One member of the Minneapolis City Council has accused the officers who shot Andrew “Tekle” Sundberg of “murder.”
Robin Wonsley, a Democratic Socialist who represents Minneapolis Ward 2, penned a statement Wednesday where she began by informing supporters that the city’s police department would be releasing body-camera footage of Sundberg’s “murder.”
“The amount of trauma associated with this moment is massive,” Wonsley continued. “Tekle’s loss of life was preventable. The trauma of his neighbors prior to and following his killing was preventable. The trauma of his family and the community was preventable. We all deserve a city and a public safety system that cares for Black and brown people and prevents these traumas. Creating that system has been my priority since I took office and it continues to be.”
The released body-camera footage compiles angles from various officers, but none of them clearly shows the shooting that led to Sundberg’s death around 4:30 a.m. on July 14. According to sources speaking to Alpha News, Minneapolis Police Department snipers shot Sundberg dead after he pointed a gun out of the window of his apartment.
Six hours prior to Sundberg’s death a mother with two young children, Arabella Foss-Yarbrough, had called the police reporting Sundberg was shooting into her apartment. Foss-Yarbrough later confronted protesters who were demonstrating against Sundberg’s death.
“My kids have to deal with this and probably have a mental illness now because they almost lost their lives. There’s bullet holes in my kitchen because he sat in the f–ing hallway watching me move,” she said. “He tried to kill me in front of my kids.”
Wonsley also used her statement to criticize “dozens” of Minneapolis police officers for telling a group of encamped homeless individuals to leave an area.
“Despite various Council Members’ attempts to develop a standardized, humane, and effective response to homelessness, City leaders are continuing to respond to the social and economic needs of unhoused people with brutality that does not actually do anything to prevent homelessness,” Wonsley said.
“The city is doubling down on failed strategies. Our police still lack accountability from top to bottom,” she added.
Back in March, Wonsley, who is working on a PhD in “Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies” from the University of Minnesota, said she wanted to “imagine a city without police.”
“I’m introducing a motion for staff to explore what a Dept of Public Safety without police could look like, and create proposals for the community to discuss & shape,” she tweeted on March 22. “DPS would centralize & better resource non-police public safety like mental health and social services.”
She added in a follow-up tweet that “it’s become glaringly clear that MPD is incapable of providing an equitable & safe model of public safety for all of our residents.”
Evan Stambaugh
Evan Stambaugh is a freelance writer who had previously been a sports blogger. He has a BA in theology and an MA in philosophy.
