KARE-11 Interviewed Kennedy Barber, A Damned Pedophile, About North Minneapolis "Family Day" And Other Shocking Little Factoids Being Hotly Discussed On North Talk...

Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff 

The article mentioned in my headline appeared in August of 2012, but recently it was linked in the course of a red hot discussion on "North Talk" about the topic of skulky convicted pedophiles who like to hang around where children are present, ewwwww.

Click here for the article in question.

Turns out Kennedy Barber, who is quoted in the article about "Family Day" in North Minneapolis, is a loathsome convicted pedophile. Linked here is a court case about this same Kennedy Barber who was chatting up KARE-11 about "Family Day," like he was somebody respectable. (As an interesting side note, Kennedy Barber's lawyer during the 1995 case was none other than Keith Ellison, our current North Minneapolis congressman)

Digging deeper, the plot thickens and a familiar name emerges in the background of Kennedy Barber, who was once an innocent and vulnerable child himself.

That name is Major Topps...

Let me say this about Major Topps. The sound of the truck bomb that hit my Forward Operating Base in Paktya Province, Afghanistan, was never as (expletive) loud as the WHISPERS about Major Topps in our North Minneapolis community, whispers about things that were done to children for years and years and years and years and years and nobody, nobody, NOBODY came forward to report this SICK FUCK to the police.

WHY? WHY? Out of some kind of fear that publicity about Major Topps would bring embarrassment to the community? The long, deafening, shameful silence has been more of an embarrassment to the community than any facts which could emerge.

I'm just sayin'.

Within hours of hearing about the death of Major Topps, believing his sudden and mysterious death might cause witnesses to finally break their silence, I wrote an article. Click here. I wrote another article when the contents of a police report fell into my hands, click here. I wrote another with the actual contents of the report, click here. 

I wrote another article about the willingness of a Star Tribune reporter to interview anybody who would go "on the record" about Major Topps, click here. I missed the first anniversary of the death of Major Topps because I was deployed to Afghanistan, but I managed to observe the second anniversary by pointing out that Don "Talk Is Cheap" Allen of the IBNN blog had promised to get to the bottom of the issues about Major Topps, and still hadn't done so.

HOW, YOU MAY BE ASKING YOURSELF BY NOW, does Major Topps relate to Kennedy Barber the pedophile?

According to a source who I believe to be credible, Kennedy Barber was a member of the "drill team" led by Major Topps. The "drill team" was involved in marching and stepping. My source says another convicted molester named Richard Rucker was also involved in the "drill team" with Major Topps, and may I say this kind of thing gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "drill team."

Here are some key portions of a recent discussion about this topic, edited for clarity of topic focus:

SOURCE: You asked me a while ago about Major Topps. Do you still want to know?

JNS BLOG: Yes. I still want to know. With attached documents, if possible.

The story. The deal.

SOURCE: Major was never convicted, but it is wide community knowledge that he was molesting the children on his drill team. I talked to one of the boys I grew up with as adults, but he'll never tell. Several of the boys on his drill team have been running around the community for years. Both convicted pedophiles, and one is still trying to involve himself in children's lives. Singing at children parties, working and involved with them at the Minneapolis Urban League (MUL) and now working with a drill team.

His name is Kennedy Barber and the other one is Richard Rucker, who was recently convicted for the second time and is doing 15 years now in the DOC.

(JNS blog inserts the mug shot of Richard Parnell Rucker, as follows)

SOURCE: Kennedy molested some of the boys on his brother's basketball team but was convicted of molesting his foster children back in 95 and he's still allowed around children. One of Kennedy's first foster children is Shawn Primus, also a child sex offender, now doing time.

(JNS blog inserts the DOC image of Shawn Primus, as follows)

SOURCE: The community turned a blind eye to Major and has done everything they could to help Kennedy and Richard to sanitize them after their first conviction. Richard was working in the public schools where he found his last victims after his first conviction was expunged.

JNS BLOG: You have personal knowledge that both Kennedy Barber and Richard Rucker were on Major Topp's drill team?

SOURCE: The entire community over the age of 40 knows. (...) The old folks didn't say much back then. Everyone just (expletive) kept silent! I didn't find out why until I was an adult.

We all went to school together.

JNS BLOG: How long did Major Topps run that drill team? Sounds like it was a long time.

SOURCE: All through my childhood well into adult life. I think the name ended up having something to do with his "Right Step Academy." But it started off the Elks, the Elks let him go, then it was Leo Johnson or something like that, but I think that was after Leo died. (...) If you can find out anything about Kennedy's older brother Ricky Barber, they were all on the same drill team, again, well into adulthood.

(JNS blog says: meaning of last sentence not clear, whether they were on the drill team until "well into adulthood" or whether, now, these individuals are "well into adulthood.")

SOURCE: The problem with talking about Major is, he was never convicted and not one of his victims will come forward publicly. They are all grown men now, many with families and even grandchildren. Like you said, if you can't prove it, you run the risk of someone suing. I heard that Major was beaten after it was discovered that...(this material withheld by JNS blog out of liability concerns)...but, again, that's just a rumor.

Back then, even if the police were called, one of the black leaders would step in and threaten all kinds of stuff, boycotting or rioting in downtown and the cops would just back off and let the community sort it out for themselves.

If you were connected, no one ever said a word and Major had access to all the girls from the drill team that many of them low lives (sic) also enjoyed.

Again, I'm so young, none of this was my personal experience, but I grew up with these kids as adults, everyone talked within our groups. They will never come forward and as the old people said, it's better to let sleeping dogs lay. Smh.

(The source then points out that Kennedy Barber's Facebook page isn't private and recently a video was posted there of Barber at a child's birthday party)

JNS blog knows this kind of discussion will hit a rotating fan and spray widely.

To which I say: Let it hit the fan.