Minneapolis, MN
F-bomb heard across the nation: Minneapolis’ mayor tries to break ICE
Minneapolis Mayor Frey demands ICE to leave city after fatal shooting
Mayor Jacob Frey held a press briefing after an ICE agent fatally shot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis
For many Americans, the first introduction to Jacob Frey may have come this week in the form of press conference footage in which the Minneapolis mayor, visibly upset by Wednesday’s fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by a federal immigration agent, had the following words for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: “Get the f—- out of Minneapolis.”
But the third-term mayor with the boyish smile is no stranger to high-profile situations, adept at navigating crises with resolve and authenticity while fiercely aligning himself with the Minnesota community he represents. Now at odds with the Trump administration as leader of the latest Democratic-led city to be targeted by the president’s stepped-up deportation efforts, he’s shown he’s unafraid to challenge the federal government.
Frey’s emotional statement was in sharp contrast to the state’s “Minnesota Nice” stereotype.
“He just basically tells people the truth, whether they want to hear it or not,” said former longtime Minneapolis councilmember Lisa Goodman, who now serves in Frey’s administration as the city’s director of strategic initiatives. “He’s not passive-aggressive, which is alarming to some people, especially in Minnesota. He speaks his truth, and he doesn’t back down from that.”
The mayor’s statement “was very forceful in tone, sure, and in turn, probably represents the feelings of most Minneapolis residents,” said Andy Aoki, a professor of political science at the city’s Augsburg University.
“Otherwise, he doesn’t come across as the loud, abrasive, over-the-top politician ready with a soundbite. He comes across as more thoughtful, measured, and now more direct.”
This week’s incident was the spark many feared amid a growing powder keg of heightened activity by immigration authorities in Minneapolis and nationwide. But it was just the latest adversity Frey, 44, has faced in his eight years as the city’s mayor.
In May 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer less than a mile from the site of this week’s ICE incident; in August, two children were killed and 14 injured in a mass shooting at the city’s Annunciation Church; and more recently, President Donald Trump broadly attacked the state’s Somali community after reports of fraud involving Somali immigrants.
Then, on Jan. 7, a U.S. immigration agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in her vehicle, an encounter captured on video and subsequently dissected and hotly debated while initially appearing to contradict the administration’s characterization of what happened.
On Friday, Frey doubled down on his outrage over the Trump administration’s portrayal of Good’s shooting as an act of self-defense, penning a guest editorial in the New York Times headlined “I’m the Mayor of Minneapolis. Trump Is Lying to You.”
“The chaos that ICE and the Trump administration have brought to Minneapolis made this tragedy sadly predictable,” he wrote.
Aoki said the resilience and resolve Frey has exhibited since Good’s death stems from “a political savvy, an everyman approach” that he has polished over the years. He thinks the mayor’s heated declaration to federal officials reflected the frustration that has built up over several weeks of ICE presence in the area.
“This is going to be a test of his patience, resilience, and all of his political savvy,” Aoki said. “He’s in the crosshairs of the federal government, and you just can’t just fight them tit-for-tat. He has to figure out the best path to succeed while getting pressure from all sides. This is going to test his political skillset in many ways.”
Jim Scheibel, who served as Saint Paul mayor from 1990 to 1994 and now assists the associate provost at the city’s Hamline University, said he has received positive reviews from around the country about Frey’s handling of the situation.
“He’s very visible, and speaking for myself, his controlled anger in this situation is important,” Scheibel said. “People are looking for someone to articulate what people in the Twin Cities are feeling.”
Scheibel said Frey’s emotions strike him as genuine, not theatrics.
“It’s really from his heart and his head that he’s speaking,” he said. “Hubert Humphrey would be very proud of the kind of leadership that Mayor Frey is showing right now.”
Frey’s path to mayor
Frey, a native of Northern Virginia and the son of professional modern ballet dancers, attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg on a track scholarship, earning a government degree and a shoe company contract that allowed him to run professionally. He ran as many as 120 miles a week while attending Villanova Law School in Philadelphia, where he graduated cum laude.
