Meeting between community and BCA about Blevins death called off after tempers flare

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - The head of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension planned to meet Thursday night with concerned citizens to discuss the ongoing investigation into the Thurman Blevins shooting. Instead, tempers flared and the meeting was called off. 

The meeting was supposed to be a chance for community members to ask the BCA questions about the investigation into Blevin's death, but it was over before it really started.

As soon as BCA Superintendent Drew Evans was introduced at the Webber Park recreation center, a handful of Blevins’ family members basically shouted him down and took over the meeting. 

"Nobody asked us to come, nobody asked us to come,” said one family member. “You all just used our family. You just used our family, but nobody asked us to come and that was a mistake. You know it was a mistake when you did it.”

The family members aimed their anger at not only at the BCA, which is investigating last month’s fatal shooting of Blevins by Minneapolis police, but also the meeting’s organizers for not reaching out to them. After several minutes, BCA Superintendent Evans left without getting a chance to say much and the family asked the media to leave as well.

“But I want to let everyone know my brother was not a bad person,” said Corey Blevins, Thurman's sister. “We all make mistakes. We all have background, but we also have a future, but my brother doesn’t anymore and I need you to get that.”

"This was not [the BCA superintendent's] meeting,” said Resmaa Menakem, the meeting facilitator. “Him being there and giving information, but the family didn't want that. What you saw was raw pain of seeing continuously seeing black people get murdered like this, so it’s not neat. It’s never neat."

The organizers say they will try to do something like this again in the future, but for now they say it’s obviously not the time.