Minneapolis, MN – On June 17, the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-Sentenced Families Council-MN (WIAOFC-MN) and Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) held a press conference and rally demanding accountability, justice, safety and fairness for all Black youth.
These action come in response to the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) call for a National Day of Action honoring the Juneteenth holiday, and in light of the acquittal in the killing of Cyrus Carmack-Belton, the reversal of homicide convictions in the killing of Elijah McClain, the sentencing of Karmelo Anthony, and the police murder of one-year-old Kohen Wiley in Mississippi.
In 2023, Cyrus Carmack-Belton, a 14-year-old Black boy, was fatally shot in the back over suspicion of stealing bottled water. In 2019, Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, was put in a neck hold by police and then given ketamine by paramedics for “suspicious behavior. He died. In 2025, Karmelo Anthony, a 17-year-old Black teen, was tried as an adult by an all-white jury and, this June 9, was sentenced to 35 years. One-year-old Kohen Wiley was murdered by a police officer in Mississippi, who shot into his mother’s car after she was falsely accused of shoplifting from a Walmart.
“These cases are not identical. The facts are different. The legal circumstances are different. But they all force us to confront the same question: Why must Black communities constantly fight to prove our humanity?” asked Alissa Washington, executive director of WIAOFC-MN, in her statement at the press conference.
The day after the press conference, June 18, TCC4J held a rally outside of the former Minneapolis Police Department 3rd Precinct, which has remained unoccupied since burning down during the uprising after the murder of George Floyd. Speakers included local organizers and activists from Black Lives Matter Minnesota, Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, TCC4J and WIAOFC-MN.
“Minnesota has the third-biggest racial wealth gap in the United States,” said Trahern Crews, of Black Lives Matter Minnesota. “Minnesota needs to pay reparations now!” Crews is part of a group of 39 local activists and community members, The Righteous 39, facing trumped-up federal charges after protesting at Cities Church, whose pastor, David Easterwood, was also employed as an ICE field director.
“A lot of people think reparations were paid to Black people,” said Jae Yates, an organizer with TCC4J and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “That is not true. Nobody got compensated for the gerrymandering, for the terrorism of white supremacy throughout the Civil Rights period, for the mass incarceration that tore apart hundreds of thousands of Black people’s families – we have not been compensated for the harm of chattel slavery, and we are still living with the consequences today.”
Dozens of community members gathered outside of the old 3rd Precinct site with signs and chants as many passing vehicles honked in support. The speakers and chants reiterated the demands from the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, including community control of the police; reparations now; defend voting rights; free the wrongfully incarcerated; end police collaboration with ICE, and protect Black trans lives!
#MinneapolisMN #MN #InJusticeSystem #TCC4J
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