According to his biography, Frey developed an affection for Minneapolis while running the Twin Cities Marathon and moved there to work as an employment and civil rights lawyer. He fell into community organizing work, chosen as the city’s first annual recipient of its Martin Luther King Jr. Award for his efforts on behalf of marriage equality, housing, and worker non-discrimination rights.
In 2013, he successfully ran for the Minneapolis City Council, representing the city’s Third Ward. Five years later, he became the city’s second-ever Jewish mayor and its second youngest ever, winning on a platform that included mending police-community relations with local frustrations still simmering after two police-involved killings.
Two years later, the police-community relations issue would explode with global reverberations when George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who had kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. Captured on video, the incident would bring national tensions over police brutality to a head, igniting months of demonstrations around the country.
Frey’s handling of the crisis, including his call to fire and charge the offices involved, drew both acclaim and disapproval; as Minneapolis structures were set ablaze amid protests that immediately following Floyd’s killing, On social media, President Donald Trump – then finishing his first term – decried Frey’s “total lack of leadership” and threatened to deploy the National Guard.
When a reporter related Trump’s remarks to Frey, the mayor responded by saying Trump knew nothing of the city’s toughness.
“Weakness is refusing to take responsibility for your actions,” he said. “Weakness is pointing your finger at somebody else during a time of crisis…. Is this a difficult time period? Yes. But you better be damn sure that we’re gonna get through this.”
In December, after Trump maligned Somali immigrants as “garbage” while federal immigration agents ramped up activity in the Twin Cities area, Frey came to the community’s defense, saying Minneapolis was “proud” to host the country’s largest Somali community.
“They are our neighbors, our friends, and our family – and they are welcome in our city,” he said. “Nothing Donald Trump does will ever change that.”
Latest crisis could test city’s accord
Good’s fatal shooting occurred as the community and police were showing signs of rebuilding trust post-George Floyd, said Muhammad Abdul-Ahad, executive director of T.O.U.C.H Outreach, a Minneapolis violence prevention nonprofit.
Abdul-Ahad hopes ICE’s presence won’t derail progress made thus far, though he said some residents have questioned why Minneapolis police haven’t taken a more forceful stance against the agency. He hopes the mayor and police chief have a strategy in place with larger protests scheduled for this weekend.
“We don’t want to see an ‘Us versus Them,’” he said. “We’ve worked too hard since Floyd. It’s going to take all of us to show up together for our communities in times like this, versus blank stares and disbelief.”
The mayor, Abdul-Ahad, said, “is going to have to do more than talk about that he’s with the people; he’s going to have to show it.”
Aoki, of Augsburg University, said while Frey has his detractors, his willingness to take on the Trump administration on the community’s behalf in the wake of Good’s fatal shooting has earned him broad support.
“He has come to grips with the divisions on the council and in the city and he decidedly knows where he stands,” Aoki said. “Early in his first term, he was trying to appeal to everybody, and that didn’t work. Now he knows how to appeal to the moderates and try to peel off a couple of left-leaning council members to get what he needs done.”
Former councilmember Goodman said that while Frey also has learned to negotiate with a “fairly purple” state legislature, his longevity in office illustrates that city voters believe in his authenticity. Goodman said while Frey would be considered extremely progressive in almost any other city, “clearly some of his detractors see him as not progressive enough.”
“A strong leader is out there emotionally, intellectually, in partnership with others. You can’t do it alone,” Goodman said. “You have to be working with others…And Jacob is very good at that.”
She believes the mayor still considers the city’s police reform strategy a crucially important component of unfinished business.
“The city is making progress, and he is very committed to that,” Goodman said. “He is committed to making policing community-based, with many alternative responses – and not the way it was, which facilitated the murder of George Floyd.”
That Frey survived the aftermath of that issue to be re-elected twice “should count for something, Aoki said.
