It took 28 years and seven months, but when Lamonte McIntyre finally spoke to his hometown as a free man, he bound onto the stage, beamed to the crowd and pounded the podium.
McIntyre, the Kansas City, Kansas, man who spent 23 years in prison for a double homicide he didn’t commit, gave an emotional address Thursday in front of 200 people at a rally organized by Team ROC, the philanthropic and social justice division of rapper JAY-Z’s company, Roc Nation.
Team ROC activists called again for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, which has been accused of allowing former detective Roger Golubski to get away with corruption for decades.
McIntyre said he was speaking for all of the victims of Golubski, who McIntyre says framed him for a double homicide in April 1994.
Golubski was arrested in September and charged with depriving two individuals of their civil rights through sexual assault, kidnapping and attempted kidnapping. Since then, federal prosecutors have laid out a growing case with additional victims.
“I’m only here on behalf of all you victims and all the victims’ families, everybody who didn’t get justice, who feel like you didn’t get justice. This is what it look like,” McIntyre said, pointing to himself.
“I’m inspired. I love you people, man. Keep pushin’ the pedal! Keep movin’ it, man!” he said.
The crowd cheered and responded by with yells of “No justice, no peace!”
McIntyre said when he arrived at the rally in front of the Unified Government building, he nearly cried seeing the number of people, TV cameras and signs that said, “Hold Roger Golubski accountable.” He was with his mother, Rosie, who along with her son settled a $12.5 million civil suit against the Unified Government.
Tricia Rojo Bushnell, director of the Midwest Innocence Project, said she spoke for the many Black women in Kansas City, Kansas, who have come forward with their stories of abuse at the hands of Golubski, women “who have made justice and the promise of justice possible.” The exoneration of Lamonte Mcintyre is just the first step in KCK, she said.
“Because what we know is that abuses like Roger Golubski’s do not happen alone. It is an entire system that has empowered and enabled him,” she said.
The Rev. Bobby Love, senior pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Olathe, likened the activists' and victims’ battle with law enforcement as David vs. Goliath. Giants do fall, he said, with the crowd echoing his words.
“These victims was confronted with weapons. These victims was confronted with intimidations, the giants of intimidation, the giants of authority that hid behind the blue shield,” he said. “But we’re standing today in solidarity under the spirit of David to say we’re speaking truth to power.”
Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Tyrone Garner, who walked by the rally, was asked about allegations that city and county government hasn’t done enough to investigate or help victims. He said the county is now lead by three Black men — himself, Police Chief Karl Oakman and District Attorney Mark Dupree — who are all bringing reforms.
“I think anybody that thinks otherwise, I just think they’re misguided in that notion that you would have three Black males that would sit on their hands in regards to allegations that allegedly affected the African American community,” Garner said.
Late Thursday night, the Wyandotte County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution to find $1.7 million requested by Dupree. He told them that he wants to digitize files so he can review every case touched by Golubski.
