Demands for Justice After Death of Postal Worker Kingsley Bimpong in Eagan Police Custody

Speakers at the press conference accused Eagan police, correctional staff, and for-profit jail healthcare providers of negligence, systemic racism, and a pattern of preventable deaths in Minnesota jails.

Community advocates, civil rights leaders, and family members gathered outside the Dakota County Judicial Center in Hastings to demand justice for Kingsley Bimpong, a U.S. postal worker who died in November 2024 after being arrested and jailed while in clear medical distress. Kingsley’s family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that police and jail staff mistook symptoms of a major stroke for drug impairment and let him languish for hours without medical treatment.

Kingsley left work early on November 16, 2024, after experiencing a severe headache and blurred vision. On his drive home, he became disoriented and was stopped by Eagan police. Rather than recognizing signs of a medical emergency, officers allegedly assumed he was intoxicated and arrested him.

Kingsley, in his USPS vest, told Eagan police he didn't know where he worked or lived. Photo credit: Eagan Police Department

While detained at the Eagan Police Department and later at the Dakota County Jail, Kingsley’s condition worsened. Surveillance and jail records reportedly show staff conducting repeated “wellness checks” and marking “inmate OK” while Bimpong lay on the floor in distress. He died hours later.

“A preventable death—and part of a pattern”

At the press conference, Danielle Matthias of the Minnesota Freedom Fund said Kingsley’s death was “not an accident,” but part of a broader pattern of systemic neglect.

“Rather than recognizing this medical emergency, officers assumed that he was intoxicated,” Danielle said. “Police and correctional officers will claim that his death was an accident, but we know their negligence and disregard for Black life is part of a pattern that has caused dozens of deaths in Minnesota county jails.”

Danielle called for the immediate termination of all officers and correctional staff involved, disciplinary action by the Minnesota POST Board, and an independent investigation by Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office—not local authorities or the Department of Corrections, which she described as “conflicted.”

She also urged lawmakers to strengthen the Hardel Sherrell Act, named after a young man who died in 2018 from neglect in Beltrami County Jail.

“A stronger bill must make accountability automatic, not optional,” she said. “We shouldn’t have to organize press conferences every time one of our people dies in state custody.”

“Utterly unacceptable” failures at every level

Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality and a paralegal specializing in civil rights cases, described Kingsley’s death as a “failure on every level.”

“Officers are trained first responders. They should have recognized a stroke or neurological emergency,” Michelle said. “Instead, they applied their racist filter and decided he was using drugs.”

She added that both police and jail staff violated medical and legal protocols, including standards set by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.

“They let him lie on the floor in his own waste for hours while marking ‘he’s okay,’” she said. “None of the officers or correctional staff have faced consequences. This is grotesque negligence.”

“There was no value on his life”

Toshira Garraway, founder of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, spoke through tears as she connected Kingsley's death to broader racial inequities in Minnesota. She described the death as a “modern-day lynching” and urged community members and the media to continue demanding justice.

“There was no value on Kingsley’s life—that’s why they could walk by him and pretend to check,” Toshira said. “If there was value, we wouldn’t be standing here today. We are in a state of emergency.”

“His jail cell became his coffin”

Elizer Darris, executive director of the Minnesota Freedom Fund, delivered an emotional closing statement.

“Kingsley should still be alive right now,” he said. “They allowed him to sit in anguish for three and a half hours, crawling toward the door for help that never came. His cell became his coffin because when they looked at him, they didn’t see his humanity.”

Elizer demanded the Attorney General’s Office prosecute the officers and correctional staff involved and called on the POST Board to permanently revoke their licenses.

“How do we know the records were falsified? Because he died,” he said. “Inmate was not okay. He died. And because of that, we must stand up and say—Black Lives Matter.”

A growing call for reform

Advocates said Kingsley’s death reflects systemic failures in Minnesota’s policing and jail system, particularly in how law enforcement responds to medical emergencies involving Black individuals.

Speakers at the press conference emphasized that their demands go beyond punishment—they are calling for a transformation of public safety, medical care, and accountability within the state’s correctional system.

“Accountability for one death will mean nothing if the system stays the same tomorrow,” Danielle said. “This is about whether our institutions can be trusted to preserve life rather than take it.”

The City of Eagan offered the following statement:

“Hours after Eagan officers transported Mr. Bimpong to the Jail, it was discovered that he had experienced a stroke, which was fatal. While Mr. Bimpong’s death is tragic, he was not exhibiting an objectively serious medical condition that was obvious to lay persons at the time he was in the Eagan officers’ custody and there (was) no indication that he required emergent medical treatment.”