Following a two-week trial, a federal jury in Minneapolis convicted three Minnesota men for their involvement in the Highs — a violent Minneapolis street gang — and a gang-related murder on August 7, 2021.
“Minneapolis criminal street gangs have inflicted devastating harm on our community for far too long. Three years ago, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced our federal violent crime initiative to address the skyrocketing and completely unacceptable rates of violent crime in Minnesota,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick for the District of Minnesota.
“This was cold-blooded, calculated violence meant to control through fear,” said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of the FBI in Minneapolis.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Keon Pruitt, 22, Dantrell Johnson, 32, and Gregory Hamilton, 29, each of Minneapolis, were members of various “cliques,” or subsets, of the Highs — a criminal enterprise that controlled territory north of West Broadway Avenue in Minneapolis.
Evidence at trial proved that the Highs gang committed multiple murders, narcotics trafficking, weapons violations, burglaries, assaults, and robberies. As members of the Highs, the defendants were expected to retaliate against the rival Lows gang, which operated south of West Broadway Avenue.
On August 7, 2021, a prominent Highs member was shot and killed by a Lows member at the Winner gas station, a Highs hangout.
The following day, Highs members organised a memorial for the deceased member at the gas station, where they distributed firearms and encouraged each other to retaliate against Lows members for the murder. Defendants Pruitt, Johnson, and Hamilton were all in attendance at the memorial.
Later that day, Johnson and Hamilton drove to a known Lows hangout — Wally’s Foods — and shot a Lows associate, who survived his injuries. Approximately two hours later, Johnson, Hamilton, and Pruitt drove to Skyline Market, another known Lows hangout, to shoot another Lows member.
Inside the market, they shot a man whom they mistakenly believed to be a Lows member — which was captured on the store’s cameras.
The victim ran for his life from the store and into the street. Pruitt, who was driving two juvenile members in a stolen Porsche, let the juveniles out of the car. The juvenile members then chased the victim into a nearby alley and fatally shot him. The victim was shot at least eight times.
The jury convicted Prutt, Johnson, and Hamilton of Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organisations (RICO) conspiracy and using and carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence resulting in death.
