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FinalCall.com News
National News
Minneapolis rallies against police brutality
By Shannon Gibney
The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Updated Dec 14, 2003 - 11:30:00 PM
MINNEAPOLIS (NNPA) - Although various community groups share the similar goal of holding police accountable for brutalizing citizens, their approaches to the problem vary widely. The Coalition of Black Churches is pushing for federal receivership of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). Communities United Against Police Brutality has been assembling a class action lawsuit against the City since May. And one group, the newly-formed Community Campaign to Prosecute the Police (CCPP) is mobilizing a grassroots effort to hold police accountable for their misconduct.
At a recent press conference here at Jordan New Life Community Church, CCPP members detailed their demands.
"First, we demand the prosecution of the police involved in the sexual assaults of Stephen Porter and Philander Jenkins,’’ said CCPP member and police brutality victim Tyrese Lindsey. "Moreover, we demand that all past cases of police brutality be opened and that police involved in brutality be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Mr. Lindsey continued, "Second, we demand the immediate end to the intimidation and harassment of victims and witnesses of police brutality. Third, we demand full compensation of victims of police brutality and their families.’’
Carlotta Madison, a police brutality victim who sued the City in 1998 and won, said that she doesn’t believe that holding police accountable is as difficult as many try to make it seem. "It’s very simple: The police commit a crime—they should be prosecuted and jailed. It’s not that hard,’’ she said.
Five victims of police brutality told their stories to the community and the press at the meeting.
Carla Smith says she was brutalized by the local police downtown a couple months ago while she was in the parking lot of a club at 2 am. Six gunshots rang out, causing people to scream and run. She then recalled that the police arrived and led a group of them to a truck, ordered them to get inside. After one officer profanely ordered her to then get out of the truck, she said she turned around, only to find herself facing a gun.
According to Ms. Smith, police officers lined about eight women, including her, against a wall. She said they then slammed her against the truck and threw her to the ground, leaving a permanent scar on her face. When she began to cry, the police officer threatened to mace her, she said.
"What really irritated me was that, while I was on the ground looking up, I could see that some of the other cops were snickering and laughing as if it was all just a joke to them and they were just out messing with us,’’ she charged.
Andre Madison told the story of how he was shot twice by the MPD during a botched raid on his house in 1996. More than 500 rounds of ammunition were fired into his house during the "raid," in which no drugs were ever found.
"There was a woman with her babies upstairs. There was no thought of protecting and serving them at all in this case, none at all,’’ said CCPP activist Chris Nisan.
Mr. Madison said he was later framed after the incident for assaulting a police officer and spent two and a half years in jail.
Mr. Nisan said, "This was a keystone cop operation—they shot their own man and they tried to make it look in the newspapers as if Andre shot him. There was no evidence, no ballistic evidence or anything.’’
Although police—who were from seven different jurisdictions—admitted that they shot their own officer, Mr. Madison has yet to receive any compensation. He is currently fighting to clear his name and bringing a civil suit against the city of Minneapolis.
His sister, Carlotta, says she later became a police target as well.
"I was pulled over driving a rent-a-car," she said. "The reason I got pulled over is because they said the car was stolen. I was driving the rent-a-car because my car had been stolen. All the documentation was in the glove compartment; I had valid driver’s license, valid plates.’’
That’s when her troubles began.
"They immediately pulled guns on me,’’ she said. "I’m a single parent, with my child in the car, and I was treated like a dangerous criminal. They handcuffed me. I became all kinds of ‘b’s, I got spit on. I’m in the backseat, I’m handcuffed; I’m detained. But yet, I’m still getting kicked and yelled at and told to shut up, because I’m asking about my kid.
--30
"They left him [her son] in the backseat with the windows rolled up. They detained me for hours. But they played a mental game on me. This mental game they played on me was far worse than any physical thing they could have did with me. They made me believe that they had did something to my son,’’ Ms. Madison said, her voice breaking.
She continued, "So, I’m sitting here detained, thinking that my son isn’t safe anymore. Finally, they did let me go. They drug me out of the car, un-handcuffed me and said, ‘You’re free to go.’ Before I could get any information—badge numbers or anything—they threw me on the ground, and when I got up they were gone.
"So, I went on a campaign and I door-knocked, trying to find people who had seen the incident. From that moment on, I knew that I was going to fight police brutality and fight for victims. I had already been fighting for my brother, and I knew he was innocent, and he didn’t do anything."
