Another Tragic Death at the Hands of the MPD in North Minneapolis
from the open publishing newswire: Early on Thursday, February 5, Minneapolis police killed Ahmed Guled, 23, as he drove down Morgan Avenue in the area where police were arresting three other people. One of the arrestees witnessed the incident and states that reports by police that they were somehow "in danger" and had to shoot were lies. He states that Guled was driving no more than 20 miles an hour and was just trying to get through the narrow lane police created by blocking the road with their vehicles when police opened fire, shooting at least 20 times. He referred to the killing as "an execution."
Related: Demonstration @ North Commons Park Wednesday | Call to Action | CUAPB Sues MPLS Civilian Review Authority | Court Watch Thurs. for Eduardo Cardenas, Attacked by MPD
Communities United Against Police Brutality
EMAIL NEWS
February 8, 2009
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ANOTHER TRAGIC DEATH AT THE HANDS OF THE MPD
TIME TO TAKE THE STREETS AND SAY "NO MORE"!
Rally and Memorial
Wednesday, February 11
4:30 p.m.
Corner of Morgan Ave S and Golden Valley Road, Minneapolis
(next to North Commons Park)
Early on Thursday, February 5, Minneapolis police killed Ahmed Guled, 23, as he drove down Morgan Avenue in the area where police were arresting three other people. One of the arrestees witnessed the incident and states that reports by police that they were somehow "in danger" and had to shoot were lies. He states that Guled was driving no more than 20 miles an hour and was just trying to get through the narrow lane police created by blocking the road with their vehicles when police opened fire, shooting at least 20 times. He referred to the killing as "an execution."
Guled's tragic death follows closely on the heels of the December 9th death by Taser of Quincy Smith, a well-known radio personality on People's Radio Station KMOJ. Smith was Tased by five police officers, killing him. One of the officers involved is the same cop who Tased Smith in a previous incident and who Smith had an active lawsuit against at the time of his death. Witnesses have stated that Smith was not doing anything to justify cops electrocuting him to death.
There are a number of factors at play in these latest deaths, which both occurred to men of color on the Northside. The current police chief, Tim Dolan, is a cops' cop who fails to take seriously complaints against his cops and uses discipline not to reign in misconduct but as a political tool against officers of color and others he doesn't like. He was inspector of the Fourth precinct during several high profile police brutality incidents including the shootings of Terrell Oliver and Julius Powell. As chief, he's made sure all major incidents of brutality get swept under the rug.
Another factor is a lack of policies. The MPD was supposed to have a stringent Taser policy. The city council ordered them to adopt a relatively strong policy. However, that policy has disappeared. Police administration claims the policy was moved to training--to make the policy manual shorter--but at a CRA board meeting a few months ago, MPD Taser trainer Adam Grobove stated that the only policy they train about is that cops are supposed to holster their Taser on the side opposite their firearm and they aren't supposed to use it around flammable vapors. In other words, it's a no-rules free-for-all.
Finally, the community has not stepped up as it should to show our outrage over these deaths at the hands of police. That lack of response shows the cops they can get away with these actions. Yes, it's winter and yes, it's cold outside but that hasn't stopped cops from killing our brothers and sisters and they must not get a free pass on these outrages! We need a real response from the community. That's where you come in. Join us for a rally and memorial at the site of Ahmed Guled's death. We will follow this action with a community meeting (information to follow) to plan actions that will bring about real change. Be there!
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Comments
A few important facts left
A few important facts left out of this article:
1) Ahmed Guled a suspected of car thief who was being chased by two squad cards at the time.
2) The incident was captured on police video.
3) As is standard practice, the homicide unit will investigate this shooting and forward its findings to the Hennepin County attorney's office. Until then, the police involved as on administrative leave.
So really, what's your beef here? I could understand if your demand was to see the video of the incident. I think we have a right to demand that much. But it isn't. You've already passed judgment on this case. You made up your mind after hearing the words of a person who was, him or herself, being arrested at the time on a "shots fired" call. You don't think that MAYBE they might have an axe to grind? Or that they might not be the most trustworthy source? Or that you should take a look at the evidence before putting this stuff out?
