minneapolis, MN – A new, court-enforceable settlement agreement sets a road map for policing changes in Minneapolis, authorities said during a press conference on March 31. A week later, police accountability movement leaders held a press conference in City Hall to speak on what the…
Minneapolis, MN — “We are asking for his immediate release!” Cynthia Haynes demanded passionately, calling for her brother’s release from prison while holding two signs – one read “Free Marvin Haynes Now,” the other, “Justice 4 Marvin Haynes.” As the case of Marvin Haynes starts…
Minneapolis, MN – When Officers Rollins and Smelter pulled up in front of Jerry’s Flower Shop on Sunday morning, May 16, 2004, they saw a woman run out the front door. She was screaming.
She told the officers that her brother was inside and that…
Minneapolis, MN – A Minneapolis Public Schools teacher talked to Unicorn Riot about the Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) newly created PEACE Recruitment Program and the teachers union’s recent decision to oppose it.
“The police are desperate now and they’re coming for our kids.”
Minneapolis Public…
The story of Marvin Haynes is also the story of Harry Sherer — a 55-year-old man who lived a few blocks from his family’s flower shop who everyone called by his nickname, Randy. Most days, Randy walked to the shop to sit and talk to…
Minneapolis, MN – The grainy surveillance camera footage shows a small interrogation room—fifteen-by-fifteen, white walls, short cut-pile dark carpet, circular table, and a blue swivel chair. A door on the far wall stands open to the hallways and cubicles beyond. The date in the corner…
Minneapolis, MN – Two years after being arrested during a New Year’s Eve noise demo and charged with misdemeanor riot, one person has taken her case to trial this week in which her supporters are calling on the broader community for court support. [UPDATE: Justina…
Minneapolis, MN – Dozens of Minneapolis Police cars from all five precincts, including SWAT officers, bike patrol, undercovers and a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter, suppressed a lightly attended protest for Tyre Nichols before it could start.
Nichols, a 29-year-old photographer and father of one, was…
Minneapolis, MN – After providing a safer community for unhoused residents in Minneapolis for more than a year, the Quarry encampment was evicted during a large-scale police operation on Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. About a dozen people were displaced from the eviction, the majority of…
Minneapolis, MN – With life-threatening cold this winter season, the City of Minneapolis continues to evict encampments, displacing unsheltered people and throwing away their personal belongings, including propane tanks they rely on for warmth. The longstanding Quarry encampment in Northeast Minneapolis is the latest under…
Since its founding, CUAPB has acted as a clearinghouse for scrutiny of Minnesota law enforcement. The nonprofit has organized police oversight pushes, streets copwatch programs, a 24-hour hotline, and an online database of police officer complaints, among dozens of other projects. And their efforts are ever-expanding – the group recently formed the Stolen Lives Justice Fund, a new Reinvestigations Workgroup and a Data Practices Workgroup.