“I think because of (Floyd), he’s more adept at handling crises this time around,” he said. “It doesn’t make it any easier, but how can you not lean into that experience, for better or worse?”
Abdul-Ahad thinks a resilient Frey would like to be recognized for guiding Minneapolis through a historically tumultuous time, but says that will have to be earned through action, not just words.
“He’s been through so much, we all have,” Abdul-Ahad said. “But as mayor, it’s his job to stand up and take accountability for the city. He’s been ridiculed so many times over the last five years, and I’m sure he doesn’t want to go through that again…. He’s been humiliated. But he keeps coming back.”
April 21, 2016.
Ten years later, that day still doesn’t seem real to me.
I was sitting in the newsroom of The Montclair Times in the early afternoon when word came that Prince had died.
I was incredulous. One of my musical heroes was gone. No way.
I was skeptical because I am a reporter. But also because it was Prince — a superstar so secretive and controlling of his music and public image that you could imagine he would have to give his permission to let the world know of his demise.
As the day passed, videos showed grieving fans standing outside his home and music studio complex, Paisley Park, not far from his beloved Minneapolis. That’s when the reality dawned on me.
Prince Rogers Nelson had gone 2 the afterworld at only 57 years old.
He was gone so young — he had so much more music in him to record, release and perform in public for an adoring audience. He died alone after collapsing in an elevator at his complex.
Those things made me sad.
But I was also annoyed at myself. For not being a better aficionado of his music — by never seeing him in person and not collecting every piece of music he ever recorded.
After a few days of listening to the radio and online to “Purple Rain” and “1999” being played ad nauseam, I also heard lesser-known cuts like the heartbreakingly melancholic and sadly appropriate “Sometimes It Snows In April.”
When I heard the depressing reports that he died due to an accidental fentanyl overdose, I resolved to pay proper tribute to The Purple One.
I would go to Minnesota on a Prince Pilgrimage.
‘Nothing Compares 2 U’
April to June 2016.
I said I would go to Minneapolis, to Prince’s home ground, to pay my respects to him. I didn’t think I would go through with booking a ticket on United Airlines from Newark for the weekend before his birthday.
I had used up most of my vacation days and had one to spare, but not another to stay through Prince’s actual born day. Just my luck.
At least I was fulfilling a commitment to an artist I adore.
I wouldn’t say I was a fanatic for his Royal Badness (one of the many nicknames he carried in his lifetime). But he’s one of the few musicians who really moved me.
I heard his music growing up in the 1980s in Jersey City as a matter of course when the radio dial was set on R&B or pop music stations like KISS-FM and Z-100.
When Prince’s sixth studio album, “Purple Rain,” was released in the summer of 1984, it was a revolution that pushed the rising star into the stratosphere.
I couldn’t go anywhere without hearing the screeching guitar and chanting of Prince that provided the intro to “When Doves Cry,” or the rhythmic strumming of the guitar and the clashing electric drums that start off the album’s title song.
However, it was watching “Purple Rain,” the movie, that put me on the Prince Express. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t act to the satisfaction of critics or that the plot seemed corny. I was just absolutely enthralled by him and his band, The Revolution, tearing through numbers that were a mélange of funk, rock and new wave, while in a musical rivalry with another badass, Morris Day, and his group.
My 13-year-old self also developed a crush on the leading lady, Apollonia Kotero, for her sultry voice and because she stripped nude to purify herself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. It blew my mind then (and still blows my mind now).
Prince would remain in the background of my music listening as the years passed.
If it wasn’t his voice, it was the voice of others singing his songs, because he was as adept a songwriter as he was a performer. “I Feel for You” (Chaka Khan), “Manic Monday” (The Bangles) and “Nothing Compares 2 U” (Sinéad O’Connor) are some of the major hits that came from his pen.
The first vinyl album I ever got, in my teens was “Around the World in a Day,” his 1985 anti-commercial and purposely obscured follow-up to “Purple Rain.”
