A recent picture of Adrian
Adrian Riley's life was never easy. Growing up in Minneapolis in the 1980s into the mid-1990s, Adrian struggled with dyslexia that went undiagnosed and untreated for a number of years. As a result of his condition he struggled with school more than many of his peers. The school system unfortunately did not realize how much Adrian was struggling.
Unfortunately for Adrian, the mid-1990s provided young Black and Brown men -- especially in impoverished areas in large cities -- with ample opportunity to make money through less-than-legal means, often resorting to selling cocaine and crack cocaine. Adrian fell in with the Conservative Vice Lords when he was just 13 years old!
Conservative Vice Lords made Adrian feel seen and appreciated in a way that many adults and authority figures in his life had not. Adrian's story is not unique in this way - he is one of many thousands of Black and Brown men and boys that have been incarcerated as a result of America's War on Drugs and approach to policing in inner cities.
Conservative Vice Lords made Adrian feel seen and appreciated in a way that many adults and authority figures in his life had not. Adrian's story is not unique in this way - he is one of many thousands of Black and Brown men and boys that have been incarcerated as a result of America's War on Drugs and approach to policing in inner cities.
Now, at age 49 in 2025, Adrian admits that he wasn't open with his lawyer during his initial case and trial. The context for Adrian's decision was unfortunately lost in the details or was otherwise poorly understood. When Adrian was 16 years old Ed Harris, a leader in the Conservative Vice Lords, was murdered in cold blood in his home by other members of the Conservative Vice Lords for supposed (unconfirmed) cooperation with the police in the killing of Minneapolis police officer Jerome Haaf.
Knowing that the Conservative Vice Lords might kill him or his mother Mary, Adrian felt that when he was arrested for the triple homicide he was accused of committing that he could not -- in fact must not -- share *any* information with either the police investigators or his own lawyer. Confused by the pace and contents of all of the legal proceedings, Adrian never gained a feeling of complete trust with his lawyer at the time. In Adrian's mind, his own attorney could put him or Mary in jeopardy with the Vice Lords if he said too much.
Adrian simply refused to blame the actual murders out of the fear of retribution. When Mary arrived at the Hennepin County Jail where Adrian was being temporarily held pending transfer to a Carver County facility, Adrian told his mother at the time he was accused and arrested,
"Mom -- I've done a lot of stupid things in my life,
but murdering people wasn't one of them."
Mary has stood by Adrian's side for the 30 years since, despite being barred from entering the court room during Adrian's trial and sentencing. Adrian has filed a number of appeals and motions for relief throughout the past 3 decades since he was first arrested and convicted. One of the more noteworthy comments in an opinion from a 1997 appeal he filed is the phrase written by Justice Blatz:
"The case against Riley was substantially circumstantial."
Adrian simply refused to blame the actual murders out of the fear of retribution. When Mary arrived at the Hennepin County Jail where Adrian was being temporarily held pending transfer to a Carver County facility, Adrian told his mother at the time he was accused and arrested,
"Mom -- I've done a lot of stupid things in my life,
but murdering people wasn't one of them."
Mary has stood by Adrian's side for the 30 years since, despite being barred from entering the court room during Adrian's trial and sentencing. Adrian has filed a number of appeals and motions for relief throughout the past 3 decades since he was first arrested and convicted. One of the more noteworthy comments in an opinion from a 1997 appeal he filed is the phrase written by Justice Blatz:
"The case against Riley was substantially circumstantial."
