Uptown Incident Raises Concerns Over Private Security

Racial Reckoning: The Arc of Justice

A video taken Wednesday night shows several armed men assaulting a woman in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. The men refused to identify themselves to bystanders, but appeared to be acting as security for Seven Points, formerly known as Calhoun Square.

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Feven Gerezgiher reports:

A video taken Wednesday night shows several armed men assaulting a woman in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. The men refused to identify themselves to bystanders, but appeared to be acting as security for Seven Points, formerly known as Calhoun Square.

At a press conference Thursday the woman, who identified herself as Hayley, said she was questioning the men when they punched her in the head, put her in a chokehold, and tried to arrest her.

Activists had gathered in Uptown Wednesday night after private contractors and Minneapolis police removed a memorial for Winston Smith Jr and Deona Marie Erickson. Though the owners of Seven Points initially supported the protest space, they said in a statement that it had led to an “unsustainable and unhealthy situation”.

Racial justice activist Dizzy filmed the incident. “This is why we say people over property,” she said at Thursday’s press conference. “Y'all will protect a public parking garage before you protect a human body.”

Dizzy said she found it alarming that unidentified white men in tactical gear were carrying what appeared to be assault rifles in Uptown.

CAIR-Minnesota’s Jaylani Hussein said it’s about corporate greed.

“They want everyone to forget that Winston Smith was killed here, after he had lunch with his girlfriend in Stella's,” he said. “They want to delete that Deona Marie was killed right here…They took down a peaceful garden of all things, a peaceful garden. Why? Because the businesses in this community do not care about black lives, or any lives that do not bring back to them some wealth.”

Hussein says despite the barriers, people will not stop coming to Uptown to seek justice.