May 10, 2013. At about 1:30 pm Terrance Franklin and his friend, Anquanette Hollman, were sitting in a 2002 blue Chrysler PT Cruiser at the back of the apartment building at 2743 Lyndale Avenue South. He was fixing a blunt (a hollowed out cigar filled with marijuana). Her two small children were in the back seat. They had just gone into the building and caught the attention of the maintenance person who checks the video surveillance cameras. Continue Reading
From: Jordan Kushner Date: 2:58pm, Sept 20No comment so far on the grand jury. Obviously no surprise. For those concerned, it is important to realize that the grand jury process is completely a political tool to avoid political responsibility and transparency.Mike Freeman has no legal obligation to have a grand jury make the decision. A grand jury is only required in Minnesota to charge cases of first degree murder and certain career sex offender cases that carry mandatory life imprisonment. This case does [not] fit first degree murder (premeditated or other inapplicable circumstances). Continue Reading
Terrance Franklin was shot to death by Minneapolis police on May 10. He was shot after a police chase, in a basement laundry room, where the only people present were Minneapolis police officers, their dog, and Terrance Franklin. Since then, demonstrations and demands for action and information have been met with the standard “we’re investigating” line from MPD and promises of a grand jury investigation. But no information. Not from the police. Continue Reading
Historically, many local Blacks believe that no matter what evidence is presented, nothing happens to Minneapolis police officers for misconduct against people of color. The May 10 death of Terrance Franklin, reportedly at the hands of City police, has thus far done nothing to erase such beliefs.A common theme expressed during recent public demonstrations is that the city’s Black community has no confidence in the police department investigating Franklin’s death or in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office that might or might not do anything to the responsible officer or officers for acts of misconduct.Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman pledges that his office will do anything in its power to see that justice is done in the Franklin case. Freeman spoke one-on-one with the MSR last week for nearly an hour. He says he understands the community’s impatience, doubts and demands for answers to what happened almost four months ago in a South Minneapolis basement.“I do not run the Minneapolis Police Department,” stated Freeman, who added that his office does not get involved in police cases until the investigation, which is still ongoing, is completed. “What we do in police cases in which the result is the death of a civilian, we take every one of those cases to the grand jury.”According to both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Minnesota Fourth District Court handbook, a grand jury does not have to hear both sides of a case. Continue Reading
Terrance Franklin is dead and the officer who killed him is unlikely to even face discipline. These are the profound realities that carry different, often divergent, meaning for different people in our society.Many people in my acquaintance can calmly characterize this death as just another chapter, albeit tragic, of the age old tale of law and order. Yes, some can calmly presume that it was necessary to shoot an unarmed man in the back ofthe skull multiple times. An unavoidable killing despite the presence of overwhelming numbers of armed police officers and a police dog actively restraining the suspect. Upon further review, the calm, trusting perspective of this incident seems a bit untenable.So, why do so many people trust the dutifully reported, but detail-deficient, explanations offered by the police department? Continue Reading
On Sunday, a group of community organizers and citizens met at Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC) after the jury had read the not-guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial.We had three main goals to discuss at the meeting: (1) What was the message we wanted to send out, (2) Who did we want to target with this message, and (3) What was the narrative going to be. During the meeting every one of us could feel the emotion in the room – people’s hurt, frustration, anger, sadness—and hope. As a recent resident to Minneapolis this was such a beautiful sight to me. Many ideas were shared and discussed as we began to create a long-term, and sustainable, plan for justice – not just for Trayvon Martin, but for everyone that is and has been affected by the racism that is entrenched within our society.Last week I came across a report by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement entitled Operation Ghetto Storm. This report was created with the goal of understanding the disregard of Black life in America, a disregard which has been vividly called to many of our minds by Trayvon Martin’s and Terrance Franklin’s deaths. It breaks down how our government and our society tolerates—and even supports—the extrajudicial execution of Black people: “In 2012, 313 Black people were executed without trial by police, security guards and self-appointed law enforcers.” Every 28 hours a father, mother, daughter, son, sister, brother is murdered. For me, the most startling statistic was that 66% were people aged 2 to 31. Continue Reading
Something happened May 10 after he allegedly was earlier involved in a theft.Exactly what happened in the basement of that South Minneapolis house May 10, the day Terrance Franklin was shot and killed by Minneapolis police, remains a mystery to all but the police officers involved. Although the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) investigation is still ongoing, Franklin’s family still seeks answers to their questions nearly a month after his death.They question earlier police reports that say their son shot two MPD officers with a submachine gun. They also question the extent to which a racial element may have played a role in the man’s death.“There has been a history [of contention] between the African American community and the Minneapolis Police Department,” said attorney Karlowba Powell after a May 30 press conference at the Minneapolis Urban League. She is one of two lawyers representing Franklin’s parents, Walter Franklin and Sheila O’Neal. “There have been several incidents that already rooted themselves in the minds and opinions of the community,” added Powell.“I don’t know anything except that my son is not here,” admitted Walter Franklin, who briefly spoke to the MSR after the press conference held on the day that would have been his son’s 23rd birthday. Continue Reading
St. Louis Park resident Taharra Patterson was one of 250 protesters at the Justice for Terrance rally on May 31. She attended the protest because she is against police brutality and, “this easily could have been my child, and if it were my child I would have wanted someone to do it for me. So I’m here for justice for the family,” she said. Patterson also supported the Trayvon Martin rally last year.What does she hope will come out of protesting? Continue Reading
Terrance Franklin’s uncle spoke to Twin Cities Daily Planet Community Engagement Editor Lolla Mohammed Nur while marching through downtown Minneapolis at the Justice for Terrance rally on May 31. Willie Walton, along with Franklin’s father, other family members and supporters, is demanding that Minneapolis police release details about the May 10 shooting that led to Franklin’s death.”We want those Minneapolis cops that killed Terrance, that slaughtered him in the basement, we want them brought to justice,” he said. “Terrance is unarmed. He’s not known for carrying a gun, so why did they slaughter him? He’s not a known criminal. Continue Reading
Demetrius H’ro is a local spoken word artist who marched at the Justice for Terrance rally on May 31. Terrance Franklin was a 22-year-old who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police on May 10.H’ro attended the rally because he wants to help “start a movement” against institutionalized racism and police brutality, especially toward black men, he said.”I’m in a system that’s trying to effeminate me as a black man and take away my inner power. You notice it in subtle ways that you deal with police, or maybe a job interview,” he explained. “The murder of Terrance [Franklin] is just another part underneath that entire umbrella called ‘racism,’ which is raining down on all of us people of color.”H’ro added, “It’s a part of a problem that’s affecting me and other people of my skin color and anyone that is a victim of systematic racism.” He ends with a powerful message to Minneapolis police and other authorities he sees as hiding behind institutional racism.Related stories:• Protesters demand justice for Terrance Franklin, police prosecution• OUR STORIES | Willie Walton: “He didn’t deserve to die like a dog.”• OUR STORIES | Taharra Patterson: Terrance Franklin “could have been my child”Reporting for this article supported in part by Bush Foundation. Continue Reading
