Last weekend, TakeAction leader Sarina wrote a powerful letter about community care, and the inclusive, robust public safety that we can build with the Yes 4 Minneapolis campaign (content warning: sexual assault). With clarity and courage, she reminds us that real safety is “less the absence of (policing), and more the presence of systems of care and support.”
We’ve been reflecting on her story and wisdom this week because, from Olivia to Minneapolis, Minnesotans continue to be impacted by police violence.
Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Ricardo Torres, who was shot and killed by police in Olivia, MN on July 4. Learn about the patterns of harassment described by his family and community members leading up to his murder.
Leneal Frazier was killed two days later in Minneapolis, when a police officer involved in a high-speed chase crashed into his car. He was a father of six, and the uncle of Darnella Frazier, the seventeen-year-old who filmed George Floyd’s murder. Support his family.
The compounding violence and trauma is overwhelming. We’ve been thinking about what we can be sure of. We know that another innocent life has been lost to reckless, violent policing. We know that it’s against policy for the Minneapolis Police Department to engage in high-speed chases that put the public at risk – and that this policy reform didn’t stop them, or protect Leneal Frazier. We know that MPD consistently fails to serve or protect our Black, Brown, and Indigenous community members – and that policing is repeatedly the cause of violence, rather than its cure.
We’re grateful to community members like Sarina, who help us stay grounded in the truth – that we know what we need to live safe, healthy, thriving lives. Read and share her letter, and take action with us: Support the Yes 4 Minneapolis campaign, and attend our public safety phone bank this Sunday to connect with Minneapolis community members.
The compounding crises faced by our communities are greater than any single one of us, but together, we have the wisdom to build the future we deserve.
