Rally at MN Department of Corrections says, “Free them now!”

Saint Paul, MN – A crowd gathered outside the building that houses the state of Minnesota Department of Corrections to support the calls to “Free Cornelius Jackson. Free Nico Redding. Free them all!” The May 28 protest and press conference was organized by the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-Sentenced Families Council MN (WIAOSFC).

Founder Alissa Washington stated, “Today marks 19 years since the state of Minnesota stole Cornelius Jackson’s life. He was just 19 years old. A teenager. It was his first time ever in trouble with the law. But instead of stepping into fatherhood and freedom, the state gave him life without the possibility of parole – based solely on lies. There was no physical evidence. No DNA. No confession. Only the word of incentivized jailhouse informants – men who had every reason to lie.”

Jackson is still serving time in Stillwater state prison. Besides needing justice for himself, Jackson is urging those on the outside to also take up the case of fellow inmate Nico Redding.

Nico Redding is 72 years old. His 20-year sentence was due to end in 2005, but sentencing guidelines changed while he was in prison. He has now been incarcerated for over 40 years, for a crime he did not commit. He uses a wheelchair and has other health conditions that have been made worse by the miserable and unsanitary conditions at the 110-year old prison.

Both men were convicted during the era of Minnesota’s notorious “gang task force” era when crooked cops and racist prosecutors openly railroaded people into prison. That task force was exposed long ago, but only two of its victims – Myon Burrell and Marvin Haynes – have seen justice, and they had to wait decades.

Washington called out two of the men in charge of these abuses at the time: Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and lead prosecutor Mike Furnstahl.

WIAOSFC has been working through all of the “official” avenues to get redress. Washington stated, “We are demanding accountability from the Conviction Integrity Unit, the Criminal Review Unit and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office – who are all failing the very people these programs were created to help,” adding, “We are not asking for mercy. We are demanding justice.”

Other speakers at the Wednesday press conference included community members and a representative from 5051, as well as Angel Smith-El of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, and Stacey Gurian-Sherman of Minnesotans for a Better Police Contract. Smith-El and Gurian-Sherman called for community control of the police, to stop tragedies like this from happening in the first place.

Alissa Washington and the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-Sentenced Families Council MN say, “We are done begging. We are done waiting. We are demanding action.”

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