In July 2022, Steven Cooper was cleaning out the vehicle of his recently deceased brother when he found a gun and ammunition. He did what he thought was the right thing: he wrapped the gun in a sweatshirt, put it inside the secured door of his apartment building, and waited for his parole officer to arrive.

Cooper’s parole officer called the Duluth police. Due to his previous criminal record, Cooper was arrested for possession of a firearm and is now under threat of returning to prison. In an interview with the Minnesota Reformer, Cooper says “I could have easily thrown that thing in a river. I could have easily gave it to somebody … dumped it in the garbage [...] here’s the difference from the person that I used to be in 2006 and right now.”

As reported in the Duluth News Tribune's April 6th & September 1st 2023 articles:

Cooper stated, “I found a reason to still believe...I followed the rules and I trusted the system. This openness, this respect, it is not normal. In fact, there's a natural distrust that is created so easily in my culture. Being a Black man, I struggled so much for so many years not to become the stereotype. I don't believe that I became what everybody thought that I was going to become...I called the most trusted person in my life at the time...It was my parole officer — a law enforcement officer." The Arrowhead Regional Corrections agent arrived and took possession of the gun, but also called 911. Cooper was placed in the back of a squad car, with body camera footage capturing an officer telling him he "did the right thing by turning it in" but suggesting Cooper had to know he could not touch the weapon.

The Department of Corrections opted against sending Cooper back to prison.

Duluth NAACP President Classie Dudley demanded that the county attorney's office drop the case, calling it a "ridiculous ... waste of time and money" and arguing it undermined public safety by discouraging people from turning in guns.

“I refuse to stand by as an NAACPer from the largest branch of our state and let an innocent man go to prison again for a crime that he did not commit, for a goodwill citizen to do what they are supposed to do and be charged for it,” President Classie Dudley said. “I would be remiss to not mention that Steven is a very Black man. And we know Black men in our community are not respected. We know Black men in our community are targeted. We see that with our data. We see that within our schools. We see it all over the city.”

Dudley suggested the prosecution contradicts the stated goals of the public safety agencies. “Duluth and St. Louis County want to get guns off the street, right?” she asked. “What message does this send to us, to our people? What message is to say to our public defender's office, to the DPD, to (Chief) Mike Ceynowa, who have been working so hard to make our streets safer? “What this tells me is if you have an unregistered gun, or if you are somebody who has a gun that shouldn't be in your possession, don't turn it in, don't give it to the cops, because they'll arrest you and Kim Maki will refuse to drop the charges, even though the Department of Corrections dropped the charge.”

Defense attorney Joe Vaccaro called the case "the most ridiculous prosecution I've seen in my career" and told the media: "I highly doubt the county attorney's going to be able to find 12 people in the community stupid enough to think that this is a crime."

Cooper, for his part, said he no longer has the faith in the system that he did just a few years ago when he left prison.

“I'm being brought to trial for getting a gun off Duluth streets,” he said. “For doing the right thing. This doesn’t send a good message, and surely this is an injustice. I believe it's a dangerous injustice.”

Minnesota law doesn’t grant exceptions for people convicted of violent felonies to accidentally or briefly possess firearms.

Community members and organizations expressed their support for Cooper including Chris Davis who said “I am one of Coopers victims from back in 2006 and I believe this is complete bulls***.  He served his time, I forgive him, and the other victims do as well. I will do whatever I can to help Cooper get this charge dropped”. In addition, the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus issued a statement saying “We urge you to consider the broader implications of prosecuting Mr. Cooper. [...] It is in the best interest of public safely to encourage responsible gun ownership and responsible disposal of firearms, and we believe that charging Mr. Cooper for his actions runs counter to those goals”. 

The Duluth NAACP demanded to know:

• Why is Steven being punished for doing the right thing?

• How can we expect to get firearms off the streets if there is a possibility for retaliation by the law?

• What role did Steven’s race play in his treatment from the Duluth Police Department and St. Louis County prosecutors?

LEARN MORE:

1) Read these articles from the Minnesota Reformer, the Duluth News Tribune, and this article from the Star Tribune.

2) Watch Steven’s arrest video on facebook.

3) Check out the change.org petition