FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 17, 2020

African American Community Leaders Demand That Minnesota End Out-Of-Home Placements for Juveniles After Teenage Boy Dies in a Michigan Juvenile Facility

Please be advised, that on Thursday, June 18, at 11:00 AM, African American leaders will hold a press conference outside of the Hennepin County Government Center (near the Peoples Plaza), to discuss the recent death of a 16-year-old African American boy, Cornelius Frederick, in a Michigan juvenile facility. Cornelius was killed after he was physically restrained by staff after throwing a sandwich. At the time of Cornelius’s death, four juveniles from Hennepin County had been placed there.

Cornelius’s death should come as a wake up to Hennepin County and the state of Minnesota, that placing children in out-of home placements is dangerous and unconscionable. African American boys are over-represented amongst children sent to out-of-home placements in Minnesota.

Given the heightened attention to police-involved killings of African American men at the hands of police in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, it is important to raise awareness about the dangers that youths face when placed in juvenile facilities and the need to end such practices in the state of Minnesota.

Speakers at the press conference will include–

Malaika Hankins, Legal Rights Center

Nekima Levy Armstrong, Attorney and Founder of the Racial Justice Network

Leslie E Redmond, Attorney and Minneapolis NAACP President

Kevin L Reese, founder of Until We Are All Free

Kelis Houston, founder of Village Arms

Elizer Darris, ACLU of Minnesota

Toussaint Morrison, Youth worker