Media Contact–
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2021
Contact Mike Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney to Demand Charges Against John Rieple for the Murder of Calvin Horton during the George Floyd Protests
Minneapolis, MN— On the evening of May 27th, 2020 during protests for George Floyd, Calvin Horton was allegedly shot and killed by John Rieple while he was unarmed on the sidewalk outside of the former Cadillac Pawn and Jewelry store. Bystander video posted to Facebook shows Minneapolis police and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Deputies outside of the store shouting and motioning to a crowd of people on the sidewalk and street to move away from the area as the sound of gunfire is heard in the background, “There’s somebody in there with a rifle. Back up!”
As this was happening, bystanders, police and deputies were also attending to Calvin Horton who was shot in the back and had collapsed onto the sidewalk, unresponsive, a few feet away from the store; in front of a restaurant where they ended up moving him inside as John Rieple allegedly continued to fire rounds into the crowd. Tragically, Calvin Horton did not survive and died from gunshot wounds while waiting for EMS to arrive.
John Rieple was arrested on the scene and held for probable cause at the Hennepin County jail for 36 hours, and then released without murder charges. Six months later, Mike Freeman announced he would not bring murder charges against John Rieple, citing “lack of evidence.” The MPD detectives and Hennepin County prosecutors did not retrieve John Rieple’s rifle at the scene or the store surveillance video, and did not subpoena Rieple’s cloud service provider for copies of the surveillance video. In addition, they did not subpoena the cloud service providers of the surveillance cameras in the area of Bloomington Avenue and Lake Street, which had at least five visible cameras.
This Wednesday, July 21st, 2021 would have been Calvin Horton’s 45th birthday and we are asking the community to join us outside of the former Cadillac Pawn and Jewelry store to honor Calvin Horton in remembrance with his family. We are also asking the community to contact Mike Freeman’s office at 612-348-5550 and citizeninfo@hennepin.us to demand that he reopen Calvin Horton’s case, gather the surveillance video and bring murder charges against John Rieple. In the state of Minnesota, under statute 609.06, Authorized Use of Force, citizens have a duty to retreat and deadly force can only be used in cases of bodily harm, for physical attacks and not to protect property.
We believe there is enough evidence to bring charges against John Rieple, and that the City of Minneapolis has a duty to protect the community against vigilantes more concerned with protecting their insured property than the rights of unarmed protestors exercising their First Amendment rights after a brutal police killing.
The Racial Justice Network (RJN) is a multi-racial, grassroots organization, committed to fighting for racial justice and building bridges across racial, social, and economic lines. racialjusticenetwork.com
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