Under gray skies on the afternoon of Oct. 30, relatives of two women, one Black, one Indigenous, gathered outside the Hennepin County Government Center accusing Minneapolis police and city officials of failing to protect women of color from domestic violence.
The families came seeking justice for Mariah Samuels, a 30-year-old African American mother who was shot 10 times by her ex-partner, and Allison Lussier, an Indigenous woman found beaten to death in her home after repeatedly calling police for help.
Both women, relatives said, “did everything right.” They filed police reports, obtained protection orders, and reached out for help. Yet both were killed by men they had warned police about. Their deaths, they argue, reveal a deeper truth: that Black and Native women are treated as less worthy of protection than their White counterparts.
“My sister should be here today celebrating my dad’s birthday and her son’s birthday, but she’s not,” said Selina Owens, Samuels’ sister, her voice breaking as she addressed the crowd. “She called the police. She begged for help. They said she didn’t seem scared enough. What does that even mean? How scared does a Black woman have to be before anyone listens?”
Both families described a pattern of indifference and evasion from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) when handling domestic violence cases involving women of color.
Lussier’s relatives said police ignored repeated warnings that her abusive partner was stalking her in the days before her death. When her body was discovered, officers initially ruled the case an overdose, a finding later contradicted by the medical examiner’s report citing traumatic brain injury as the cause of death.
“Beaten to death is not an accident,” one family member shouted. “Shot 10 times is not an accident. This is first-degree murder. Yet the men who did this walk free while the police pretend they didn’t see it coming.”
MPD Chief Brian O’Hara has faced mounting criticism over his department’s cooperation with an ongoing outside audit into procedural failures in domestic-violence cases. According to an October report from the City Auditor’s Office, MPD officers declined to answer certain questions about their handling of recent homicides and even asked whether they could be disciplined for providing “inaccurate answers.” Family advocates said that silence speaks volumes.
“When it’s a white woman on the news, you see police chiefs and mayors at the vigil. When it’s a Black woman or a Native woman, we’re left alone to bury our own.”
“What do you have to hide, Minneapolis Police?” one organizer demanded. “You knew these women’s names, their faces, their calls for help, and you chose not to act.”
Speakers at Thursday’s rally drew a stark contrast between the city’s swift responses to high-profile cases involving White women and the apparent neglect faced by women of color in similar danger.
“When it’s a white woman on the news, you see police chiefs and mayors at the vigil,” one family member said. “When it’s a Black woman or a Native woman, we’re left alone to bury our own.”
That absence, they argued, reflects more than bureaucratic failure. It reflects a moral hierarchy of whose lives matter.
“Chief O’Hara shows up for other people’s losses,” said a relative of Lussier. “But not for Allison. Not for Mariah. He’s never stood with us, not once.”
Family members also called out Mayor Jacob Frey, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, and city officials for what they described as a “pattern of disregard” for the lives of women of color.
“Mayor Frey, you have time to make TikToks and restaurant videos, but not to meet with grieving families,” Owens said. “You want to be famous? You’ll be famous for doing nothing.”
Samuels’ family detailed how she reached out repeatedly to police and even hand-delivered evidence to their offices, including text messages and threats from her ex-partner. They say she was met with indifference.
“The officer wrote that Mariah felt safe… That she didn’t think he knew where she was,” Owens said, referencing police body-camera footage obtained by the Star Tribune. “That was a lie. The footage shows that conversation never happened.”
Hours later, Samuels was found dead.
The officer who responded to her final call reportedly failed to complete the department’s domestic-violence risk assessment form, a basic step in evaluating threats to victims’ safety.
“They are trained,” said Carolyn Brooks, Samuels’ aunt. “They just don’t do it. The officer who gave her a blue card came back two minutes after she was shot, trying to revive her. Why didn’t he look for the suspect? Why didn’t he check the back of the house? Why didn’t anyone do their job?”
“We’re not asking anymore,” one family member said. “We’re demanding. This city can either protect its women of color, or admit it never intended to.”
The Mayor’s office responded by referral to Scott Wasserman of the City of Minneapolis who issued a written statement jointly representing the Mayor, the City of Minneapolis, and the Minneapolis Police Department that said, “Mariah Samuels’ death is an unspeakable tragedy. And to be clear, the man charged with her killing, David Wright, is responsible for Mariah Samuels’ death and must be held accountable. Mariah, like all victims of domestic violence, deserved to feel safe at home and in our city. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara is ordering a thorough review of the Minneapolis Police Department’s response to the Mariah Samuels case. In addition, Chief O’Hara has directed all officers to be retrained on response to domestic violence by the end of this year. He also directed that domestic violence and order of protection protocols be updated to require officers to ask the victim if they feel safe and to take affirmative action based on their response.”
Community advocates are calling for an independent review of recent domestic-violence homicides involving BIPOC women, mandatory completion of risk-assessment forms on all domestic calls, and disciplinary action for officers who falsify or neglect reports.
Scott Selmer welcomes reader responses at sselmer@spokesman-recorder.com.