On May 6th, the Minneapolis City Council's Public Safety Committee will hold a public hearing on the repeal of two low-level ordinances that disproportionately affect Black residents- spitting & lurking.
As one of BLM Minneapolis' demands, we are calling for BLM allies to pack the public hearing room on Wednesday at 1:30pm to show strong public support of the ordinance repeals.
These vague, ineffective, and often racist "violations" result in the harassment of Black men and women by the police for allegedly committing low-level, non-violent offenses. A recent Star Tribune article showed that a disproportionate number of 9-1-1 lurking calls were made by white residents reporting activity by a black resident; yet over a three year period, only TEN of the 29 lurking charges resulted in convictions (out of 185 citations issued). These ordinances have not proven to make streets safer, but have only perpetuated negative stereotypes and resulted in unnecessary interactions between police officers and community.
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