Peter Gokey: "All that said, I understand why the police were testy with this
particular address, given its alleged connection to the Bloods. But my god,
could you imagine having 16 squad cars swarm onto your home during Thanksgiving
dinner, and rip out people's hair? A slap on the hand was all the cops
suffered. Literally. By the cops' own admission, it was a "light slap", too.
The media only reported one side of this story."I am as much in favor of
eliminating gang violence as anyone, but the police have to act reasonably and
lawfully or they will never win the fight."
Right you are. The first cop should have stopped on the porch and announced
himself/herself. When I lived next door to a passel of Fergusons (who did not
appear on the lease), on occasion sixteen squad cars pulled up next door. There
were at least five kids in that building at the time. (This was 20 years ago.)
People have learned to expect that when living next door to gang members.
At the same time, when a call for backup comes through with an address known to
be a gang household, the cops can hardly be blamed for sending in lots of
backup whether it's Thanksgiving or not. The address, 3548 Columbus, is owned
by a Ferguson grandmother and great grandmother by this time. It's hardly
alleged to connect to the Bloods. I saw Reggie emptying the trash not a week
ago at that address. I saw Mary and her daughter walking up the front walk
yesterday.
The Rolling Thirties Bloods is made up of the Ferguson-Turnipseed clan with
their cousins by the dozens. John Turnipseed will tell you so and has done for
several years now. John's kid sits in federal prison and will be there quite a
while. He lost his leg after having been shot by rival gang bangers. John
himself has bullet scars (which he has shown people in public meetings). The
story of this gang is mean and nasty and entirely heartbreaking. It's an
intergenerational tragedy.
Abdul Ferguson, Reggie's younger brother and twin to Antoine, was shot in the
head and died at the corner of 31st and Clinton in the late 80s or early 90s.
He was all of 15. At something like one in the morning, a drive-by car raced
down the street while Bloods were loudly milling around on the sidewalk. Abdul
yelled, "Down, this one's for me," as a bullet exploded and he fell. His blood
ran down the street as he exsanguinated before the police even got on the
scene. Another one, I can't remember his name, was murdered in the gas station
at 46th and Nicollet. I watched from across the street as the cops tented
thirty-eight bullet casings on the pavement in the gas station.
Jontaye, another cousin, is doing 39 years, accomplice in a murder. The
shooter, a Ferguson, is doing 50 years, a third cousin is doing 28 years, all
three in St. Cloud for the last two or three years. The three went over to an
apartment building in Phillips to kill a guy who had beaten up a friend of
theirs. He wasn't home, so they murdered another man in the hallway of the
building who apparently had nothing to do with whoever they were after.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
If you are a reasonably law abiding sort of a fella, I'm sure your hair is
standing on end by now. By the tone of your post, you can barely imagine what
it would be like just having that many cops drop in, nor can you want to
contemplate watching a 15-year old kid die in the gutter. Nor imagine how
terrifying it can be to live within even a block of a gang address. But can you
blame the cops for coming out in force when they come to that address?