MINNEAPOLIS — Dozens of people gathered as a United Nations team held an unprecedented meeting with the community Tuesday at Urban League Twin Cities in north Minneapolis.
According to a press release, several area organizations came together to call for the visit with Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the context of Law Enforcement, which is also referred to as EMLER. The U.N. launched EMLER in response to the 2020 unrest in Minneapolis and globally. Now as the third anniversary approaches, its representatives are listening to testimonies.
First to speak were a panel of people who survived solitary confinement as teenagers.
"I spent three years all together in solitary confinement," Elizer Darris said. "Them adults weren't looking at us like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe they've got juveniles in here. That's terrible.' Right? They couldn't stand us … The guards didn't have our backs."
Next to speak were people impacted by police violence, including George Floyd's fiancé, Philando Castile's mother, Amir Locke's mother, and several others.
"When they murdered George Floyd, I seen it like God cracked a door open for the rest of us who have been living with this," Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence founder Toshira Garraway said. "This is the reality that we live through. This is my life. This is not a game for me. I don't stand out there because this is what I want to do. It's because I don't got a choice."
Some of the speakers took the opportunity to ask the U.N. to call for all nations to ban solitary confinement for minors, while others asked for a ban on qualified immunity for police officers.
The U.N. experts are also stopping in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington D.C. as part of their U.S.A visit. They plan to release preliminary findings after their last stop later this week and a full report in September.