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Longtime activists critical of police brutality Friday called for the immediate firing of Minneapolis police officers who can be seen on recently released 

indiscriminately firing so-called less-than-lethal weapons at protesters during the unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd by then-officer Derek Chauvin last spring. 

Jaylani Hussein of CAIR-MN says the video just affirms the stories protesters told last May 2020. 

"Instead of bringing calm to our city, they terrorized protesters,” he said. 

Hussein says he’d also like to see the city open an investigation into who oversaw the officers’ actions. 

The video was released to the public by attorney Eric Rice, who defended a man who was hit by one of the officers’ less-than-lethal rounds and returned fired with his own firearm.  That man, Jaleel Stallings is an Army veteran with no criminal record and a permit to carry a handgun.  A jury acquitted Stallings, who is African American, of criminal charges. 

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Nekima Levy Armstrong of the Racial Justice Network said city leadership needs to take real action.  

"We are tired of the finger-pointing amongst our mayor, the city council, the county attorney, and anyone else who has stepped up to a position of elected leadership,” she said. “The reality is that they are all responsible for what is happening with the Minneapolis Police Department.”

Mayor Jacob Frey has spoken out against the officers' actions. However, he has not detailed what type of disciplinary action the city should take. 

Two of the officers heard on the video are no longer with the department. According to a spokesperson with MPD, Lt. Johnny Mercil and Cmdr. Bruce Folkens left the force in May and July of this year, respectively. The spokesperson did not say whether the departures were voluntary. 

The video release comes as Minneapolis voters are deciding on a 

charter amendment that would reshape public safety

 in the city by eliminating MPD as a charter department and creating a new department of public safety. 

However, Michelle Gross of Communities United Against Police Brutality said her organization, which has long championed laws and policies they believe would better hold individual officers accountable for committing misdeeds, opposes the public safety amendment. And she says the video doesn’t change their minds.  

Gross said the amendment is like “shuffling the deck on the Titanic.” 

Armstrong added that many community members are skeptical of the proposal because they don’t trust the mayor or the city council to bring about accountability.

Crime, Law and Justice

Minnesota News

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Jon Collins

Author

Activists call for accountability for Minneapolis police officers shown on recently released camera footage recorded during unrest last year. 

A group of people hold a press conference outside.

Activists call for Minneapolis cops who appear in body camera video to be disciplined

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