A well-known left-wing activist and a group of protesters recently mobbed a Minneapolis City Council member’s car until the elected official agreed to sign a list of demands, including a pledge to support Mayor Jacob Frey’s immediate resignation.
Donald Hooker Jr., who is known as “D.J.,” led the charge against Council Member Andrea Jenkins Sunday night. A “Take Back Pride” march was coming to an end when the group began to harass Jenkins, a biological male and the first openly transgender African-American woman to be elected to office in the U.S.
Hooker recorded a 25-minute-long video of the encounter with Jenkins outside of Loring Park.
Hooker began to hassle Jenkins about George Floyd Square, which is in Jenkins’s ward, saying the council member needs to “leave it alone.”
“She blew up at me in my face … then she stormed off to this car. So we’ve been out here for about an hour and a half. And she has been mean. She’s been rude,” Hooker claimed.
“She helps support the cops who kill black people and black trans women,” he said. “I told her, if you’re not gonna do anything, we’re gonna have a peaceful protest outside your house … she said she was gonna call the motherf–ing cops on us for a peaceful f–ing protest.”
The activists produced a piece of paper with six handwritten demands, and Hooker read each demand through a megaphone while a crowd of protesters cheered. He demanded that Jenkins agree to pledge support for each item on the list as he read them.
The demands call for the creation of a “Community Police Accountability Commission,” dropping all charges against “all 646 protesters and other protesters from 2020,” publicizing information on the Winston Smith shooting, supporting the resignation of Mayor Frey, and leaving “George Floyd Square alone.”
When the council member agreed to support Frey’s resignation, activists forced Jenkins to repeat the entire sentence.
“I said it three times,” Jenkins said. “This is ridiculous.”
“Say the whole sentence, ‘I want Jacob Frey to resign,’’’ Hooker shouted at Jenkins. People closed in on the car, and another protester said, “People have died on [Frey’s] watch. That’s ridiculous.”
Jenkins complied, and cheers and claps ensued from the crowd.
Jenkins also faced criticism when the last demand was read: “So don’t do my job, is what you’re saying?” Jenkins said, referring to the autonomous zone at George Floyd Square.
Hooker accused Jenkins of “reframing” the question. “Do not deflect the question,” he said.
“I was elected to represent that neighborhood. What you’re asking me to do is to not do my job,” Jenkins said.
A woman in the driver’s seat of Jenkins’ car then began to engage with the protesters. Immediately, she was harassed by someone who yelled, “We are not asking no more, white lady. We demanding at this point. We aren’t asking, we’re done asking. F–ing s–t. We’re demanding it now. So why don’t you just sit back in your little seat and do your job and drive.”
This appeared to put Jenkins over the edge, prompting the council member to sign the list of demands.
“Now what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna hold her accountable and follow up with her and make sure that these demands absolutely come to fruition,” Hooker said on the live video.
Rose Williams
Rose Williams is an assistant editor for Alpha News.
