As a leading civil rights organization in the land of 10,000 lakes, we at the ACLU of Minnesota believe it is our duty to keep the public informed about the state of their civil liberties. The work we do at the legislature, in the courts, and in our communities is important, but there is no better defender of civil rights than a public that is informed and engaged.
When Kishon McDonald saw the video of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of four officers from the Minneapolis Police Department, he could tell it was going to turn the country upside down.
“I knew it was going to catch fire,” he said.
One out of every 1,000 Black men in the United States can expect to be killed by police during their lives. Black, Brown and Indigenous communities are being physically, psychologically, spiritually and economically devastated by over-policing.
Social and political change never happen overnight. For decades, the ACLU of Minnesota has challenged the status quo here, and we’ll keep working to ensure that all people in our state can live, love and care for each other.
Every time another Black person is murdered by the police, it’s easy to point to a single officer as the culprit. George Floyd was killed under the knee of officer Derek Chauvin — we saw it ourselves.
In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, we are seeing a massive popular political realignment around the role and scope of policing in the United States, led by Black organizers and Black-led movement groups.
Over the last week, ACLU staff across the country have worked as legal observers; educated protesters about their rights; been arrested, tear-gassed and hit with rubber bullets; challenged curfews; organized town halls; talked to victims of police abuse; donated money to