A report by WCCO TV last month led viewers to believe that two “transgender women” were attacked in a bias-motivated incident in downtown Minneapolis as a result of the perpetrators being emboldened just days after the election of President-elect Donald Trump.
However, surveillance video of the incident recently obtained by Crime Watch Minneapolis appears to contradict WCCO’s framing of the incident as an unprovoked attack and casts doubt on the account of the event as relayed by the alleged victims.
WCCO aired the story by reporter Kirsten Mitchell on Nov. 18, a week after the alleged attack on Nov. 10 at 5th Street and Hennepin Avenue, near a Metro Transit LRT platform.
Mitchell filmed her report from a rally that was held by several trans rights activists at the site of the alleged attack. WCCO’s report said the attack was “fueling anxiety, fear, and more among the trans community since the election.”
The two alleged victims, described as trans women who had recently moved to Minnesota from Iowa, were not shown or interviewed in the WCCO report, but Mitchell relayed that the two claimed they had been “attacked by a group of men at a light rail station after one [man] hurled transphobic slurs at them.”
Amber Muhm, a “trans community specialist” with the Aliveness Project, was interviewed in the piece and said that “people were cheering the attackers on while they were getting beaten.”
Mitchell said during the report that Minneapolis police were investigating the incident, but had yet to make any arrests. Muhm referenced police by saying, “they need to step up because this keeps happening, and it’s ridiculous, and it’s unacceptable at this point.”
Minnesota State Rep. Leigh Finke was also at the rally and stated to WCCO that “a lot of people are moving to Minnesota” as a result of the “trans refuge” law that the Democratic controlled state legislature passed last year. The law prohibits the enforcement of court orders involving the removal of minors who travel to Minnesota for “gender-affirming care,” or laws from other states being applied or arrests being made here, among other provisions.
Finke told WCCO that people have expressed that they’re worried about how a Trump presidency will impact their lives; and Finke expects a “spike” in people moving to Minnesota following the election outcome.
Reporter Mitchell again reiterated that the “election and the recent attack [were] fueling renewed fear in the trans community.”
WCCO and Mitchell offered no suspect descriptions or video of the alleged attack that took place at an intersection with heavy video surveillance from both the city and Metro Transit.
However, Crime Watch obtained surveillance video late last week from the City of Minneapolis following a data request. A request for video was also made to Metro Transit, which denied that the incident took place on their property and declined to provide any video.
EXCLUSIVE: Crime Watch has obtained surveillance video from the Nov. 10 alleged attack on two "trans" people near 5th and Hennepin Ave in downtown Minneapolis.
Action takes place mostly in the upper left, much of it off camera.
One of the pair appears to respond to a provocation… pic.twitter.com/yGUiS0ACtj— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) December 13, 2024
In the video supplied by the city, two people presumed to be the alleged victims can be seen walking toward the LRT platform when they stop at the corner. One of the parties in dark clothing appears to drop their belongings and then charge at someone out of camera view, while the other party in a long skirt stood by.
After about a minute, the party who had charged out of view returned and picked up their things before the pair appeared to safely cross the street to the LRT platform. Once on the platform, the pair suddenly stopped and turned around and appeared to engage in a verbal exchange with someone out of camera view at the location they had just left. The party in dark clothing again put down their things and stomped back across the street to apparently engage with someone out of camera range. After several seconds, the party in the long skirt left the LRT platform and returned to the opposite corner, where they can be seen swinging a cane or stick at someone. Parts of a struggle or fight involving multiple people can then be seen, with both of the alleged victims eventually being knocked to the ground. The pair made it to their feet about two minutes later and proceeded again to the LRT platform, where the video ends.
Crime Watch also requested the official police report from MPD, but the request had not been fulfilled at the time of this report.
A report by Downtown Voices digital news indicated that police responded to HCMC to take the police report, where the two alleged victims were being treated for “injuries consistent with a physical altercation.”
Messages went unanswered from Rep. Finke, Muhm, and WCCO reporter Kirsten Mitchell requesting comment on the video that appears to show the alleged victims actively engaging in, or perhaps initiating, a violent encounter.
Alpha News will continue to follow any developments in this story.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
