As the fall season starts, we hope you all are well! A lot has happened since our last newsletter, which covered Unicorn Riot's April and May media publications. This email highlights most of our content from the summer, including coverage of Winston Smith being killed by police, nearly 40 hours of live streams at direct actions opposing the Line 3 pipeline, international spotlights, reports from Indianapolis, and a look into the laws and policing around sexual assault featuring a survivor's story. [View this email in your browser or 'load images' to see video embeds]
See our website for all UR media. If you missed our first two newsletters of 2021, check them out here & here. You can support Unicorn Riot by sharing our articles on social media, or becoming a regular monthly donor. Thanks for your help in getting our work out to the world!
Federal Task Force Kills Winston Smith
Sheriffs deputized as federal agents ambushed and killed 32-year-old father of three, Winston “Boogie” Smith Jr., around 2 p.m. on June 3, 2021. Smith had just eaten lunch with a date when he was shot to death as he sat with her in his car at the top of a parking ramp in Uptown Minneapolis after being swarmed by undercover officers. The brazen daylight killing led to sustained protests with calls for transparency and accountability, and fallout within the federalized task force. Smith's killing led to the community starting a viral hashtag: #WinstonSmithWasAssassinated.
Deona Marie Killed by Car Attack
Ten days after Smith was killed by police, on June 13, 31-year-old Deona Marie, a mainstay at the near-daily Winston Smith protests, was killed when protesters were attacked by a vehicle driven by Nicholas Kraus.Kraus rammed his Jeep Cherokee at a high speed, driving through two barricades and into Deona Marie's parked car, which ran into Deona, killing her and injuring two others. Kraus has been charged with three felonies—2nd degree murder with intent and two counts of 2nd degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
Police Evict Winston Smith Protests Two Days After Car Attack Killed Protester
On June 15, two days after the car attack that killed Deona Marie and twelve days after police killed Winston Smith, Minneapolis Police along with sheriffs and units from other cities, cleared barricades around the protest site on Lake Street and Girard Avenue. Dozens of people were arrested and several were injured through the night from police violence. Watch our stream of the police operation here.
We had two contributed articles related to Minneapolis protests, lack of transparency from authorities, and related issues.
On June 25, Minnesota Fourth District Judge Peter Cahill delivered a landmark ruling, sentencing convicted murderer and former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin to over 22 years in prison for the killing of George Floyd. This is now the longest sentence ever given to a former cop for a killing committed in the line of duty in Minnesota. Chauvin also faces federal civil rights prosecution which has yet to go to trial. Full coverage of the sentencing, here, which included victim statements from many members of George Floyd's family. Click on the Derek Chauvin Trial image for ourfull trial coverage.
Unicorn Riot continued our coverage of the resistance to the Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline being built across Northern Minnesota by Canadian energy giant, Enbridge, which has a history of major oil spills. With reporters embedded in resistance camps and in the cities, we published at least 12 articles, 19 edited videos, and nearly 40 hours of live coverage from the frontlines. Click on the Line 3 image or here for more.
Taysha Martineau Describes the Fight Against the Line 3 Pipeline as “the Fight for Humanity”
Nearly 180 Arrested in Largest Direct Action Against Oil Station in Midwest
On Monday, June 7, two different direct actions by Indigenous people and climate advocates took over two different work sites in traditional Anishinaabe territory as thousands heeded the call-out for water protectors to gather in northern Minnesota for the Treaty People Gathering to escalate protests against the pipeline project. A large crowd marched to the headwaters of the Mississippi River, where they set up the ‘Fire Light Camp’ nearby the path of one of the pipeline’s planned river crossings. Further south along the pipeline route, another direct action featured a mass of water protectors that flowed onto the Line 3 Two Inlets pump station in Hubbard County.
On Monday, June 7, two different direct actions by Indigenous people and climate advocates in northern Minnesota called the Treaty People Gathering escalated protests against the Line 3 pipeline project. This video is part one of our two-part video series from the action, which we also live streamed for over 14 hours throughout two days. Streams are embedded above, and find part two here, and all streams here.
Direct Actions Stopping Construction of Line 3 Occurred Nearly Daily this Summer
One of the actions featured dozens of water protectors descending on two work sites for Line 3 construction in Northern Minnesota on the morning of July 1, 2021, stopping construction at both sites for the day. Fourteen people locked down to various construction vehicles and even the pipeline itself. Julie Richards, a.k.a. Mama Jules, told Unicorn Riot her reasoning for taking such action in the video below.
"Today I'm putting my body on the line to stop construction of Line 3, to stand against these man camps that bring destruction not only to our Mother, but to our communities with the drugs and the sex trafficking."-- Julie Richards, founder of Mothers Against Meth Alliance
Sheriffs Barricade Private Property Housing Line 3 Resistance Encampment Leading to a Judge Prohibiting Sheriffs From Barricading or Interfering
In late June, Hubbard County Sheriff’s deputies delivered a notice to the Namewag Camp, a privately-owned property of water protectors, stating that the sole entrance would not be “open to vehicular traffic per Hubbard County’s Land Use Ordinance.” We spoke with Hubbard County Land Commissioner Mark ‘Chip’ Lohmeier to find out more details pertaining to this abrupt notice.
Nearly a month later, on July 23, 2021, Minnesota 9th District Judge Jana M. Austad granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office from “barricading, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with access to the [Namewag Camp] property”—an Indigenous-led water protector community.
