Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar
Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar is a front for Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!
FRSO Sparked the 2020 Riots
Jess Sundin and Steff Yorek of Freedom Road Socialist Organization were featured in a clip bragging about the organizing that took place in the wake of the death of George Floyd:[1]
Transcript:
- Narrator: Minneapolis Communists from Freedom Road Socialist Organization claim credit for sparking recent riots that spread to more than 40 States. Freedom Road supports the Communist Party of China and the Communist Mass murderers Mao and Stalin.
- Steff Yorek:"This is Steff Yorek, I'm the political Secretary of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Mao and Stalin were both Marxist-Leninists, uh that is how also how I identify as Marxist-Leninist as well.
- Narrator: "On the day President Trump was inaugurated, Steff Yorek vowed to make this country ungovernable. Steff Yorek is married to fellow activist Jess Sundin.
- Jess Sundin: Myself, I am a revolutionary, I have been a communist for uh more than 20 years.
- Narrator: Jess Sundin leads a militant anti-police group called Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar. According to Chicago Freedom Road leaders Frank Chapman and Joe Iosbaker, Jess Sundin's Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar was the movement that launched the nationwide rebellion.
- Jess Sundin: Hi folks, this is Jess from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar. The first two weeks after George Floyd was killed saw an intense high level of organizing all day and all night, every day. During the day we would have marches and rallies and at night the um focus was often at the third precinct which is the police station where George Floyd's killers were working out of. Um, I can't tell you the uh Joy it brought all of us to see the third precinct um destroyed. There were marches, like I said there were rallies, um and lots of the buildings were destroyed, some by fire, um uh, you know, some by brute force, sometimes it was golf club, sometimes it was baseball bats and a lot of folks wanted to get out to other sites around the cities where there is you know really pitched battles happening, um and we support all of that and I want to be absolutely clear as an organizer, those night demonstrations, the emptying of the police department, the emptying of the ma...of Target and other major stores is absolutely tied to, connected to, and part of the movement."
- Narrator: Within hours of Minneapolis outbreaks, Freedom Road Socialist Organization supporters staged often violent protests in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York, Dallas, Houston, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles. Allied pro-China Communists spread protest to many other cities Across the nation. When will the Communist Party of China's American supporters be brought to Justice?
Justice for Daunte Wright
Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota and the Black Student Union held a protest on the University of Minnesota campus, April 17 2021, to demand justice for Daunte Wright, to call for community control of the campus police (UMPD), and to speak out against the recent deployment of the UMPD to brutalize protesters in Brooklyn Center. About 1000 students were in attendance, marking the largest on-campus demonstration in recent history. Speakers included students and community members who have experienced brutality at the hands of the National Guard this week while out in the streets demanding justice for Daunte Wright.
Camille Winston of the Black Student Union condemned the university’s response to the murder of Daunte Wright, saying “University President Joan Gabel and Chief Clark [UMPD police chief] decided to support the police who shot and killed him.” SDS member Nadia Shaarawi said, “Joan Gabel has more of a commitment to a police contract than she ever has had to her students.”
Since the murder of George Floyd last May, SDS has been calling for more police accountability on campus and has faced continued resistance from administration. The recent deployment of UMPD in riot gear to Brooklyn Center shows the need for students, workers and community members to be able to control their campus police force. SDS is campaigning for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) to win this power for the university community.
Jae Yates, a recent U of MN graduate and a member of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, addressed the crowd, saying, “Daunte Wright could have come here. Daunte Wright was 20 years old. He was the same age as so many people who go to this university.”[2]
Convict Chauvin protest
Linden Gawboy March 8, 2021 -m ore than 1000 protested March 8 outside the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis as the trial of Derek Chauvin, the disgraced ex-police officer who murdered George Floyd on May 25, 2020, started his trial at 8 a.m.
The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) spearheaded the day-one demonstration, which was supported by over 30 local activist organizations.
The early morning protest started on the city streets outside of the Government Center plaza, because the ‘public plaza’ was surrounded and intersected with heavy fencing and razor wire, leaving a tiny cage for the general public.
After the opening rally, the crowd marched through the streets, stopping to hear speeches along the way. Longtime activists gave shoutouts to the many students who skipped school to attend. New activists gave props to folks who were fighting back in the 1960s.
At the trial, Judge Peter Cahill ordered that jury selection would go on, but there were so many motions that jury selection is paused. The organizers’ statement noted, “We will protest on key dates of the trial - including opening arguments, closing arguments and, of course, on verdict day.” They also said they will fight for convictions against the other three former officers who, “held down Mr. Floyd as he died, and stopped others from rescuing him.”
Many of the groups organizing the March 8 rally are also involved in efforts to stop the systems that gave rise to killer cops like Derek Chauvin. In Minneapolis, TCC4J plans to release a charter amendment for community control of the Minneapolis police. At the state capitol, activists are outraged at how state legislators of both parties are “putting their knee on the neck” of bills to stop our family members from being murdered with impunity.
Key demands of the coalition included: “Justice for George Floyd! Convict Derek Chauvin - give him the longest possible sentence. Justice for all stolen lives! Community control of the police - CPAC now! Drop the charges against the MN646+ and all protesters. Convict all killer cops!”
