Blizzard warnings in Northwest Minnesota, winter weather advisories across the state

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison says it's important the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension be as transparent as possible as it investigates the fatal police shooting of Thurman Blevins, a 31-year-old African-American man. 


Ellison represents an area of north Minneapolis near where Blevins was shot and killed on June 23. 

Thurman Blevins shooting


Police say they responded to at least one 911 call about a man firing a handgun. According to a statement from the BCA, police found Bevins a few blocks away sitting with a woman on a curb, and then he ran with a gun. Some witnesses say Blevins did not have a gun. 

Since the shooting there have been several vigils and protests calling for justice for Blevins. 

Ellison joined the rest of the City Council in signing a letter calling for the BCA to release the body camera footage and all other evidence related to the shooting as soon as legally possible. Ellison spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer. 

Comments have been edited for length and clarity.

What was your reaction when you first heard the news Saturday night?

Well of course it's always upsetting and difficult to hear that a member of the police department has killed someone, especially in north Minneapolis. 

People's initial reaction is to react with some skepticism and distrust and a lot of pain, to be honest with you. 

In previous police shootings or been calls for videos to be released to the public before the investigation is complete. Do you think that should happen in this case?

I do think that the public should have relevant answers as soon as possible. One of the reasons is because when you have communities like north Minneapolis that have a steep distrust of the police, the truth kills rumors. 

People will create meaning when we aren't giving them answers to the questions that they have. 

Whenever a death is involved, whenever a weapon is involved, and lethal force is involved, people really need answers, and I think we need them as soon as possible. 

The BCA says the officers activated their body cameras before the shots were fired. There's no squad car video evidently though. Are you confident that video could give us a clear idea of what happened?

This is my first time ever having to deal with one of these situations, so I can't speak from experience. But I think that certainly the video would give us a better sense than we have now. 

Many of the protesters saying that the BCA is too sympathetic to the police and they should not be the agency investigating this shooting. Do you agree with that?

I definitely think that the BCA should be as transparent as possible. I know that one of the criticisms that I've heard in the past couple of days is that they tend to collect the evidence and kind of go silent for a long time. 

That's going to make people create meaning where they don't have it. And so I definitely think the BCA should come in and be as transparent as possible. 

What is your level of confidence in the Minneapolis Police Department right now?

You know that's a difficult question and a fair one. There are individual police that I've gotten to know in the last six months that I have a lot of confidence in. 


But in the last three weeks or so we've seen the marijuana sting that the chief and the mayor themselves called out for being racist. 


We've seen this really confusing and troubling situation with ketamine and Hennepin Healthcare conducting whatever kind of study that they're conducting.


Now we're seeing this young man being shot and killed by a member of the police force. I think that there definitely needs to be a real conversation at City Hall about what kind of city we're trying to be and about what kind of healthy checks and balances there are for our police force. 

Crime, Law and Justice

Politics and Government News

Shows

Morning Edition

Cathy Wurzer

Author

Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison tells MPR News it's important the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension be as transparent as possible as it investigates the fatal police shooting of Thurman Blevins in north Minneapolis.

Mpls. City Council: Release police body cam video of Blevins shooting

Go Deeper.

Like this?