Judge Austad’s decision was in response to acomplaint filed July 16, 2021, on behalf of Tara Houska, Winona LaDuke, AhnaCole Chapman, and Switchboard Trainers Network for relief against Hubbard County, Hubbard County Sheriff Corwin ‘Cory’ Aukes, and Hubbard County Land Commissioner Mark ‘Chip’ Lohmeier.
Almost all records held by Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) related to the environmentally harmful Enbridge Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline are classified as secret, according to memos provided to Unicorn Riot as part of a denial of public records requests. The BCA investigates crime scenes and police shootings, and also runs the Minnesota Fusion Center.
Water protector and political prisoner Brock Hefel was one of twenty-nine arrested while rallying in a grass ditch off the side of a road on June 15, 2021. Meanwhile in the road, there were two water protectors locked down to a truck carrying massive drill bits for a horizontal drill intended to bore water crossing pathways for Line 3.
On August 4, 2021, in the first trial prosecuting water protectors since active construction of the Line 3 pipeline in the state, Hefel was found guilty by a jury on two misdemeanors—public nuisance and unlawful assembly.
Judge Eric Schieferdecker gave Hefel the maximum 30-day sentence for a misdemeanor, even though the prosecution only asked for 15 days.
Click here for the rest of our story, which includes quotes from our exclusive interview with Hefel while he was in jail.
Water Protectors Descend on St. Paul in Late August, Police Break Up Ceremony
Thousands converged on the Minnesota State Capitol grounds on August 25 to demand that Line 3 construction be stopped. A massive police response greeted the water protectors who held ceremony, set tipis up and attempted to occupy the area after the permitted Treaties Not Tar Sands Rally. On Friday, August 27, after surrounding a tipi, hundreds of State Troopers made arrests, forced the tipi down during ceremony, and forced the removal of sacred fire.
The next day, on August 28, over 50 water protectors protesting Line 3 were arrested, some violently, outside the Minnesota Governor’s Residence in St. Paul. Those arrested were among hundreds who marched from the Capitol to Governor Walz’ mansion attempting to speak to him about their opposition to Line 3.
The Case of Dorian Murrell - A Teenager Killed During George Floyd Protests in Indianapolis
On May 31, 2020, 18-year-old Dorian Murrell was fatally shot in downtown Indianapolis. We spoke with his family about their fears of a cover-up and inconsistencies in the case. In July, we visited Indianapolis and covered a press conference featuring Murrell's family lawyer and an open carry march that went through downtown. The confessed killer of Dorian, Tyler Newby, has his murder trial starting October 5.
A similar case to Dorian's also happened in Minneapolis. Calvin Horton Jr., a Black man, was killed during the George Floyd Uprising by a white man. Except in Minneapolis, the man who killed Horton (John Rieple, owner of Cadillac Pawn) was not charged with any crime. Along with dozens of community members, Calvin Horton's family celebrated him on July 21, what would've been Horton's 45th birthday.
[CONTENT ADVISORY: DESCRIPTIONS AND VIDEO OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE]
Ali, a sexual assault survivor in Minnesota whose rapist took a video of her passed out before assaulting her, shared her story and video evidence with Unicorn Riot. Her story came out at a time when Minnesota has made new changes to sexual assault laws. These law changes didn't help Ali though, her perpetrator just accepted a plea bargain for Criminal Sexual Conduct in the 5th Degree (Nonconsensual Sexual Contact) on September 23. The deal allows for the perp to execute his sentence with time served, meaning he doesn’t have probation and won’t serve jail time. He was sentenced to 365 days in jail but was given time served after receiving credit from a recent prison stint he did for a separate drug sentence. His deal also means he won’t have to register as a sexual predator or charged with rape.
Ali said: “I wish I had time and space to process and grieve this ending, but it has been 926 days since he raped me. The world moved on then and is moving on now, I have to, too. I tried. I didn’t even consider the possibility that he could walk away with less than the already bullshit plea bargain of two years probation.”
Global Spotlight
Brazilian contributor EmiciThug showcased some of the happenings in Brazil as the country continues to protest against the Bolsonaro administration's pandemic response.
Other international reports contributed over the summer covered a new wave of squatting in Amsterdam and the Pride march in Romania that was cancelled.
From South Africa, we wrote about the mass unrest that struck the country leaving over 200 people dead. We also published the first of a two-part series on the 'Origins of the PKK and the 'Rojava' Revolution.'
We had more global specials published in September and many more upcoming this Fall, so continue to follow us!
After Five Decades in Prison, 37 Years in Solitary, Cetewayo Johnson Released
Longtime Pennsylvania prisoner Arthur “Cetewayo” Johnson, age 69, was ordered released on August 11, 2021, after 5 decades in prison, 37 years of which he spent in solitary confinement. Johnson had been convicted in the 1970 murder of Jerome Wayfield, when he was just 18. The Conviction Integrity Unit of the Philly District Attorney’s Office recently identified evidence that the sole witness against him, who was 15 years old at the time, was beaten by police for hours until he agreed to incriminate himself and Johnson.
Offering a "different perspective" on the coronavirus pandemic, we heard from Wanbli Máyašleča (Francis Yellow), an artist, healer, teacher and Indigenous elder from Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and living in Minneapolis.