I know how this site works, this is where generally where someone will piss and moan about me being a troll or a cop or whatever, but honestly? My problem is that you guys milk the "cops are SO E.V.I.L.!" card each and every time there's a shooting, you beat your arguments to death over guys like Guled, so that when the cops actually do do something shitty, no one is listening anymore. You're your own worst enemies.
learn to write, asshole.
learn to write, asshole. poor grammar and missing words - exactly what I expect from a cop
http://www.ksee24.com/news/lo
http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/39384717.html?video=YHI&t=a
This was a pretty
This was a pretty superficial reply. Exactly what I expect from a person who doesn't have an actual response to the points being made.
Call me crazy, but the cops
Call me crazy, but the cops killing anyone, even a "suspected car thief," qualifies as them "do[ing] something shitty."
According to less biased
According to less biased articles, he was fleeing two squad cars and driving directly at four officers who were on foot. In other words, directly threatening their lives.
So I guess my question is, at what point does a man who directly threatens the lives of others become responsible for his own fate?
I know you don't like cops, and it's pretty cool to hate them or declare them wrong in each and every instance (especially when the person they kill is black), but the fact is, Ahmed was acting like a complete idiot and put himself in a situation that ended with his death. You wanna blame the cops for that? The cops didn't make him steal a car. The cops didn't make him go on a high speed chase. The cops didn't make him ignore their orders. And the cops didn't make him drive directly at them.
There are legitimate victims of police violence in the city of Minneapolis. Hell, there've been plenty of them over the years, but...wasting your moral outrage on dudes like this? It just makes the public in general less likely to listen to your protests the next time some unarmed little kid gets plugged.
Which articles are "less biased"?
Surely you can't be referring to the paper or the mainstream media, who have lied about the fact that Guled was in a stolen car (he wasn't). And how do you know he was "acting like an idiot." Did you see it? Because witnesses are not reporting it the way you talk about it. According to those witnesses, who are brave as hell for coming forward, Guled was doing nothing more than driving slowly down a street that was partially blocked by police vehicles and this was nothing short of a wholesale slaughter.
Had you been at the rally today, you would have heard from Ahmed Guled's father. He talked about just returning from Somalia. Ahmed was on his way to vist his father in a friend's borrowed car when he was gunned down by police. Puts a whole different perspective on the cops' story as faithfully parroted by the mainstream media, don't you think?
Michelle Gross
Communities United Against Police Brutality
Michelle, every article I've
Michelle, every article I've read in the mainstream media identified Ahmed Guled as a "suspected car thief" and, technically speaking, that's true. The police pursuing him - the ones he refused to pull over for - did suspect him of car theft. Why they suspected him of auto theft, I do not know. Why he refused to pull over for the two squad cars that were pursuing him, I also do not know.
What I do know is that refusing to pull over is usually a stupid thing to do. Leading police on a car chase, no matter how brief, is also usually a stupid thing to do. Nor are these things usually the actions of an innocent person.
Secondly, on top of the two squad cars pursuing him, other witnesses are reporting loudly hearing the police he was driving towards call for Ahmed to stop. He did not.
Third, at least from what I've read on this site, at least one of the witnesses painting this as a, what?, execution? is a shooting suspect himself, which doesn't lend much towards his credibility.
Fourth, again, there is police video of all of this. Why not focus your efforts on ensuring its timely release (a.k.a. waiting until you've seen the main piece of evidence prior to passing judgment)? You'd think this would be step one in your quest to see justice done.
1) And this justifies a
1) And this justifies a police killing how?
2) And this justifies a police killing how?
3) And this justifies a police killing how?
4) Because time after time after time after time after time waiting until some mythical police video that never actually gets released is a failing strategy. You would know this if you did actual work relating to police brutality cases.
I wonder why it is that every time an article about police brutality goes up on Indymedia, it gets way more contrarian comments than other articles that are just as serious, or even than articles that are intended to be inflammatory. Strangely I suspect that the answer has something to do with the fact that we know cops read Indymedia on a regular basis, and they're not used to people calling them out and questioning their monopoly on violence. Solution: keep calling them out, and question the state's monopoly on violence!
1, 2, & 3) I know this is
1, 2, & 3) I know this is hard for some of the contributors to this page to accept, but the police DO have a right not to be run over.
4) What's "mythical" about the police videos in this case? There were four squad cars involved in this incident, that means four videos.
Sure, it isn't always easy to get police videos released - some never are - but near as I can tell, no one has even tried in this instance. The releasing of the video certainly hasn't been a focal point of CUAPB's efforts.
but you don't have the right
but you don't have the right to look at our people like thay are all dope dealers or gang members. Just wait till you gotta deal with latin gangs gringo !!! You know it's comin puto face
Also, I just want to make
Also, I just want to make sure one thing is clear here: are you arguing that Ahmed Guled borrowed a car from his friend, not knowing that the car was stolen, or are you arguing that the police lied at the car wasn't listed as stolen, and that they had some other motivation for attempting to stop him?
