Minnesota needs its own satirist to keep up with the news. You know, someone like the Roman poet Juvenal, who asked “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” (“Who will guard the guards themselves?”). In the Minneapolis of the crazy left, we need someone to protect us from the “violence interrupters.” such as the men of 21 Days of Peace. The Department of Justice press release that announces their federal indictment doesn’t quite do justice to the case:
According to court documents, on the night of Monday, March 10, 2025, after finishing their shifts for 21 Days of Peace, Alvin Anthony Watkins, Jr., 50, of Saint Anthony, Minnesota, and Kashmir Khaliffa McReynolds, 35, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, recklessly fired approximately 43 bullets into the dark, in a residential neighborhood in North Minneapolis. 21 Days of Peace is an initiative of Salem Inc., which is a non-profit organization funded by the Minnesota Legislature to engage in “social equity building and community engagement services.”
According to court documents, gunshots were fired at McReynolds and Watkins by an unknown never-seen shooter. After this initial hail of gunfire from the unknown shooter, no additional gunfire was fired at McReynolds and Watkins. Although McReynolds did not see a person fire the gunshots, he fired numerous rounds in the general direction from which he thought the gunshots had originated, then ran to the other side of the block and continued shooting. He also supplied Watkins with another gun, which Watkins fired a number of times. McReynolds knew Watkins was prohibited from carrying and possessing firearms due to his prior felony convictions. In total, McReynolds and Watkins fired approximately 43 rounds of ammunition.
Alpha News provides the background here:
Watkins and McReynolds were also charged in state court in March, Crime Watch Minneapolis previously reported. Both men worked for Rev. Jerry McAfee and his nonprofit organization 21 Days of Peace, a “violence interrupter” group founded in the months following the death of George Floyd.
McAfee’s group has received millions of dollars in funding from sources including the Minnesota Legislature and the City of Minneapolis to carry out so-called violence prevention activities. McAfee is also the pastor at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in north Minneapolis and gave a shout out to Minneapolis gangs during George Floyd’s funeral.
Harvard recently provided a counterpart to this story in higher education. Star professor Francesco Gino made her name at Harvard Business School studying and teaching honesty. Harvard administrators recently told the business faculty that the university’s governing board had decided to revoke Gino’s tenure and fire her. One of the stories reports: “The decision came after an internal investigation found Gino had manipulated the data to support her hypotheses in at least four studies.”
On second thought, maybe both the 21 Days of Peace and Harvard Business School stories are beyond satire. They are too obvious.
