Minneapolis Spirals Downward

When Americans think of failed cities, places like Portland, Seattle, Detroit and Baltimore come to mind. But Minneapolis is, at a minimum, flirting with a similar status. The problem is out-of-control crime. Last Saturday night, six people were shot in Minneapolis, including a nine-year-old girl. Alpha News has the straight story:

A nine-year-old Minneapolis girl is in the hospital after she was struck by gunfire over the weekend, making her the second child to be shot in the city in under a month.

The girl was shot in the head while she played with friends on a trampoline around 8:30 p.m. Saturday on the 2200 block of Ilion Avenue North. According to Minneapolis police spokesperson John Elder, someone in a red, four-door Ford fired at the house where the girl was playing, KARE 11 reported.

Crime Watch Minneapolis reported that someone from the house ran outside and returned fire. Police transported the girl to North Memorial Hospital where she was in “very critical condition” as of Sunday.

Police officers are coming under attack by criminals:

Multiple police officers were injured throughout the night while responding to calls. In one case, officers were maced by someone with a “party can” of pepper spray when responding to a stabbing around 2:15 a.m. outside the Pourhouse on Hennepin Avenue, according to Crime Watch Minneapolis.

Two officers were taken to the hospital about an hour earlier when a group of street racers threw rocks at the first responders.

Civic authorities can no longer ignore the chaotic situation in Minneapolis. On Monday, Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo made a public appearance to address safety issues. The police chief pleaded with local judges to stop releasing violent criminals back onto the streets:


Arradondo also acknowledged that his department is short of officers, being down by about one-third. The Minneapolis City Charter includes a provision requiring the city to maintain a police force of at least a certain number, as a percentage of the city’s population. A lawsuit has been brought by the Upper Midwest Law Center on behalf of residents of a high-crime area of the city, alleging that the current administration is violating that requirement.

Far-left City Council President Lisa Bender attended the Mayor and Police Chief’s press conference and found it puzzling. Incredibly, she still thinks the problem that needs to be addressed in Minneapolis is “police violence”:

Minneapolis is in desperate trouble, and there is no sign that the people now running the city have any ability to solve the city’s problems.

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