Cops are used to having
Cops are used to having media people bend over backwards to tell their side of the story. It's part of that whole mandatory compliance thing. Anyroad, they really get upset when you don't just parrot their story, even on relatively small indymedia sites, and fall back on the "you damn hippies" line. Tiresome, really.
Maybe. But the other side
Maybe. But the other side of that same coin is that many of the articles critical of the police that show up on Indymedia sites are questionable themselves. For instance, CUAPB isn't going to tell you that Ahmed Guled was a sketchy character with a good sized rap sheet, which included at least one violent crime (robbery).
I agree, and i'm not a cop.
I agree, and i'm not a cop.
You're a gullible fool
Ahmed Guled was NOT in a stolen car. The car was lent to him by a friend and was NEVER reported as stolen. Multiple witnesses on the scene also state that Guled was not driving toward the cops but was driving slowly to clear the area where cops had narrowed the road with their squad cars. But I suppose this is not what you want to hear given that you seem to have already bought into the cops' spin without a second thought.
It is you and the cops who have passed judgement--with Dolan announcing that this killing was justified even before any investigation.
Just an FYI--the homicide division is as dirty as it gets. They will not do a neutral investigation. By shunting this to them, the cops have decided to sweep this one under the rug.
Our demands are to see the film and that an independent investigator be appointed since the current "investigation" is constituted to produce a particular outcome.
Michelle Gross
Communities United Against Police Brutality
Your eagerness to take
Your eagerness to take "shots fired" suspects at their word - as if they don't potentially have an axe to grind themselves - leads me to believe you're as "gullible" as anyone on these types of matters. With that said, I do agree with you on one point - the videos ought to be released. We have a right to see them and releasing them is the only conclusive way to put this matter to rest. Frankly, efforts to access the evidence in this case seem a whole hell of a lot more worthwhile than staging a protest.
I am, however, curious as to how you know it wasn't reported stolen car, since both the police and mainstream media are reporting that it was.
Anonymous
this was a state sanctioned murder. your eagerness to take these corrupt pigs at their word leads me to believe you are as gullible as anyone on these types of matters. this reeks of a cover up. you know it, i know it.
and you seem to have forgotten that in this country, you are innocent until proven guilty, at least that is how it supposed to be. being a suspected of a crime does not guilt of that crime. so those 'shots fired' suspects who 'have an axe to grind', who i bet were never arrested or charged with a crime, could very well be good and decent citizens, with perfectly valid and true statements about what really happened. the pigs in this country are completely out of control. we are slowly sliding towards fascism and a police state. and people like you, who buy into every bit of sunshine fascist pigs blow up your ass, seem perfectly content with that.
one can only hope that you will soon suffer some injustice st the hands of some corrupt bacon, maybe then you will stop taking their word as gold.
1) I don't think you know
1) I don't think you know what fascism actually is.
2) You claim this was a "state sanctioned murder". To what end?
3) Yes, *legally*, we are innocent until proven guilty. That doesn't mean, however, that we have to be idiots and ignore the fact that people who have just been stopped, searched, and put in the back of a squad car might have an axe to grind with the police.
4) Just to reemphasize my original point: milking peoples' sympathy for the victims of police brutality over cases like this - cases where a career criminal did a number of stupid things, including refusing to pull over for police, and where the only identifiable witnesses claiming police were out of line are questionable themselves - only makes people all the more LESS likely to listen the next time police actually do something out of line. Then you'll turn around and get pissed at the fact that no one outside of North cares. Well, guess what? That's the side effect of crying wolf every few months. Not that you care. You're a brave warrior combatting "fascism".
Crooked police
It's well known fact that the police in the inner city are crooked ! thay been that way for years , I grew up on the northside.. Not too long ago The police ran in my house looking for drugs with the wrong address on the paper that was shown to me and my wife.. No drugs found !! but they did take my laptop, car keys, and my gun plus me .. I never got charged, Thay wiped the gun on my hands even thoe i said i was the owner. Gave me the gang unit smack down held me 72 hours then let me go.. I keep asking when can i get my things back but i get the run around !! if any police are reading this tell your goons give a tax payer his things back.. Thay know who I am Mr Gatlin !! look it up !! puto face gringos
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