U of M officials silent as victims of fireworks attacks surface and outrage grows

One brief safety alert was sent out by the university early Sunday morning. No other public statements have come forth from university officials since the attacks.

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Crime Watch MN
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fireworks
A female victim suffered second-degree burns from a firework assault at the University of Minnesota Saturday night. (Photo provided to Crime Watch Minneapolis)

Warning: Graphic photos of injuries

“I spent 8 hours in the ER where pieces of debris had to be cut out of my wounds. I am sick that the university is not giving this incident the attention it deserves.”

Those were the words of one victim who asked to remain anonymous. She said she was on the patio of the Sigma Chi fraternity around 12:15 a.m. Sunday when a firework was thrown onto the patio from the street. An ambulance was called for her at the time, but she said that as of Tuesday she had not been contacted by police since the original report. She also has not been contacted at all by the University of Minnesota since the incident, she told Crime Watch Minneapolis in a private message.

Another victim told Crime Watch that she sustained second-degree burns in a separate fireworks assault (top photo).

“I was struck by the fireworks Saturday night and there is absolutely no information about this and the police or investigators haven’t contacted me since that night,” she said.

Victim 1 firework injures from U of M area attacks (Submitted to Crime Watch Minneapolis)

Those were just two of several reports of fireworks attacks or assaults aired over police dispatch Friday and Saturday nights. The attacks were reportedly perpetrated by groups of males who targeted people and buildings on frat row, Dinkytown and other areas surrounding the university campus in the weekend spree.

There were specific reports both Friday and Saturday of groups targeting the frat houses with fireworks.

In the midst of the late Friday/early Saturday morning attacks, an officer relayed to dispatch that a witness told him the mob of attackers had threatened to assault or kill people at the fraternities. Audio of that dispatch exchange can be heard here.

Just after 1 a.m. Sunday, there was a report of a group trying to kick in a door and throw fireworks on the 1200 block of 7th Street Southeast. The dispatcher aired that about 100 people were involved and that some people had been injured. When police arrived, they said they found a person with a concussion from an assault.

Around 3 a.m. Sunday, four people reportedly called 911 from Pioneer Hall and said they had been injured by fireworks outside a pizza restaurant in Dinkytown. There had been at least two reports aired over dispatch prior to that of fireworks being thrown at people.

A surveillance video surfaced on Twitter Monday that showed a group outside the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house on the 1600 block of University Avenue Southeast. In the beginning of the video, a police car seems to pass by the location where the group appears to be trying to force entry into the building. One person in the center of the frame is holding what appears to be a large machete. One person can be seen lighting and throwing fireworks at the building before the group flees the area on foot.

One brief safety alert was sent out by the university early Sunday morning that referenced two fireworks assaults but gave very few additional details. No other public statements have come forth from university officials since the attacks.

The attacks had received very little media attention as of Monday night, but as the victim photos surfaced online, outrage grew. One U of M watchdog group demanded that the university “end your silence and commit to doing better!”

A U of M parents’ group on Facebook also began posting about the incidents. One parent said, “We are all up in arms about what happened this weekend.”

Another parent said, “After this weekend’s chaos of crime on campus, I think it’s time for thousands of parents and students to organize a peaceful protest marching down University Avenue …”

Ironically, the University of Minnesota Public Safety Department posted about a “safety walk” in the midst of some of the incident reports early Saturday morning but made no reference to the incidents.

There was at least one report Monday night of a firecracker thrown at someone from a vehicle in the area of 15th Avenue Southeast and 5th Street Southeast in the Dinkytown area.

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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.

 

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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.

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