MINNEAPOLIS — For the third time in a month, Minneapolis police have cleared an encampment on the south side of the city. The most recent removal, located between homes near the intersection of 16th Avenue S and E 22nd Street, comes just days after another encampment was removed a few blocks away.
That former site is now filled with concrete debris, blocked off by a fence to keep people out.
"A lot of disbelief, and lot of disheartenment," Audrianna Goodwin, a volunteer with the camp, said, speaking about Thursday's removal.
This comes just a day after the Minneapolis Public Safety Committee met to discuss the remnants of Camp Nenookaasi, where this camp originally came from.
"My word is disgusting," Nicole Mason, an organizer with the camp, said. "It's disgusting how they're treating people."
At that meeting, City Council members questioned Mason on reports of safety issues.
"This was brought to the table because I started living in that camp," Mason said at Wednesday's meeting.
"The problem is, what about the people around there, Nicole," Councilmember LaTresha Vetaw responded. "What about the people around the camp?"
Thursday, we asked Community Safety Commissioner Toddrick Barnette about those concerns.
"Where the encampment is, we had one 911 call in 30 days," he said. "In the last 48 hours, we've had seven 911 calls for that area."
Barnette says the city has continuously tried to provide beds and resources to those in the camp, but few have taken that offer.
"I know sometimes people aren't ready," Barnette said. "They're just not ready, but that doesn't mean that we don't make that offer every time."
Goodwin says they listen to those in the camp for how they're feeling about shelters.
"I think we listen to the relatives," Goodwin said. "We listen to what people say about shelter spaces and we honor how people feel in those spaces."
As for the next steps, Barnette says they're open to a change in their approach.
"We're trying to figure out is there a different way we can do this where we can be successful, and we don't have to close an encampment," he said.
Those living in the camp say they plan to keep doing what they're doing, and taking care of themselves.
"I'm going to protect the relatives day in and day out," Mason said. "Come evict tomorrow, come evict the next day, I'm gonna keep going."
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