MABL's Statement Regarding Four Recent Criminal Cases

MABL stands with the families of the victims, Jacob Blake, Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber, Gaigev Grosskreutz, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Daunte Wright.

For Immediate Release | February 3, 2022

MABL’s Statement Regarding Four Recent Criminal Cases

The Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers (MABL) stands with the families of the victims, Jacob Blake, Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber, Gaigev Grosskreutz, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Daunte Wright. Each one of the shootings was preventable. The failure of police officers to protect Black citizens and allies protesting injustice, is a damning indictment of our system of law enforcement. For example, not only did police officers allow Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old armed vigilante with no law enforcement training, to roam the streets unchecked, but they supplied him with water and thanked him for his presence just 15 minutes before his killings.

Kim Potter’s claimed mistake and Derek Chauvin’s blatant murder of George Floyd point to what may be a complex combination of factors including poor police department practices and training, and the kind of callous disregard for safety most often displayed towards citizens of color.

We call upon members of the legal and judicial community to continue doing all we can to dismantle systemic racism. We call on every American citizen to respond willingly to sit on juries when called – especially jurors of color. Because just as every election vote matters, every juror’s voice matters when deciding critical cases...

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