Three Young Gang Members Locked Up And The Women Who Made It All Possible Allegedly. A Mother, School Employee And A Corrections Officer. Diontre Ramone Hill, 20; Keniko Bland, 20; and Raheem Abdul Lee Watkins, 21, Are Facing Counts Related To Illegally Possessing Firearms. A Good Woman Is Hard To Find...

 Facebook photo, used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism. 

Blog Post by Jordan North

Federal Judges felt that that Angela Carter was not a flight risk, perhaps because she is caring for her child who underwent a second, reportedly unsuccessful surgery to save her eye. The middle aged, STILL employed school worker and mother may not be a flight risk but is definitely a HUGE risk to the safety of North side residents.....

                                        Facebook photo, used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism.         

(I am told) Jacquelyn Burnes disappeared from the very large and splendid home of her parents in Maple Grove to avoid authorities. At this point Federal authorities expect the number of guns purchased by Jacquelyn, using false information, to go up.  Allegedly her boyfriend is being held for the near-shooting incident (with glass flying) of the eight-year-old child.

(Addendum, May 20. JNS, the owner and editor of this blog, inserts the following: Guest author Jordan North asserts the child was grazed by a bullet as well as hit by glass, by which North means this REPORTEDLY happened, since North wasn't there to witness it personally. The word "near-shooting," which was part of editing by JNS, covers "grazing," also. But to be clear, word on the street is that child was grazed. Keep up the good work, Jordan North) 

As of last night ,Jacquelyn Burnes was in custody and had her her initial court appearance today on weapons charges. The 29-year-old surrendered to authorities yesterday at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. She was indicted this week for allegedly buying guns for gang members in the Twin Cities. Federal prosecutors allege one of the three guns she purchased was used in a shooting in a downtown Minneapolis nightclub over the winter.

I was given information from a VERY RELIABLE source on the life of one of these young men. His life started down a horrifying path, at a very early age. Now a school employee and a ex-corrections officer are charged with giving him weapons. My intent is not to gain empathy or sympathy for this alleged gang member but to bring attention to the ROOT cause of some the chaos around us.

Taken from a source's encounter with one of the defendants, as follows: 

 Facebook photo, used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism.    

"Incredibly sad for me, was learning that one of the young men that was connected and arrested, was once a 5-year-old that I used to care for when he raged. I bathed his bruises and cigarette burns, shaved his head when bugs the size of a dime were embedded into his hair. I was the first person to make him pancakes. He was the one whose short life of abuse and neglect brought heavy tears to my eyes as I would fall asleep on the floor next to his bed during his stay for a few months at a crisis shelter, 15 years ago."

My source asks: 

"How do we interrupt this cycle, how do we start the healing for those that are products of severe dysfunction and by what means do we measure and apply accountability to these crimes''?




If our only plan is to lock up all these young people, AFTER they have already committed crimes in our community, then we fight and uphill battle. (Keniko Bland was  reportedly arrested for weapons twice this year, so that's not happening, anyway) We would need all the funding from the fancy light rail and the new sports dome, to increase the prison capacity, in my opinion . Yes, law enforcement, Judges and courts need to protect the good people of North Minneapolis and STOP pandering to these folks screaming about profiling. 

They need to get it done.....

Perhaps then we can start to focus on all the bruised and burned children. 

Hurt people, hurt people.......