Minneapolis leaders: We haven’t forgotten how you aided and abetted racists to incite violence on our streets – and sidewalks
In the rebuke of his former comrades, to paraphrase the great American wordsmith, O’Shea Jackson, pen name Ice Cube, “Oh yes, it ain’t over Minneapolis!”
Yeah, naw, we got beef.
OK, first let me offer some clarifying statements here. When I say Minneapolis, I’m speaking particularly about the mayor’s office, the police department and, sadly, the Hennepin County attorney’s office. And the beef stems from the city’s embrace at worst, and coddling at best of known white supremacist and provocateur Jake Lang and his crew during and following their racist Aug. 22 pull-up in the Mill City.
But here’s the part that really kicked off the beef – I trusted you all to be on the side of righteousness, thus I held my pen and tongue until now. In the cases of the mayor’s office and police department, I reached out to you weeks in advance to gain assurances that you would act accordingly if, in fact, Lang and his band invaded our metro area again. I reached out in efforts to stem any violence that could occur at Lang’s rally calling upon white people to openly and freely use what is one of the most derogatory and dehumanizing terms – a slur that often … often … accompanies violence and death when spewed from the lips of the hateful.
It was in late July when the unabashed racists announced his nefarious plan to descend upon Minneapolis to spout his hateful views. In efforts to keep my community safe, I reached out to both the mayor’s office and police department via email on July 28 asking if they were aware of Lang’s intentions and if there was a plan in place in the event he did, in fact, attempt to gather at City Hall. Three days passed without a reply, thus I sent follow-up emails on July 31.
After sending the follow-up emails, I received a dual response.
“The City is aware of a flyer circulating on social media that includes hateful language. No permit has been requested or approved for this gathering, and we have not been contacted by the organizer. We are a welcoming city that values inclusiveness, and we do not condone harmful or hateful language directed at anyone. We will continue to monitor the situation.”
The statement was followed with the sentence, “MPD is actively developing an operational plan for this event scheduled to take place in approximately three weeks.”
Shame on me for thinking they were sincere.
As we now know, it appears the “plan” was to escort Lang in his joyride of the downtown streets – and sidewalks – as protesters and journalists were assaulted with chemical irritants by people of Lang’s crew. The “plan” was to line the street with iron barricades for the permitless racist procession to glide through.
Gonna ask a couple of questions here – it’s rhetorical.
What do you think would have been the MPD response if a truckload of Black people shouting hateful speech descended on the streets of downtown Minneapolis taking their 1,000-pound vehicle up upon the sidewalk near City Hall? Would MPD be marching alongside the vehicle – which at one point was used as a weapon – as the group’s private security led the way?
Then there’s the Hennepin County Attorney’s office.
First, let me state, as far as administrations go, this current one is far and above what we had prior when Mike Freeman and Amy Klobuchar reigned atop the office. That said, it is not without critique.
The failure to bring charges against Lang and his crew is a miss – full stop. I’ve reviewed the video of the interaction between racist Lang and his cronies and those protesting against them several times. I’ve pointed out in this commentary at least two instances where I believe a crime was committed by their motley crew. Funny, there was enough evidence to charge the man dressed in a Spiderman suit, but somehow not enough to charge Lang and company?
This isn’t meant to be a piling on, but it’s a fair assessment. In the horrific and tragic Sept. 2 Minneapolis shooting that left three dead including the alleged shooter, it was later revealed the Hennepin County Attorney’s office declined charges against a man that demonstrated a pattern of threatening behavior. Had that behavior been addressed before Sept. 2, maybe three people are still alive and those wounded are walking around without the physical and mental scars.
I say this with intention – the same intention in which I reached out to the mayor’s office and MPD prior to Lang’s invasion. As I always say, I’m not psychic, I just knew. And sadly I predict Lang – or some derivative of – will be back, emboldened by the actions – or shall I say lack of actions – by the mayor’s office, the Minneapolis Police Department and the Hennepin County Attorney’s office.
So yeah, I’m writing this weeks after the Aug. 22 event, but I’m writing this to warn against allowing any other such event to transpire without consequences.
Ice Cube’s “No Vaseline” – a scathing rebuke of the actions of his former bandmates – hit with the full venom in which it was intended. I too strike with lips dripping with venom. But thankfully there’s an antidote. Afterall, if Cube can patch things up with Eazy, Dre, Ren and Yella after their verbal clash, there’s hope for reconciliation between Minneapolis and those of us harmed by its inaction leading up to and following allowing a group of racists to run roughshod through the Mill City.
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