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NAACP: Keep speaking out against police misconduct

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — The NAACP Minneapolis has called for an apology and additional action from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office after the arrest of two Black women last month by sheriff’s deputies.

Published

7 years ago

June 27, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stephenetta (isis) Harmon

The NAACP Minneapolis has called for an apology and additional action from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office after the arrest of two Black women last month by sheriff’s deputies.

Makala Moore, 19, and Taylor Kueng, 20, were charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of the legal process after speaking out against the May 31 detainment of two Black men on Minneapolis’ Nicollet Mall for an open bottle infraction. The men, who the women did not know, were not charged or arrested.

In a video of the arrest, captured by Kueng, Moore exclaimed, “You’re hurting me, you’re hurting me,” as one of the deputies throws her to the ground.

“Two men take me down, put their knees in my back, twist my wrists, [while] I’m wearing a dress,” said Moore at a June 14 press conference addressing the “violent mishandling,” in her words, that she and Kueng endured.

An officer is then seen in the video threatening Kueng with a Taser after she resists arrest. When asked what she is being arrested for, the officer replies, “Because.”

“We want the sheriff’s office to apologize to these young women — and to Black people — because we recognize this is a systemic issue,” Leslie Redmond, president of the Minneapolis NAACP, told the MSR.

“For every Makala and Taylor, there are 1,000 other Makalas and Taylors that the NAACP doesn’t know about,” continued Redmond. She added that she wants the officers disciplined and actions put in place to better address police interactions with people of color.

“We also want them to have better protocols when people do come to them with these issues,” she said, in addition to funds for culturally-based training. “We want them to put the money where their mouth is…to make sure that their officers know that you can’t interact with the community like this. We need better results.”

Courtesy of Facebook Makala Moore & Taylor Kueing

Redmond described the roadblocks she faced after the incident was brought to her attention by a Mankato State University employee (who requested anonymity), where Kueng is a student. She began her inquiry by contacting Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo.

“Yesterday, I had a meeting with Chief Arradondo. He looked at the video and was very concerned.” She said Arradondo sent a text to Hennepin County Sheriff Mike Hutchinson, who simply responded that he was out of town. She was then sent to Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Tracey Martin.

“I give her [Martin] a high overview [of the incident] — she doesn’t even ask to see the video,” said Redmond. “So now the top boss [Hutchinson] didn’t want to see the video, the second one [Martin] didn’t see the video, and they send me to internal affairs.”

Redmond said after not receiving a satisfactory response from the sheriff’s office, she took her complaints to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), requesting they use their relationship with the county prosecutor’s office to address the issue. This eventually led to the dismissal of all charges against the two witnesses.

“Record, record, record,” said Redmond regarding any interactions with police. “Get your own data. Don’t wait on theirs,” she said. “This video saved the day.”

Redmond noted that many people are afraid to record such incidents because of potential repercussions. “The people recording typically get arrested, too — if not on the scene, later on. They [police] don’t want you recording their activity. They don’t want anybody questioning their authority. We must question their authority. We must record.

“They are trying to silence us. I personally want to advocate for people to not be silent. When you see something, say something. MLK said, ‘Our life ends the day we remain silent about the things that matter.’”

Moore said that despite the arrests, “I would do it again. It was definitely traumatizing to go through all of it, but I am not going to stop speaking up for people who don’t know their rights and [have] police bullying them.”

Kueng added, “We need to keep speaking up so that this doesn’t become normalized.”

After viewing the video, City attorneys dropped the charges hours before the young women were to appear in court. In addition, after pressure from the NAACP, fees for the women’s expungement process were also waived.

“My disgust is with the sheriff’s office and how they handled it,” said Redmond. “My disgust is with the officers and the dismissal of the NAACP’s inquiry. If you handle the NAACP like this when they come to you with an issue, what are you going to do with a regular civilian when they come to you?”

The sheriff’s office released a statement following the press conference: “The sheriff’s office treats all matters of this nature seriously and will thoroughly investigate all formal complaints.”

Assaults on Black bodies continue

Blacks being wrongfully arrested with unnecessary force in Minnesota is nothing new, says Mpls NAACP President Leslie Redmond. “We know police officers and sheriff officers in Minnesota know how to police. They just don’t know how to do it when it’s Black bodies,” she said during a press conference.

Alarms continue being sounded across the country for these violent police interactions. A June 17 episode of former CNN contributor Roland Martin’s Facebook Live “Daily Digital Show” addressed the issue with attorney Keith White. He represents Nicholas Simon, a 17-year-old teen who was assaulted and falsely charged by the New York Police Department June 12 while walking down the street dribbling a basketball.

“This is the type of policing that’s allowed to go on in marginalized communities,” said White. “It’s the most straightforward example of police abuse. I think the reason why it hasn’t gotten more uproar is because he survived.”

“Why do we need to have our young Black boys hashtagged in order for people to care?” continued White. “We have to continue to make noise in order for us to see changes.”

In another recent incident in Phoenix, police drew guns and violently arrested a man and his pregnant wife in front of their two young children. The officers were responding to a call that the couple’s four-year-old daughter walked out of a store with a doll without her parents’ knowledge. The mom was so frightened for her children’s safety that she gave them to strangers who witnessed the event.

Both events were captured on video.

Activating community

Redmond also is using this incident to encourage more proactive versus reactive responses from members of the community.

“It can’t just be me. It can’t just be the NAACP. This is not my fight — this is a collective Black people fight. I can’t help everyone on an individual level. We have to change the system. So, if there are good people — it doesn’t just have to be Black people — help us. Work with us to create changes.”

