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Speeches and music filled the air in around the Pentacrest on Friday night, as more than 100 people gathered to mourn Makeda Scott. Organized by Scott’s mother, Simmone Spencer-VanGorp, and the Iowa Freedom Riders (IFR), the memorial aimed to celebrate Scott’s life, and reinforce calls for justice. “I’m mad at her for leaving me, and […]
The Iowa City Council held the first of six scheduled listening posts to get public input regarding community policing reforms at Mercer Park on Wednesday evening. Approximately 50 community members attended the event, which focused on how situations involving mental health, crisis intervention and addiction should be handled. As part of the resolution passed on […]
We are members of the Iowa Freedom Riders, a multi-racial collective of BIPOC individuals, white allies and other marginalized groups who believe in the Black Lives Matter ideals that have been highlighted throughout the country this summer. When the nation watched George Floyd’s murder on video, several of us went to Minneapolis to join the […]
Three months after law enforcement officers used tear gas, pepper spray, flash-bang grenades and other munitions on protesters marching up Dubuque Street on June 3, Iowa City released two police body-camera videos from that night. The Iowa City Council had directed City Manager Geoff Fruin to release the footage at its Tuesday night meeting. During […]
Matthew Bruce, one of the leaders of Des Moines BLM, was arrested in Iowa City late on Monday night. Bruce has been charged with nine counts of assault on a police officer with intent to cause harm, a class D felony, and one count of interfering with official acts, a simple misdemeanor. According to KCRG, […]
The Iowa Freedom Riders led three nights of protest in Iowa City starting on Friday to push for the Iowa City Council to take faster action on the group’s demands, ahead of the city council’s next meeting on Tuesday. A fourth night of protest is scheduled for Monday. IFR’s demands for action to address issues […]
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Iowa City Police Department announced it had arrested a 45-year-old Iowa City resident for driving his car through a crowd of protesters gathered in the intersection of Gilbert and Burlington streets Friday night. Multiple people who had turned out for the march led by the Iowa Freedom Riders were struck by […]
On Friday night, the Iowa Freedom Riders led marchers through the streets of Iowa City in their first protest since early July. IFR organizers — joined by five members of Des Moines Black Lives Matter, who had been in Cedar Rapids earlier to deliver donated items to help people affected by the derecho — led […]
Iowa City Police Department officers did use tear gas on protesters gathered on Dubuque Street on June 3, an assistant city attorney confirmed on Monday in reply to a citizen’s open records request. Little Village was provided with a copy of the email from Assistant City Attorney Susan Dulek, sent at 4:04 p.m. on Monday. […]
Iowa City has added a section to the city’s website, allowing the public to see how much progress is being made on the council’s 17-point resolution addressing the demands of the Iowa Freedom Riders regarding policing, affordable housing and other issue involving racial justice and equity. City Manager Geoff Fruin called the new section “a […]
A new mural from Iowa artists Robert Moore and Dana Harrison, titled “The Reciprocal of Humanity,” was formally unveiled Saturday night, July 4, on the side of the Market House on North Linn Street. Building project manager Ross Nusser recruited the artists, who have worked together frequently in the past, for the project. “I love […]
The Iowa City Community School District Board of Directors will hold a work session on Wednesday with leaders of the Iowa Freedom Riders, dedicated to a discussion of IFR’s demands for changes in Iowa City schools. Some members of the board have already met with IFR representatives, but during its June 23 meeting, the board […]
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