TCC4J and all the following groups plan protests at key points in the upcoming trial. Black Lives Matter MN, Black Lives Mater Twin Cities, CAIR-MN, Communities United Against Police Brutality, Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, NAACP - Minneapolis, Native Lives Matter, and the Racial Justice Network. Others include the Anti-War Committee, Bikers Riding Against Police Brutality, Climate Justice Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization-Twin Cities, Good Trouble for Justice, MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, MN Uprising Arrestee Support, MN Workers United, MN Youth for Justice, National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression, On Site Public Media, Student Movement Activists at South High (SMASH), Students for Democratic Society at UMN, Women Against Military Madness (WAMM).[3]
Black Friday protest
St. Paul, MN - On November 27 2020, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar organized a rally and car caravan to protest the mass arrests of November 4. The Black Friday protest started in the parking lot of JJ Hill elementary school, where Philando Castile worked before he was killed by police. During a brief rally, participants decorated their cars, then a caravan of 100 vehicles left for the governor’s mansion, by way of the Grand Avenue.
Governor Tim Walz had mobilized hundreds of police from across the state to "teach a lesson" to protesters on November 4 who were part of a national day of protest called by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. Minneapolis police brutalized supporters, observers and bystanders while state patrol and others spent the six hours arresting at least 646 protesters on Interstate 94.
Arrestees from multiple organizations spoke, including Chaz Neal, from Red Wing, Minnesota; Kaia Hirt of Minnetonka; Shannon Nordby of Native Lives Matter, Mohamed Ibrahim of CAIR-MN, and Loretta VanPelt, Jae Yates and DJ Hooker of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar.[4]
Hearing protest
Nearly 500 gathered outside the barricaded Family Justice Center on Friday, September 11 2020 , where the four former cops who murdered George Floyd had a pretrial hearing. Each of them has filed motions for dismissal of their charges and for a change of venue to move the trial out of the metro area. Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar organized what became a six-hour presence outside the courthouse, with speakers, chanting and music.
Among those who spoke, Toshira Garraway of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence gave an impassioned speech calling for an end to infighting in the activist community and for people to recognize the manipulation of the facts by the defense in the George Floyd case. “How many were not filmed? How many did they get to edit? If they’re trying to dismiss the charges and they’re trying to pin George Floyd’s murder off on something else, and we watched it with our own eyes - we saw him get murdered on that ground! So imagine what they have done for what we did not see.”
Michael Toussaint, father of Myon Burrell, spoke about his son’s wrongful imprisonment 17 years ago. Burrell’s case has received a great deal of attention since Amy Klobuchar used it in her failed presidential campaign as an example of her positive work on behalf of the African American community. Current Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman also prosecuted the case, after the first conviction was thrown out. Burrell is still fighting for his freedom today, despite overwhelming evidence that he had no part in the murder of Tyesha Edwards. Toussaint called out Freeman’s role in the Burrell case, along with his failure to prosecute the cops who have killed dozens of civilians during his time as county attorney.
At one point, news reached the crowd outside that Judge Peter Cahill had ordered Mike Freeman off the case (the prosecution is led by state Attorney General Keith Ellison), in part for his sloppy work early on in this case. Despite this ruling being in favor of a defense motion, the crowd of protesters cheered the decision. Freeman is wildly unpopular.
In an official statement read at the event, TCC4J also reiterated the need for community control of the police. “If we had that, these killer cops would not even be on the force. New recruits would not be trained to kill, maim and brutalize as a first resort. Bystanders would have been empowered to step in and save Mr. Floyd’s life, without fear of being killed themselves.”
As it became clear that the crowd was committed to stay until the end of the hearing, emcees Jae Yates and Angel Smith El brought many other community leaders up to speak to the crowd and hold the space. These included Elizer Darris of ACLU-MN; Anika Bowie of NAACP-Mpls’ Mohamed Ibrahim from CAIR-MN; Trahern Crews of Black Lives Matter MN; Danielle Burns, Jamar Clark’s sister; Monique Cullars-Doty from TCC4J, a member whose nephew Marcus Golden was killed by SPPD in 2015; Michelle Gross of CUAPB; Yariah Myers representing TCC4J; Chauntyll Allen of Black Lives Matter-Twin Cities Metro; Marques Armstrong from Racial Justice Network, and Cortez Rice, George Floyd’s nephew.
Shortly after the hearing ended, the killer cops walked out of the building. As soon as they were spotted by protesters, the crowd erupted with angry chants and jeers. Thomas Lane and Aleander Keung were escorted through the crowd by police, and hundreds took off after them, following them down the block and around the corner. A smaller crowd of protesters spotted Derek Chauvin taking a different exit and shouted as he was placed in the police vehicle for his return trip to jail.
Once Chauvin was off the scene, protesters returned to the courthouse, where George Floyd’s family and their attorneys held a press conference and addressed the crowd of protesters, thanking them for their support. Rather than ignore the crowd, the family’s representation took a wireless mic from organizers so that the crowd could hear the address. Attorney Ben Crump spoke to the allegation that George Floyd’s death was caused by overdose. “They are trying to claim that the knee on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds had nothing to do with his death. The only overdose that killed George Floyd was an overdose of excessive force and racism.”
As part of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, TCC4J’s is organizing a march for the upcoming National Day of Protest on September 19. Nationally, they are demanding community control of the police, an end to the slaying of Black lives, and an end to police and military forces being deployed to suppress protests. In Minneapolis, TCC4J will also call for the re-opening of local cases of police murder that were never prosecuted. The march will begin at 1 p.m. at Plymouth and James Avenues North, at the site where Jamar Clark’s life was taken by the Minneapolis Police Department in 2015.[5]