Minneapolis withdraws violence interrupter from consideration for contract after shooting

The city of Minneapolis withdrew its request that a controversial pastor’s nonprofit get a nearly $650,000 violence prevention contract on the same day two violence interrupters who have worked for the pastor were charged with multiple felonies in a shootout after a community barbecue last week.

The Rev. Jerry McAfee’s nonprofit, Salem Inc., was among six entities chosen by the city’s Neighborhood Safety department to be awarded violence interruption contracts under a program called MinneapolUS.

Salem Inc. was slated to be considered Monday afternoon by a Minneapolis City Council committee for one-year contracts, with a two-year renewal option, when city officials suddenly changed course.

After news came out Friday that Salem Inc. was among the groups selected for the contracts, some council members expressed shock, especially in light of McAfee’s outburst at the council last month, which many viewed as threatening.

Then came more news late Friday that some of McAfee’s employees were involved in the north Minneapolis shootout. Several community groups scheduled a newconference Monday morning to oppose the new contract, and some council members released statements of dismay.

Public safety commissioner Todd Barnette defended the decision Friday, saying public comments don’t factor into the selection process. But by Monday morning, Neighborhood Safety department officials were withdrawing the request for action on all of the contracts, saying they’d likely submit a new one on March 25 that will not include Salem Inc.

Jared Jeffries, chief of staff for the Office of Community Safety, told a council committee Monday that the office was “reviewing events that have occurred” since the violence interruption proposals were evaluated, but refused to elaborate, saying “the data is non-public.”

Monday afternoon, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Kashmir Khaliffa McReynolds and Alvin Anthony Watkins Jr. with multiple felonies after a backyard cookout in north Minneapolis erupted in gunfire.

According to court and police records, McReynolds and Watkins allegedly fired dozens of bullets from the sidewalks and alleys on the 3600 block between Queen and Penn Avenues in north Minneapolis last week. ShotSpotter activations recorded 70 rounds fired.

Both men were charged with reckless discharge of a firearm within city limits. Watkins was charged with being a felon in illegal possession of a firearm and McReynolds was charged with illegally giving a firearm to a convicted felon.

McReynolds is a violence prevention worker for one of McAfee’s other nonprofits, 21 Days of Peace, McAfee has said. Watkins was quoted as being a violence interrupter with the same organization by KSTP in January 2023.

On March 10, police were dispatched after the ShotSpotter activation. They used surveillance video and audio to recreate the scene.

A barbecue in the backyard of a home on Penn Avenue had just wrapped up when shots were fired. Within eight seconds of those shots, McReynolds was seen lying on his stomach near a tree stump on Penn Avenue. He was firing his gun, a Ruger-5.7 pistol, video and audio surveillance in the area showed, according to the charging document.

Around 40 seconds later, McReynolds began firing again. He then yelled at Watkins to “grab my chop,” a .22-caliber pistol, from his backseat.

McReynolds ran to Queen Avenue and began firing again. Shortly after that, Watkins began firing multiple times from McReynolds' other gun. Both men then left the scene. The shots from McReynolds and Watkins were all fired within about 90 seconds of the initial shots.

During the investigation, McReynolds, 35, told police he had been standing near the grill when he saw two people near a garage begin shooting. He initially said he laid on the ground then jumped up and walked between cars and houses to target his shots in the direction of muzzle flashes from the garage.

Video evidence contradicted that statement, and McReynolds later admitted he never saw the shooters and was shooting in the general direction of where he believed the shots were coming from.

McAfee told the Star Tribune on Friday that McReynolds was wearing a bulletproof vest and was struck by bullets after people came out from behind bushes and began shooting at 21 Days of Peace workers.

Violence interrupters working for the city aren’t allowed to be armed, McAfee said, but he said they were working on a state contract, they were off the clock for the day and that McReynolds was a “legal gun toter.”

McReynolds told investigators he knew he should have stopped firing his gun once the other shooters stopped but “his adrenaline was going.” He told investigators he planned to shoot anyone who ran from between the houses where the initial shots had been fired. When asked if he knew he had a duty to retreat and not fire, McReynolds said he did not.

Watkins was not allowed to possess a firearm because of past convictions, including third-degree drug possession, two convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm and three convictions for second-degree assault. McReynolds has no felony convictions in Minnesota.

A warrant was issued for Watkins' arrest. McReynolds was being held in Hennepin County jail on $100,000 bail with a first court appearance set for Tuesday.

The selection of McAfee’s nonprofit for a violence interrupter contract had already caused consternation at City Hall because McAfee interrupted a February council committee meeting and went on a five-minute rant when the council briefly considered temporarily moving some violence prevention programs to Hennepin County.

McAfee is pastor of New Salem Missionary Baptist Church and operates nonprofits that have done violence prevention work for years. The church won a nearly $306,000 city contract last year to do a “community trauma and de-escalation initiative,” and 21 Days of Peace received $3 million from the state in 2023 for violence prevention work.