What law enforcement and corrections officers saw was not a human being in a clear medical emergency, but a black man presumed to be dangerous and undeserving of care.”

Elizer Darris, Executive Director at Minnesota Freedom Fund

Last Monday, community groups including the Minnesota Freedom Fund, Families Supporting Families against Violence, Communities United Against Police Brutality and Black Lives Matter Minnesota gathered before the Dakota County Judicial Center and called for the termination of the three Eagan police officers and eight Dakota County correctional officers involved in the arrest and detainment of Kingsley Fifi Bimpong last year.

The calls come after Bimpong’s family filed a lawsuit in October against Dakota County seeking $120 million in money damages for Bimpong’s alleged wrongful death while in Eagan Police and later Dakota County Jail custody.

“Police and correctional officers, and the officials that protect them will claim that his death was an accident, but we know that their negligence and disregard for black life and its well-being is not an accident. It’s part of a pattern,” said Danille Matthias, an organizer with Minnesota Freedom Fund, a nonprofit seeking to abolish wealth-based pre-trial and immigration detention in Minnesota.

Last November, Bimpong was arrested after turning through a red light into oncoming traffic and driving into the center median.

While interacting with Eagan police officers, Bimpong was unable to answer basic questions like his name or follow basic instructions like providing his license.

“What law enforcement and corrections officers saw was not a human being in a clear medical emergency, but a black man presumed to be dangerous and undeserving of care,” said Elizer Darris, Executive Director at Minnesota Freedom Fund.

Bimpong was held in Eagan police custody and then in Dakota County Jail for more than five hours during which time he would lie on the floor of the cell, foaming at the mouth and in his own urine while correctional officers conducted wellness checks, marking that Bimpong was ok. Early in the morning of Nov. 17, 2024, Bimpong was taken Regina Hospital and declared brain dead.

“The case of Kingsley Bimpong represents a failure on so many levels,” said Michelle Gross, President of Communities United Against Police Brutality.

While officers should have been able to “easily” recognize Bimpong’s symptoms as indicative of a stroke, even if they thought he was under the influence of drugs, the proper protocol would require an assessment from a nurse “because withdrawal from drugs—in and of itself—is deadly,” said Gross.

“We treat animals better than we’re treating human beings, especially black human beings here in the state of Minnesota,” said Trahern Crews, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota.

Beyond the terminations, the groups called for an independent investigation from the Minnesota Attorney General’s office rather than from the Dakota County Attorney’s office as well as for “The Minnesota POST board to initiate disciplinary proceedings against all law enforcement officers at the scene who failed to render medical aid or perform their sworn duty to protect life,” according to a press release from the event.

“We demand the Attorney General’s Office take over the investigation and the eventual prosecution of every last single one of them that falsified those records. How do we know the record is falsified? Because he died. The inmate was not ok,” said Darris.

The group also spoke to a number of legislative and constitutional changes they would like to see in order to reduce deaths within prisons and jails as well as to remove the language of slavery from Minnesota’s Constitution.

“We’ve got a fundamental policy issue,” said Chauntyll Allen, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities

The Minnesota State Constitution still allows for slavery and involuntary servitude “as punishment for a crime of which the party has been convicted.” This language from Section 2 of the Minnesota Bill of Rights mirrors the same language in Section 1 of the Thirteenth Amendment.

“Therefore, our DLC [Department of Labor and Corrections] still practices the same way the judges practiced way back in 1965,” said Allen.

A number of states have struck this language from their constitution with efforts made in Minnesota in previous years.

Activists also spoke about reinforcing the Hardel Sherell Act, a bill that passed in 2021 seeking to ensure those in custody receive proper healthcare.

The Hardel Sherell Act sought to curb the number of deaths occurring in county jails across Minnesota, which have risen in recent years. The bill was named for 27-year-old Hardel Sherell who died in Beltrami County Jail in 2018.

“A stronger Hardel Sherell Act would include a definition of what basic medical care is, legal accountability, […] fines per violation, and it would also include an enforcement of medical release form family contact,” said Matthias.

In response to the lawsuit, Dakota County provided the following statement: “Dakota County cannot comment further, due to pending litigation,” said Mary Beth Schubert, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Dakota County.