It’s Time to Build Community • Minnesota Reformer

Since I started talking about the attack on our family home, St. Anne’s Place, and the substandard police response, much of the conversation has of course been about police work.

But that’s not the conversation I think we should be having. The tragic attack on St Anne’s Place should not be reduced to an argument about policing.

Into theThat’s why we must all first examine how something like the St. Anne’s Place attack could even happen – and resolve to do the hard work of community building to prevent it from happening again.

So let’s look at what happened.

On September 5, more than half a dozen people from neighboring homes attacked guests and staff at the St. Anne’s Place shelter. destroyed two doors with a baseball bat; attempted to enter the shelter; shot at and destroyed a guest’s vehicle; and threatened to kill the women and children inside.

The Minneapolis police officers called to the scene were contemptuous of the victims, disrespectful of staff and guests, and offered comfort and reassurance to the attackers. No arrests were made that night or the following days, although staff were willing to give statements and there was clear camera footage identifying the attackers.

Neighbors felt emboldened by MPD’s lack of response and continued to threaten and harass families and staff through Thursday evening and Friday. When People Serving People attempted to relocate one of the affected families to a nearby hotel, neighbors followed and attempted to harm them.

It was only after I called six city council members, the mayor and the media that police took the incident seriously and made two arrests weeks after the incident.

Meanwhile, St. Anne’s Place was temporarily closed. Sixteen families experiencing homelessness were displaced. Our already overstretched shelter network is housing 16 fewer families than before the attack.

Through it all, I asked myself, “Why? What was the point? What led to the anger of the neighbors and the indifference of the police?”

I know this isn’t just about a few bad actors. It’s not just a few neighbors who have overreacted to the lack of on-street parking. It’s about more than incompetent and biased police work. The attack at St Anne’s Place and the dismissive police response are symptoms of a broken community.

Our support cannot prevent such incidents in the future or Abolition of the police. The families and guests who were at St. Anne’s Place that evening will not feel safe in the community because there are more or fewer police officers.

A sense of security – public safety – comes from community. By knowing who our neighbors are and telling them that we are there for them, no matter who they are and whether they are housed or unhoused.

At People Serving People, we demand justice for the families and staff who were attacked at St. Anne’s Place. However, justice does not come through arrests. The arrests are just a small step toward making families and guests feel safe after an attack.

Justice will come when we as a community stop treating families and other homeless people as second-class citizens. When our policies, language, and attitudes toward homelessness no longer dehumanize those without stable housing. When we no longer tolerate an environment in which people experiencing homelessness are viewed as less deserving of protection and dignity. If instead we treat them like the neighbors they are and we claim they are.

At People Serving People, we will do the full work of restorative justice with our neighbors at St. Anne’s Place, with those who watched the attack and did nothing, and, if they are willing, with the perpetrators themselves. We will be with City officials and police come together to have difficult but necessary conversations about what it means to be a good neighbor and a just community.

We also demand a deeper reckoning in our city. We encourage each of you to take a look. We all live together here, regardless of whether we are accommodated or not. If we want to be safe and feel safe in our community, we must look out for each other on both a personal and political level.

Get to know your neighbors. Help out if they need help. Speak up when you see injustice. Elect leaders who will create more affordable housing, promote public safety, and create a safety net that works for all of us.

Let’s build a new kind of community. Instead of simply fighting over the systems we have in place, let’s focus our attention on building the system we all deserve. After all, we are all neighbors, no matter where we lay our heads at night.