1,250 Minneapolis residents file ethics complaints against Mayor Frey

On the inside steps of Minneapolis City Hall in front of a huge banner that read “FREY LIED AMIR DIED,” community members announced that more than 1,250 Minneapolis residents had signed ethics complaints against Mayor Jacob Frey related to the police killing of Amir Locke. These were hand delivered to a city staff person after a press conference on Feb. 11, 2022.
Three ethics code violations are cited in “The Residents’ Complaint:” first, that the mayor and Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman “intentionally and recklessly misrepresented the facts” to the public and press when they erroneously referred to Amir Locke as a suspect four times in a press release and failed to correct the record; next, that the mayor, who has authority over the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), has violated his duty by “allowing this murder to go without discipline and discharge;” and last, that “there was a massive failure to exercise judgment” when the MPD requested a no-knock warrant on behalf of the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD), which the SPPD did not request.
“We, the residents, of Minneapolis deserve better. We deserve to feel safe in our homes and in our streets. We deserve leadership that is trustworthy, fair and accountable,” said Jeanelle Austin, a neighbor and community member of George Floyd Square. “Many of us as residents have reviewed the body camera footage and followed the official statements by the city in the wake of Amir’s death. We continue to be deeply concerned and outraged with the lies, immoral decisions and actions we have witnessed from our local officials that violate our city’s code of ethics.”
Community outreach on the complaints is being undertaken by a loosely aligned group of residents, not any organization. As they began the process, Austin said, one resident asked how many complaints they were seeking to collect.
“The answer was one. It should only take one complaint of our mayor violating the code of ethics for the Ethical Practices Board to open and complete a thorough investigation,” she said. But in 48 hours they collected more than 1,250 uniquely signed complaints, with some signed on the spot during the press conference.
Valentina McKenzie, a Black woman with Black kids and community member of George Floyd Square, said the mayor has allowed MPD to abuse their power while refusing to use any of his own.
“Jacob’s lies and failure has caused our city even deeper trauma by allowing his cops to do what they want and murder us freely. How can we heal as a city when every time we look up it’s happening again and again and again,” said McKenzie. “Not in some other city. Right here in Minneapolis. We’re tired of being continuously lied to about everything from if [Mr. Locke] was a suspect or not to are the no-knock warrants banned or not.”
The mayor has come under fire for allowing no-knock warrants despite having claimed during his reelection campaign last year to have already banned them. At a Feb. 7 City Council Policy & Government Oversight Committee meeting discussion, committee chair Jeremiah Ellison asked the mayor what accounts for the gulf between what people believed the policy (which was modified but not banned in November 2020) did, versus what it actually did. The mayor responded, “Throughout a campaign, certainly as more and more people and outside groups began weighing in, language became more casual, including my own, which did not reflect the necessary precision or nuance, and I own that.”
Following Locke’s death, the mayor announced a moratorium on requesting and executing no-knock warrants, although they are still allowed in limited circumstances.
Youth organizer Semhar Solomon said the citizens of Minneapolis, through The Residents’ Complaint, are asking for transparency, accountability and safety.
“These ethics violations – these ‘mistakes’ – are costing lives, and the community of Minneapolis has continued to say, ‘Enough is enough,’” said Solomon, who urged youth to raise the importance of doing their part to the adult coaches, teachers and mentors in their lives. “Each and every one of us has power – when you speak up for what is right – to make change. And right now, the citizens of Minneapolis and the families of all stolen lives are asking all of us as our duty to stand up and use our voices. So, will you?”
Southwest Minneapolis resident and mom Kristin Ingall told the crowd assembled in the rotunda that for too long it has been the inactions of “ordinary people, like me,” that has kept a harmful system running. She called for all residents of Minneapolis to hold city leaders accountable.
“Amir Locke was executed by the Minneapolis Police Department and the negligence and inaction of Mayor Frey. And yet there has been no accountability. Why do we accept that as residents of Minneapolis?” she asked. “This is not outside agitation. This is local aggravation. Enough is enough.”
Resident Rod Adams said he lives directly across the street from where Locke was killed and can’t get the image out of his mind from the body-worn camera video of that key going in that door.
“They snuck in on this brother. They woke him. He didn’t even have an opportunity to know where he was at,” said Adams. “And now his life is gone, and our lives are forever changed.”
He said the city needs to heal but cannot do so without transparency, banning no-knock warrants and transforming what public safety looks like in the city.
In addition to residents’ remarks, those in attendance heard violin music by Racurt Johnson and song by Jayanthi Kyle. After a full reading of the ethics code violations, the group marched upstairs, chanting and singing, and delivered the complaints to a city staff person. Rev. Jia Starr Brown, who carried the box of complaint forms, handed it to the employee with assurances they would be given to the proper city officials.
The effort to gather complaint forms is ongoing, with more information available @TheResidentsComplaint on Instagram. To bring a complaint before the Ethical Practices Board, complainants must be residents of Minneapolis and 18 years of age or older.