In college and afterward, whenever I had a few bucks in my pocket, I bought various albums on CD: “Diamonds and Pearls,” “The Black Album,” “The Gold Experience” and “Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic,” and “Lovesexy” on cassette. I paid for a ticket to watch what may be Spike Lee’s worst movie, “Girl 6,” in part to hear Prince’s music.
But it wasn’t just Prince’s virtuoso musicianship that made me a believer. It was also his personality, confounding and infuriating at the same time, that intrigued me.
I chatted with NYU classmates about how he slept no more than two hours a day because he worked so hard in the studio, playing all the instruments and producing every track. Yet he looked like he hadn’t aged a minute.
You would hear stories of him boosting artists that he admired by having them play on his albums and in concert. Then you would hear stories of his unkindness and controlling nature toward his bandmates and others in his inner circle.
He was a man who attained a level of stardom that demanded he bask in the spotlight at all times. Then there was the man who operated in secrecy and would alternate between the public, large-scale appearances and his surprise late-night concerts at small venues.
He was a true Gemini.
In the late spring of 2016, I was taking in all of who Prince was, as he was no longer among us mere mortals, while preparing to pay homage to him.
‘MPLS’ and ‘Uptown’
June 3 to 5, 2016.
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Alive! (And It Lives in Minneapolis)”
Prince’s 1993 song popped into my head as the United Airlines plane landed at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport around 10:30 p.m. on June 3.
In the morning, my Prince Pilgrimage was underway as I took a bus near my hotel toward downtown Minneapolis.
While on the bus, I could see out my window why he spent nearly his entire life in or near this city, and created songs like “MPLS” and “Uptown” that presented his hometown to the world.
The widest boulevards I have ever seen outside of Paris. The streets where you saw yards with no fences and many trees. The heat normally expected in late spring was tempered by the Minnesota coolness.
I had an itinerary of the stops I needed to make on a sunny Saturday.
First Avenue and 7th Street Entry was a Greyhound bus depot converted into two music venues starting in the early 1970s. On the wall outside, a giant painted gold star etched with the name PRINCE. Only fitting, as the “Purple Rain” movie was filmed inside First Avenue.
539 North Newton Ave. in the northern part of Minneapolis is where a teenage Mr. Nelson lived with his dad for a short time until he was thrown out.
When I stopped by to view the three-bedroom house, an African American couple was chatting up a man standing outside the house. After they were done, it was my turn to engage Maurice Phillips, Prince’s former bodyguard, who married his boss’ sister Tyka.
I went into reporter mode to get the inside scoop from him on my favorite recording artist.
What was Prince like? “He’s just a normal kind of guy like us. He put on his pants the same kind of way.”
Are there other thoughts about Prince you want to share? “No. But I know Prince is looking down. I got to get done with this yard work.”
Later, I made my way to the Parkway Theater in South Minneapolis for what I thought was the best way to mourn the man: “This Thing Called Life — The Prince Tribute.”
Julius Collins, on lead vocals, was backed by members of Prince’s 1990’s band, the New Power Generation, along with other singers and instrumentalists. They regaled attendees with renditions of Prince songs while photos and videos of him played on a screen behind them.
Collins’ voice boomed as he sang, “Good times were rolling/She started dancing in the streets,” (“Uptown”), “Do I believe in God?/Do I believe in me? — Controversy” (“Controversy”), and “Police ain’t got no gun/You don’t have to run” (“DMSR”).
It was the perfect end to day one of the pilgrimage. I got back to my hotel in the late evening to have a meal and prepare for day two.
I should have skipped the takeout from the nearby fast-casual joint, because the resulting heartburn had me down for the count — and nixed plans to visit the last stop on the pilgrimage: Paisley Park.
Yet I had a Plan B for the following day, so I wouldn’t let Prince down.
At 2000 Fourth Avenue South in Minneapolis is Electric Fetus, the iconic record store where Prince reportedly made his last public appearance and last music purchases five days before he died.
On my shopping list was his shopping list:
- Stevie Wonder, “Talking Book.”
