Jill Stein, Green Party presidential nominee, in Minneapolis calls for policing reforms

Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party's candidate for president, on Tuesday called for broad, systemic changes to end police brutality in black communities, advocating for civilian review boards, among other changes.

"We need to put communities back in control of their police, rather than having police control their communities," Stein said to roaring applause at a forum at the Capri Theater in north Minneapolis.

Her visit comes on the heels of an officer-involved fatal shooting of a St. Paul Public Schools cafeteria supervisor, Philando Castile, in early July, touching off rounds of protests in Minnesota and elsewhere.

"We need forms of policing that are supportive of the community, and not seeking to dominate and exercise violence over the community," Stein said.

The 66-year-old Harvard-educated doctor visited Minnesota on Tuesday, hoping to build support for her long-shot presidential bid. She attended a rally in south Minneapolis and, in the evening, participated in a community forum hosted by Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC).

Stein is hoping to attract former supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to her campaign.

Those gathered at the forum seemed receptive to Stein's economic message and her appeals to elect candidates outside of the country's two major parties.

On the economy, she said she favors a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour, an issue now being debated in Minneapolis, where NOC is among the groups involved in a lawsuit seeking to have the issue decided by voters in November.

Earlier this summer, Stein stoked controversy when she seemed to question regulatory agencies' approval of vaccinations in a Reddit online forum. She later said that she supported vaccinations and that her comments were misconstrued.

Anthony Newby, NOC's executive director, said Tuesday's forum was not intended to be an endorsement of any presidential candidate. Sanders attended a similar NOC forum in February. Newby said an invitation has been extended to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, as well.

In recent years, NOC has staked out a higher profile in Minnesota, actively working with local and state officials to draw attention to glaring racial disparities in the state. In a first, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari attended a forum with NOC earlier this month.

In Minnesota, the Greens have worked in recent weeks to submit at least 2,000 signatures by Aug. 23 so Stein can appear on the ballot this fall. The party on Monday submitted about 6,700 signatures to the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office.

A grass-roots organization, the Minnesota Green Party relies largely on a small network of volunteers to fuel its mission of protecting the environment, defeating corporate spending in politics and advocating for liberal stances on social issues. Participation has fluctuated over the years. Fundraising is tough because the party does not accept corporate donations.

Despite the uphill battle to be taken seriously, the Greens historically have found Minnesota — which elected Jesse Ventura as governor — to be more receptive to third parties.

The party once enjoyed major-party designation, when former presidential candidate Ralph Nader won more than 5 percent of the vote in the state. That designation affords party candidates automatic ballot access. The distinction does away with the time-consuming task of gathering signatures to make a state's ballot.

Ricardo Lopez • 651-925-5044