She further called for communities to stop living in silos. One place to connect, she said, is at the church. “I know people have different perspectives, but the church is fundamental to any revolution, any movement,” she said. “You can find Black people on Sunday in the church. There would be no Civil Rights Movement if it wasn’t for the church. There would no NAACP if it wasn’t for the church.”

Redmond added, “In addition to that, we can support Black businesses and plan. So let’s go to the Sammie’s Avenue Eateries, let’s go to the Heritage Tea Houses. Let’s go to the Golden Thymes and just be intentional.”

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

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Marin City Public Housing Residents Demand a Voice in County’s Renovation Plans

Representation has been a continuous struggle for the Residents Council, she said in an interview with the Post News Group. In 2014, the tenants took the county to federal court over this issue, and prevailed, resulting in an MOU that was in effect from 2014 to 2024, said McLemore. “Now, they are not responding to our rightful requests to participate. They are not giving us a legal justification for their position.”

Published

4 days ago

May 10, 2026

Oakland Post

The largest housing complex in Marin County, Golden Gate Village residents are for predominantly Black and low-income. Courtesy image.

Tenants say the County of Marin is ignoring federal law requiring resident council participation

By Ken Epstein

Marin City public housing residents say the County is illegally depriving them of their rights to participate in renovation decisions that affect the future of their housing, raising deep concerns over whether the county ultimately will find a way to displace them.

According to regulations established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Marin City public housing residents have the right to organize, elect resident councils, and hold public housing agencies accountable for involving them in management decisions.

Without resident participation, the Board of Housing Commissioners, made up of the five Marin County Board of Supervisors and two resident comissioners, has approved a $226 million project. The plan calls for renovation of the 296 units in Golden Gate Village (GGV) and focuses on interior improvements. The project is scheduled to start in July.

Residents’ concerns have a long history, said Royce McLemore, president of the Golden Gate Village Residents Council and a 50-year resident of Marin City,

With no current MOU mandating training and participation of residents, the legal basis for all the redevelopment decisions made by the county since 2024 is questionable, said Terrie Green, executive director of Marin City Climate Resilience. “We are experiencing voicelessness. If residents had a voice, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” she said.

County decisions include a plan, in line with federal regulations, to convert GGV from public housing to a public-private enterprise that allows for private investment. The Marin Housing Authority has created a limited partnership that includes Burbank Housing – which will renovate the units and manage the property – and Wells Fargo Bank, the investor.

This change in federal policy regarding public housing, which includes a shift to a Section-8 voucher system, has resulted in gentrification across the country, particularly affecting African Americans in cities such as San Francisco.

Shifts in criteria of what is considered affordable could also end up pricing residents out of their living units. At present, low income in Marin County is officially considered $156,000. But the median household income in Marin City is significantly lower at $68,846.

Damian Morgan, a community advocate with Marin City Climate Resilience, questioned why the county is renovating apartments without fixing toxic infrastructure that is impacting the lives of people in GGV.

Morgan said tenants have filed a class action lawsuit because of unsafe conditions at Golden Gate Village.

Residents are also concerned that the County still does not have an adequate family plan for temporary displacement while their apartments are being renovated. Although the County has suggested other community apartments as alternatives, nothing concrete has developed except vacant public housing units that have the same toxic conditions, such as mold and mildew.

Green said it doesn’t make sense. “…Why are we moving people around into temporary housing that’s uninhabitable, when you should be dealing first with the infrastructure, the foundational work, replacing old and rusted water pipes and new sewers.”

Morgan questions the County’s motivation for neglecting infrastructure repairs. “They’re remodeling the units but leaving the decayed infrastructure in place. I feel like they’re just setting this up for it to fail.”

“What slowed it down a little is that GGV is a historic preservation district, but I think what they’re striving for is demolition by neglect,” he said. “The neglect has always been on their part.”

Architect Ora Hatheway said her concern is about cutting corners. “You have to deal with the land issues. You have to deal with grading and drainage, and that’s being brushed under the rug.”

In an interview with KGO TV, Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters responded to some of these concerns. She said residents are guaranteed the right to return to their homes.

“This is a concern that we take seriously,” she said. “Every resident will move back into their own unit, and we’ve given this to them in writing. Before they leave their unit, we will sign a document together that guarantees their right to return.”

In response to residents who feel left out of the planning process, she said community input has focused on those affected by the first phase of the project. “So other residents may not have heard quite as much or felt like they had as much contact. But if there are residents who have concerns, we’re happy to hear from them. You can contact my office or the housing authority directly,” she said.

While County leaders may be giving some updates to some tenants, they are not sitting at the table with the Residents Council nor giving residents a voice in decision-making, said McLemore.

Without a voice in decisions, tenants are worried that Black people may be forced out of public housing, resulting in gentrification, she said in an interview with ABC 7. It’s still paternalistic, she said. “It’s still that ‘We know what’s best for you.’’’

Several years ago, the Residents Council proposed a land trust plan that would give tenants homeownership rights. Though the plan had broad support throughout the county, it was rejected by the Board of Supervisors

In the final analysis, Green said, for Marin City tenants the fight is not just for decent housing but to maintain their community with dignity under conditions of mutual respect.

“We’re talking about people who came here to work in the shipyards during World War II to bring about peace and safety to this country,” she said. “Look at the discrimination we’ve faced down through the years. Look at the life-span issue of Marin City folks – almost 20 years less than the rest of the County.”

“We want educational equity so our children will have decent schools. We need a land trust, property ownership, so we can have wealth creation. Marin City needs the same quality of life as other communities in Marin County.”

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Oakland Post: Week of May 6 – 12, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of may 6 – 12, 2026

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May 10, 2026

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

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2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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