- Chambers Brothers, “The Time Has Come.”
- Joni Mitchell, “Hejira.”
- The Swan Silvertones, “Inspirational Gospel Classics.”
- Missing Persons, “The Best Of Missing Persons.”
- Santana, “Santana IV.”
I got only three of those CDs, as the others were (unsurprisingly) sold out. I couldn’t have regrets, because, in a weird way, it was the closest to being there when he was there, the closest I would ever get to meeting him.
His famous opening line to “Let’s Go Crazy” also came to mind: “Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to get through this thing called ‘life.’”
RIP Prince (June 7, 1958-April 21, 2016).
Ricardo Kaulessar covers race, immigration, and culture for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com
Twitter/X: @ricardokaul
Minneapolis, MN
Man convicted of murdering Mariah Samuels set for sentencing Monday after skipping previous court date
A Minneapolis man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend is set to learn his fate Monday after he skipped his original sentencing date on Friday.
A jury found 51-year-old David Wright guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, first- and second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm last week. The premeditation conviction automatically triggers a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Wright was scheduled to be sentenced Friday afternoon, but did not show up to court. The judge asked Wright’s attorney if he was ill or refusing to show up, but the attorney declined to answer on grounds of attorney-client privilege.
Monday’s sentencing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Wright killed 34-year-old Mariah Samuels in September outside her home in the Willard-Hay neighborhood of Minneapolis, minutes after she posted about his abuse on social media. Family members said Samuels had broken up with him after a few months of dating. She had a restraining order against him.
Samuels’ sister Simone Hunter called Wright “a dangerous person” who “should never see the light of day again” after his conviction.
Friends and family say Wright acted out throughout the trial, including missing previous court dates and removing himself from the stand.
Both Samuels’ family and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty criticized the court for not doing more to ensure Wright showed up at the sentencing.
“This is why people think they can murder people in front of their dad’s house and get away with it. There’s no repercussions for these things, they don’t care about these women who are dying on a daily basis. And the least that they could have done is demanded that he come over here in shackles like the monster that he is,” Hunter said Friday. “I’m astounded.”
Samuels’ family has also accused the Minneapolis Police Department of not doing enough to keep her safe. Chief Brian O’Hara last year ordered her case to be reviewed and officers to be retrained on domestic violence.
For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A 21-year-old man was killed after a motorcycle crash early Friday morning in Minneapolis, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
Fatal motorcycle crash
The backstory:
The State Patrol responded to the crash at about 1:20 a.m. on April 17 on northbound I-35W at Johnson Street in Minneapolis.
Authorities say a man operating a Suzuki motorcycle was heading northbound on I-35W when it made contact with the left side median guard rail before it continued to head north. It traveled for about another quarter mile before coming to rest on the right side guard rail.
Authorities located the motorcycle’s operator on the left side shoulder. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Crash under investigation
Crash victim ID’d:
The State Patrol identified the motorcyclist as 21-year-old Andrew James Neuberger of Minneapolis. According to a GoFundMe set up for the family, Neuberger is the oldest of seven children.
What led up to the crash remains under investigation.
-
Politics3 minutes agoByron Donalds cracks down on persistent border blind spot leaving US vulnerable to overstays
-
Health9 minutes agoHealthy diets spark lung cancer risk in non-smokers as pesticides loom
-
Sports15 minutes agoPGA Tour signals new era with axing of Hawaii events from schedule
-
Technology21 minutes agoAlexa+ lets you order food like a real conversation
-
Business27 minutes agoNew lawsuit alleges Uber is violating drivers’ rights. Here’s how
-
Entertainment33 minutes agoReview: Trigger warning? ‘For Want of a Horse’ gives new meaning to the term ‘animal lover’
-
Lifestyle39 minutes agoMore is more in this L.A. ‘barn’ exploding with thrifted finds and maximalist flair
-
Politics45 minutes agoFormer state Controller Betty Yee drops out of the governor’s race