Star Tribune
Spree of Minneapolis homeless encampment shootings reignites debate on response philosophies
A wave of shootings at homeless encampments at Minneapolis in recent weeks, leaving four people dead and at least four more seriously injured, has relit a long-simmering clash between city officials and advocates over one of the city’s most vexing problems.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other city leaders say the spree of shootings and other violence associated with encampments is driven by the drug fentanyl. Advocates who regularly provide outreach to the local unhoused community say the greater focus should be directed at the fundamental causes of homelessness if the city has any hope of solving the public safety problems at the camps.
Three shootings have occurred in three south Minneapolis encampments over a span of two weeks. On Friday, a man and woman were shot in an encampment in the 2200 block of Cedar Avenue S. close to Hiawatha Avenue.
“It’s an ongoing tragedy in our city, and we are seeing gun violence play out in many, many places, and particularly neighborhoods less resourced and communities of color that are bearing that gun violence,” said John Tribbett, a service area director with the nonprofit Avivo which operates a tiny home village inside a North Loop warehouse for people experiencing homelessness.
Around 13% of all crime in the city’s Third Precinct, and 19% of that area’s gun violence, happens within 500 feet of encampments, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said in late October. He and Frey were holding a news conference close to one of the shooting scenes. At the time, Frey told reporters that crime near encampments is “not about a lack of shelter” or “even most of the time about a lack of housing.” The mayor said drug trafficking and drug use at encampments have been the largest factors.
“Is (fentanyl) the only thing? Of course not, but it is a major driver,” Frey said in an interview days after the shooting. “I think we’ve got to be honest, and we’ve got to be real about it, otherwise we’re not going to make progress on the issue.”
According to Frey, encampments can also be a site for human trafficking.
The recent shootings have rattled nearby homeowners and renters, some of whom said they have been scared to leave their homes. Quantina Jones, who lives near the site of the triple fatal shooting that happened Oct. 27 close to the train tracks on Snelling Avenue, said she would frequently find drug paraphernalia left on her property, witness public defecation and hear gunshots.
The vacant Marktplatz Mall in New Ulm, Minn., caught on fire in Wednesday’s early morning hours.
The entire roof of the mall was billowing smoke when firefighters arrived at 4:21 a.m., New Ulm Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Wilfahrt said Thursday.
Clothing, couches, chairs and household items were burning inside the mall, which has sat empty for six years, Wilfahrt said.
The blaze was difficult to fight as first responders did not know where it started, but crews from New Ulm, Sleepy Eye and Courtland helped get the flames under control within an hour and a half, he said.
The fire remained largely confined to the roof and did not spread into the structure, Wilfahrt said. There were no injuries.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, he added.
Marktplatz Mall has been closed as a retail space since 2018 after the Herberger’s store closed. The building has sat empty for nearly six years.
“I am growing tired of how you allow Black women to be treated on this council,” she said.
Payne said he allows Vetaw to talk more in an attempt to be “extra sensitive” to the concerns she’s raised with him.
“Do something about it. Be better,” Vetaw replied. “I’m sick of it.”
When the resolution passed a committee last week, Frey said he has long supported “a labor standards board that is fair and balanced, but the City Council’s proposal is not.” The mayor’s office said he would support a board with a 50/50 split between employers and employees, a 50/50 split between mayoral and council appointments to the board, and a requirement that at least two-thirds of the board members support a recommended policy before it can advance to the City Council, rather than a simple majority. The resolution does not include those provisions.
The resolution was supported by council members Jeremiah Ellison, Emily Koski, Andrea Jenkins, Aurin Chowdhury, Katie Cashman, Jamal Osman, Aisha Chughtai, Jason Chavez and Elliott Payne. It was opposed by Linea Palmisano, Michael Rainville and LaTrisha Vetaw. Council Member Robin Wonsley was absent.
Jeremy Olson-Ehlert, Janell Johnson Thiele and Mariah Tunkara, leaders of the Minnesota Nurses Association unit representing 1,661 nurses at HCMC, said in a statement that adding workforce representatives to the board was a good step. But they questioned why workers didn’t get to pick their board representatives instead of management.
“When labor and workforce seats are added to employer committees, the unions that represent the workers elect or select the candidates so that workers can choose those they trust to represent their views,” their statement said. “In this instance, however, that didn’t happen.”
Jeremy Olson-Ehlert, a registered nurse and a co-chair of the Minnesota Nurses Association at HCMC, spoke during a press conference at Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis in April. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
They pledged to work with the new board members, but added that union members still have deep concerns about DeCubellis, who they say “continues to disrespect workers and undermine labor unions at every turn.”
The increased scrutiny from county leaders didn’t sit well with everyone in the hospital system’s leadership. But DeCubellis said the partnership helped hospital leaders find new ways the county can help the health system weather challenging times, especially for hospitals with a safety-net mission of serving everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.
For instance, county leaders have committed to a $10 million increase in uncompensated care funding for a total of $38 million annually.
