Chaos erupted in several areas in and near downtown Minneapolis on the Fourth of July, with people in cars launching fireworks in the streets at other people and into buildings. That was after eight people were shot at Boom Island Park.
Speaking Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Jacob Frey called those events reckless.
“This kind of garbage cannot be tolerated in any city,” said Mayor Frey. “And it's our job to make sure that it doesn't take place here in Minneapolis.”
Pushing back on calls that they should have been at those scenes sooner, Minneapolis police said the amount of calls received in a seven hour span overnight into Tuesday rivaled what they would see in a full 24-hour period on a regular day.
Given that, Minneapolis police leaders thought officers responded as best they could according to Deputy Police Chief Erick Fors.
“I think the officers did the best job they could in order to restore order to the area in a way that minimized the amount of injury,” Fors explained.
Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman said it was extremely challenging.
“It was a very large and hostile crowd, and the primary response from the officers was to restore order using the least amount of force necessary,” Huffman said.
Retired former St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell spoke to Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News Wednesday and said it is clear the city needs more police officers.
“Certainly more officers and more people out and about in the community does help,” said Axtell. “Criminals don’t like one thing, they don’t like witnesses. So any time you have more people out in the street it helps.”
Axtell also says the issues cities including Minneapolis have had prosecuting criminals is not helping stop bad behavior.
“If you have this sense that there’s no accountability when you do get locked up for a violent act, it’s going to continue,” Axtell explains.
Video posted to social media Monday night shows cars racing down South 2nd Street between Portland and Central Avenue in downtown Minneapolis shooting fireworks.
Meanwhile, Minneapolis Park Police reported on Tuesday that eight people were hospitalized after gunfire broke out around 11:30 p.m. Monday when crowds gathered at Boom Island to celebrate the Fourth of July despite there not being any formal Independence Day gatherings or fireworks.
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Minneapolis Park Police asked that anyone with information on the shooting call the department at (612) 230-6550.
Frey called the night "a game of whack-a-mole” and said the city cannot tolerate this behavior.
Huffman says the city will focus on preventing large groups from gathering.
“Prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Huffman says. “So we will be working both from the city side and I know from the Park side, to look at ways to prevent large groups from gathering in these areas where I know it causes so much trouble.”
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