The soft-on-teen-crime policies adopted by Twin Cities prosecutors are taking a toll on public safety and resulting in the predictable consequence of increasingly emboldened crimes and incidents.
Teens have been wreaking havoc in Minneapolis and the Twin Cities for months with crimes that include auto thefts, robberies, carjackings, gunfire, targeted attacks, fights, assaults, and even several murders.
Mayhem and violence involving teens has continued nearly every weekend in the Dinkytown area of Minneapolis near the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus for over a month. In a four-day violence spree the first weekend in May, several people were assaulted or robbed in targeted attacks by mobs of teens, some captured on video.
#Dinkytown stomp.#UMN pic.twitter.com/RaN2tHQqA3
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) May 6, 2023
Very few arrests or detainments were made following that violent spree, and Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara stated in a subsequent community meeting that the teens involved were from the “wealthy suburbs,” not Minneapolis.
Incidents continued in the Dinkytown area through May, and the teen mob activity has stretched into the first two weekends in June as well. Video surfaced of teens lighting fireworks on June 4 in front of a Dinkytown pizza restaurant.
This was early Sunday June 4, 2023, outside Frank and Andreas in #Dinkytown.
From the sender:
"50 Somalians fighting, racing, throwing rocks, fireworks and everything."#UMN pic.twitter.com/F92S4OC6Vl— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) June 12, 2023
And just this past weekend there were continued reports of groups of teens harassing and shooting fireworks at people in Dinkytown. One 17-year-old, believed to be one of the suspects, reportedly lost fingers when a firework mortar blew up in his hand around 3 a.m. Saturday.
The Minneapolis Police Department has made a point of saying they’re beefing up weekend patrols in Dinkytown, but it’s unclear exactly what the patrols entail. For example, police have clearly observed large groups of teens in the area during late night and early morning hours, according to dispatch audio and other information, yet it remains unclear whether curfew arrests or dispersal efforts are being attempted, at the very least.
The mayhem and disruptions by teens have not been limited to Dinkytown.
In late May there was a stabbing and shots fired at Washburn High School in Minneapolis during a Somali Culture Night event.
Last weekend, the Brooklyn Park Police Department released a statement about large disturbances at city parks involving hundreds of “young people.”
On Monday night, St. Paul’s Central High School graduation ceremony was disrupted by fights involving a large number of people that elicited a significant law enforcement response.
Just this week, information was released stating that auto thefts are double what they were at this time last year in Minneapolis with a whopping 4,125 so far this year.
In response, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has unveiled a strategy involving a collaboration between social workers and law enforcement that she hopes will start to curb youth auto theft incidents. She said the plan will provide a special hotline that families can call to get emotional support between the hours of 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. and would include expanded “culturally specific services” in some cases in the hope of stabilizing at-risk youth.
– – –
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.
