MINNEAPOLIS — A little over one week, after a Minneapolis man was allegedly shot by his neighbor, the president of the Minneapolis National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said the shooting was a hate crime and called on city leaders to publicly apologize for their handling of the case.
Minneapolis NAACP President Cynthia Wilson was joined by members of the Unity Community Mediation Team at a press conference Friday morning. Wilson said although she is not calling for the termination of anyone's job, the NAACP is demanding accountability from city leaders, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O'Hara.
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"I'm not just focusing on Chief O'Hara and his office, but I'm talking about the mayor, the inspector. These individuals had documentation of what was going on with the Moturi family, and to say that they didn't is just a flat out lie," Wilson said.
Davis Moturi was allegedly shot by his neighbor John Sawchak on Wednesday, Oct. 23. Moturi was hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs and a concussion after the shooting.
Minneapolis police did not arrest Sawchak until the early morning hours of Monday, Oct. 28, following a multi-hour standoff at his home on the 3500 block of Grand Avenue S.
Moturi claims Sawchak was harassing him for months and despite reporting the incidents to police numerous times, nothing was done to stop him.
O'Hara defended the department's decision to not arrest Sawchak sooner, calling it a "high-risk" situation. O'Hara later apologized and said the victim was failed by police.
Although some community members have pushed for the termination of Chief O'Hara, Wilson said she is not calling for anyone to be fired.
"We fire somebody today, we get somebody tomorrow who's going to be same or similar," Wilson said. "So we're going to just keep terminating people. We got to work with what we have and try to build on it."
The path forward, she said, begins with a public apology from city leaders to Moturi, his family and surrounding community members.
"The mayor has to come forward with a press conference of his own, with some of his city officials, and apologize to the Moturi family and apologize to the community who witnessed this," Wilson said. "Step up, put on the big drawers and say, 'Hey, we made an error. We are going to work to get this rectified. We're going to continue to work with the community to serve you better.' That's a start."
Chief O'Hara apologized during a press conference on Sunday, Oct. 27, saying the police department failed to act urgently enough to prevent the shooting.
"In this particular instance, we failed this victim 100% because that should not have happened to him. Minneapolis police somehow did not act urgently enough to prevent that individual from being shot," O'Hara said. "And to that victim, I say I am sorry that this happened to you. But it could not be anything further from the truth to say that we did nothing, or that we just simply don't care. That's not true. But we failed to act urgently enough to prevent that shooting from happening, and unfortunately, he's not the only victim where that's been the case."
When asked if Mayor Frey plans to publicly apologize, a spokesperson provided KARE with the following statement:
“Mayor Frey fully supports an independent review of this incident. The mayor and City are committed to always doing better, and this means closely examining past actions and finding where there may be ways to improve and grow. The mayor extends his condolences to Davis Moturi, his wife, Caroline, and their family and friends. The safety of our residents is a top priority and any form of violence or hate speech is completely unacceptable and does not align with who we are as a community. Brian O’Hara will continue to be the Minneapolis Police Chief.”
On Thursday, Oct. 31, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to request that the city's auditor conduct an independent investigation into the incidents and cases between Moturi and Sawchak.