2020 candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) campaign rally in her home state of Minnesota was cancelled on Sunday night after Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters disrupted the event on behalf of Myon Burrell, whom Klobuchar had prosecuted for murder.
As Klobuchar was getting ready to hold a rally at a high school in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, BLM protesters arrived at the scene chanting “Black lives matter!” while carrying signs with messages such as “Justice 4 Myon” and “Were you interested in the truth or just closing the case?” written on them.
The event was cancelled after the protesters took over the stage.
Campaign Deputy National Press Secretary Justin Buoen told TPM in an emailed statement that Klobuchar had agreed to meet with the activists at the rally in advance.
“And then they changed the terms and decided that they didn’t want to meet with her,” Buoen said.
The BLM organizers told the Star Tribune they had demanded the Democratic senator acknowledge the Burrell case during her rally, but the campaign had refused to oblige.
Klobuchar, who served as Hennepin County Attorney for six years before she was elected to the Senate in 2006, has had to defend her record on criminal justice on the campaign trail, specifically her involvement in Burrell’s 2002 criminal case over the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old girl.
Burrell was sentenced to life for the murder, but an Associated Press investigation into the case in February revealed a series of inconsistencies and serious flaws in the case, including the fact that another person confessed to the girl’s murder and told law enforcement that Burrell was not at the scene when the shooting happened.
Despite all the evidence pointing to Burrell’s innocence, Klobuchar had insisted on keeping him incarcerated.
That is cold.
Amazing the skeletons that can emerge if a candidate is properly vetted.
No gun, no fingerprints, no DNA.
She’s earned this protest.
Karma
But does she even how the authority to do something about it? Shouldn’t they be protesting the one who has the power to reopen the case?
I won’t profess to be an expert on this case, but so long as the prosecutor is not actively concealing or suppressing evidence, if they think they have a reasonable case and are acting in good faith, their job is to present the evidence in a style favorable to the prosecution. To do otherwise would be just as wrong as a defense attorney not advocating for a not-guilty verdict for their client. The adversarial justice system is fundamentally premised on both sides making their best argument.
I don’t see anything to suggest that Klobuchar acted in bad faith in this case.