I want everyone in Minneapolis to be able to make it home at the end of the day

I want everyone to feel and be safe

I want shootings on the Northside to be as rare as shooting anywhere else in our city

This is why we need violence *prevention*, not just a system of response.

But last night, a teenager was killed on the Northside, and 1 person is dead from a mass shooting in Uptown a few nights ago

My heart goes out to every friend and family member of those that we lost

A loss of any life is tragic, and the loss of a child is especially devastating

During tragedy, there’s a natural impulse to ask why, to try to make sense of the violence. Today there are those who want to point fingers at calls for police accountability as the cause of recent violence

Those who say how dare we reimagine how we keep people safe in our city?

I’m sorry to have to remind folk that our current system of policing is still completely in place (save for a chokehold ban + crowd control restrictions put in place by the state)

The same policing that placed its knee on George Floyd’s neck. Same policing we’ve had since 1867.

What the finger-pointers are really saying is, this policing is the best we can do.

But I am not a cynic.

I believe we can keep people safe.

I believe that safety and accountability go hand in hand.

I am doing everything in my power to prevent violence like this from happening

I won't have every answer, but I'll stand with anyone willing to try

Using tragedy to ditch efforts at reimagining public safety is lazy, it maintains the status quo and I will not stand for it.

I offer my condolences to those who have lost someone to gun violence this year.

Just like each and every one of us who loves the children in our communities - my heart is truly broken.

And it’s because of this pain, not in spite of it, that I will not give up.