LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Shortly after people saw video of the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, protesters took to the streets. Matthew Allen was one of them. And then bystanders filmed the moment he was pinned to the pavement by federal agents.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MATTHEW ALLEN: (Screaming). You're going to kill me. That's what you want? You want to kill me?
FADEL: The video shows several masked individuals with knees at his back, on his legs. A chemical mist floated around them.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ALLEN: I have done nothing at all. My name is Matthew James Obadiah Allen.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Hey, get on the sidewalk. Get on the sidewalk
ALLEN: I'm a United States citizen.
FADEL: Matthew Allen survived the incident. He's better known in Minneapolis as the hip-hop artist Nur-D. And many people who watched that video were reminded of the images of another Black man being pinned to a Minneapolis street, George Floyd in 2020. I asked Allen what happened that led to his detainment.
ALLEN: It was supposed to be a normal Saturday. Me and my wife, were planning on errands, you know, window blinds, stuff like that, dog food. And then we saw the video of Alex Pretti being murdered. It was impossible for us to think that we were just going to do our day as normal. And so we went out to essentially just voice our anger, voice our hurt and show support to our community. Suddenly, there's flash-bangs and chemical irritants and stuff all in the air. I turn and I start walking away. I feel these hits on my back, and I recognize that type of pain. This is not the first time I've been shot by less than lethal rounds.
And I'm thrown to the ground. I hear that I am under arrest for assaulting a federal officer. I don't know if you've ever been egregiously gaslit, but there is a moment where you think like, is that - wait, what? When I heard that I was under arrest for assaulting a federal officer and I knew that wasn't true, I said to myself, does it even matter what is said right now? The only thing that you can do is, if this is going to be when you die, if this is when you die right here on the street, you might as well let everybody know who you were and what was going on because it's going to be harder to spin this as anything else if you do.
FADEL: Did you think you were going to die?
ALLEN: Yeah. Oh, 100%. I just watched someone be murdered by these people not even an hour before. It isn't unreasonable to think that this is what will happen to you when you are grabbed by these people.
FADEL: When they eventually got off of you, what happened next?
ALLEN: I was dragged into the pickup truck and driven away. It's hard to see. It's hard to feel how far away you're going, but you're still on the city streets. You could still hear the commotion going on, the flash-bangs. The tear gas was still very much in the air. And moved to a secondary location further down the street. I was thrown to the ground. They tried to take my clothes off. It was negative degrees out. When I refused to move my body, which made that very hard to do, they relented. But I was still very much surrounded. I was feeling panic setting in. I was having a tough time controlling my breath. And I knew, because you get a talk when you're a young Black kid...
FADEL: Yeah.
ALLEN: ...About what happens when you're surrounded by the state, panicking is the worst thing that you can do because anything that you do can be given as reason to end your life. And I didn't want to move my body in any way because I was under the impression that these people would murder me on the street. And I made that known. I'm giving you no reason to shoot me whatsoever. I need an EMT, and I need my lawyer.
FADEL: Did they charge you with anything?
ALLEN: As of this moment, I have not been charged with anything. So, eventually, EMS did arrive. I was brought to the hospital, and then I was able to leave with my family.
FADEL: This is your city, right? And it's a city that's been through it. I mean, you were on our show 4 1/2 years ago.
ALLEN: Yeah.
FADEL: As I mentioned, you're a hip-hop artist in Minneapolis. And we asked you to write a song. And that was in 2021, just after the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. And we asked you to write something that captured the moment. I just want to play some of that, a song you called "One Step Forward."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONE STEP FORWARD")
ALLEN: (Rapping) Attack dogs only bite what they've been sicced on. He wasn't the disease. He was one of the symptoms. Until we get cured, there'll be more on deck. We got to make ourselves heard like we GFS.
FADEL: Attack dogs only bite when they've been sicced on. He wasn't the disease. He was one of the symptoms. Until they get cured, there'll be more on deck. Listening to that now, what are you thinking?
ALLEN: I think 2020 was like the canary in the coal mine. It was the precursor to some of this. These are not one-off incidents. So many horrific things happen, and if there are no cameras around, they don't get caught. Like, these aren't the disease. These are the symptoms of what happens when you say in your heart that someone else is less than just because they're different from you. That sickness will spread. And then the symptoms of that sickness are what we're seeing on our streets right now.
FADEL: Matthew Allen was filmed being pinned to the ground by several federal agents on Saturday during a protest in Minneapolis. He's better known as the rapper Nur-D. Matt, thank you for speaking with us and sharing what happened to you.
ALLEN: Hey, thanks to you for talking about it. And, honestly, keep your eyes on Minnesota. We are still fighting, and we won't stop. And to everybody outside of Minnesota around the country who are dealing with this as well and don't have as many cameras on them, know that we fight for you as well.
FADEL: NPR reached out to the ICE Office of Public Affairs for comment. We have not received a reply. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
