Minneapolis Hits the Streets and Strikes Back for Amir Locke

A report on recent march in so-called Minneapolis in the aftermath of the police murder of Amir Locke. For more coverage of recent actions in Minneapolis, see Unicorn Riot.

Ten nights after MPD murdered Amir Locke, Minneapolis finally showed it can be a threat again.

After days of glorified parades, press conferences and screaming at empty buildings, a callout was issued online (slightly worrying) for an all black dress code action (quite encouraging) Friday night February 11, with the location to be released that evening.

A couple hours after the location was released, about 100 people gathered near to the 5th police precinct in south Minneapolis. After a brief assault on the barricaded (since the George Floyd Uprising) precinct with rocks, paint bombs and graffiti, the autonomous crowd decided to get mobile and march toward the Uptown shopping/entertainment district. Small barricades were dragged into the street along the way to protect the people, and the streets-cape and various businesses were redecorated with “RIP Amir Locke,” “Shoot Back,” “Destroy MPD” and similar slogans.

"Burn Four More" as seen on window in #Uptown #Mpls. After autonomous street action. 2-11-22 pic.twitter.com/9HOHP5Yyp1

— NO (@Jimmi_Lotts) February 12, 2022

The crowd stopped again briefly at Lake and Girard, the site of the MPD assassination of Winston Smith in June 2021, where a fenced off lot is what remains of the community garden site then erected in honor of Winston and Deona Marie, murdered by a driver during the subsequent rebellion that month. They chanted against 7 Points Mall and paramilitary security contractor CRG, before continuing to busy Hennepin Avenue and then circling back to the 5th Precinct, with different crews dispersing at various points along the way. A few sounds of broken glass rang through the night, along with many passerby and motorists of color honking or raising fists in support.

Police kept their distance from the crowd with the exception of a state patrol helicopter that quickly parked itself overhead. Radio chatter revealed a heavy police presence in nearby neighborhoods, and that the 5th precinct called for assistance from all 4 other precincts to secure its facilities, leaving MPD able to respond to only the most urgent “Priority 1” calls citywide. (We hope others made good use of the temporarily ungovernable streets elsewhere). MPD also advised big businesses like Target, Cub Foods, and elitist local grocery chains Kowalski’s and Lunds/Byerlys to lock their doors or close early for the night.

Despite calls to leave snitches (i.e. cameras/phones) at home, a number of people could still be seen taking photos which they will hopefully have the good sense to delete, and at least one fascist-adjacent journalist posted video from inside the bloc, from a small camera hidden on her coat. This underscores the point that it is not enough to call for phones/cameras to stay home – they must be actively confronted and disposed of in the field, and participants in particular activities should operate under the assumption they will be seen on camera.

What we've seen tonight in terms of autonomous militancy is heartening. Now we must continue to shed more of the traditions leftism has accompanied us to, and create an altogether different experience of togetherness. And, please, let's never chant "prosecute the police" again.

— The Minnesota Wild (@lets_go_wild) February 12, 2022

Participants in the action ranged from fairly liberal to highly militant, and from new to experienced. The size of the crowd aided in the creation of chaos and imminent threat to state and capital, however abolitionists once again found ourselves rolling our eyes at chants of “prosecute the police” and other of the inane reformist platitudes found at the regular token opposition glorified parades. After a week and half of Minneapolis militants calling for and acting in the spirit of May 28, 2020 only to be met with sometimes violent liberal/reformist peace policing, Friday’s action was cause for hope.

Lessons:

1. Know when to call it quits: we are at our most effective and dangerous when we do what we set out to accomplish then vanish like ghosts.

2. Know when to keep it moving: as above, moving and striking quickly is always preferable to loitering in a single location as it denies the state the ability to marshal forces to a single location.

3. “Wear black” means WEAR BLACK!  Far too many people had easily identifiable outfits. To them, we commend Minneapolis’ many fine thrift stores and other shops, which can be best supported by paying in cash.

4. Minneapolis Police are currently very vulnerable and scared af. Despite the best efforts of their media lackeys, MPD is still reeling from the murder of Amir Locke and a force ravaged by “Blue Flu” and demoralization. Their response last night was a clear demonstration of this fact, relying on the state patrol helicopter to track movements while cruisers on the ground mostly traveled a block or two away in parallel. We encourage participants to keep in mind, however, that the state may have chosen such a strategy with the aim of building cases later.

5. We wonder if the same or similar results could have been accomplished with private calls to action, rather than an announcement on twitter and without the meeting location being made available four hours before the action. We are excited to find out.

Justice for Amir, Winston, Dolal, Daunte, George and all the others means nothing less than TOTAL ABOLITION!

–Some friends