These are the stories of four people who live in or near St. Paul, and the changes they want to bring about.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest since George Floyd died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.
They’ve chanted messages about injustice and how they want to see police reformed. Outside of the demonstrations, their work also continues in their communities.
These are the stories of four people who live in or near St. Paul — Toshira Garraway, Martín Hernández, Marsha Magdalene and Noah McCourt — and the changes they want to bring about. They include support for families of people who’ve died in police encounters, funding more social services and less policing, building economic opportunities for young people, and mandating training for officers on interacting with people who are autistic.
They spoke to the Pioneer Press, in their own words, which have been edited for length and clarity.
Do you know how many times I’ve sat on the phone this week with screaming mothers, crying because when they killed George Floyd, it only brings up what they did to our loved ones?
My main thing that I say is, “God is going to give us the justice that we deserve.” And there was a God that was there when they took our loved ones away from us. That God showed the world what they were doing to Black, minority and Indigenous people here in the state of Minnesota. That God brought forth the truth for George Floyd.
Four families started Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence for people in Minnesota about two years ago. It’s basically a support group. In the past, the media has lied on our stories, we have had no support as far as people in the political seats, we’ve had no support with funding. We only have each other.
When a regular civilian on the street kills your loved one, the Crime Victims Reparations Board pays for funerals and mental health services and more. When the police kill our loved ones, we get nothing. We started a GoFundMe to take the burden off families.
We show up at protests and rallies in unity for other families. What we need is funding to address not only the families’ trauma, but also the communities’.
Do you think the rioting happened because of one man? No, it was because there’s been more than 400 killings by police reported to Communities United Against Police Brutality in the state of Minnesota alone since the year 2000. There’s been no accountability and a whole bunch of community trauma that’s gone unmet.
People on the political side don’t need to be organizing for us — the families, the people that are hurting know what needs to change. They need to pass a police-reform package because they are allowing the police that hurt our loves ones to walk free.
I grew up in East Los Angeles and I’m old enough to remember the 1965 Watts Riots (which began with the traffic stop of a Black motorist) in Los Angeles. I’m old enough to remember the Rodney King beating in 1991.
People think things like that happen only in the South, but no, these are things that are happening in supposedly progressive cities, so it’s a systemic problem that’s been around for generations.
