Facilitating Demonstrations

"You have the right to peacefully demonstrate, but you can't block traffic, and oops we disappeared the sidewalk."

Blong Yang's Embarrassing Sham of a Public Hearing

Minneapolis Police cleared out the protesters from street in front of the 4th Precinct this morning. Below is an account of the public hearing that was carefully orchestrated to justify it.

Yesterday, the Minneapolis City Council's Public Safety Committee took up the seemingly routine procedural matter of amending their meeting agenda. Council Member Palmisano--with a wink and a nod from committee chair Blong Yang who represents the area that includes the 4th Precinct--proposed they allow public testimony regarding the ongoing protests occurring in front of the 4th Precinct over the shooting of an unarmed man named Jamar Clark. This last minute addition to the agenda made it practically impossible to give testimony on the topic unless you were already present for the meeting.

Fortunately for opponents of the 4th Precinct protest, committee chair Blong Yang (and presumably others on the committee) made sure to invite a specially selected group to give testimony painting a uniformly negative picture of the protest (complaints of traffic, parking, crime, smoke, drugs, drinking, etc). The committee's lone voice of dissent was CM Cam Gordon, who worried "if we take up this topic now, what about people who would have come if they knew they had an opportunity to give public comment and may not actually be here now?"

Students Purposely Excluded from Some Neighborhood Boards

There was an article yesterday in the Minnesota Daily (a student newspaper) with the subhead: "Few students apply to neighborhood board organizations in Minneapolis." I was surprised to see the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA) characterized as one of the two "best at involving students in decision-making." This can't be true because, unlike the vast majority of Minneapolis neighborhood organizations, MHNA has written policies into their bylaws that appear designed to exclude students from the process.

White Terrorism Becomes Cliche

White gunman stalks Muslim woman in Texas last week.

Last Monday night, four men showed up to the Black Lives Matter protest outside the Minneapolis Police Department's 4th Precinct and shot five unarmed black protesters. This was after a week of similar visits from white men—armed with guns, cameras, and racist commentary—streaming live video to the internet for the entertainment of their fellow racists.

It’s become a cliche after such attacks to ask overly timid headline writers, "What if the white guy with a gun was a brown guy with a gun?" When armed men in masks menace unarmed civilians; when these men post video of themselves delivering hate-filled messages and flashing weapons; when this ends in a mass shooting... This describes an act of terrorism.

Uptown Secures 50 More Years of Drive-Thru Banking

A Google search for "do people still go inside banks?" shows that, for some of us, physical banks are a thing of the past. Which means you might not be aware of the dangers of car-free banking. Read on, for a story every parent should see.

Better Know a Pumpkin: Andrew Johnson

I took Ward 12 Council Member, and recent jack-o'-lantern, Andrew Johnson on a historic walking tour of our very historic Lowry Hill East Historic District. He agreed that it is a beautiful neighborhood and that it should never change. Afterwards he sat for a series of softball questions in Mueller Park.

Great Moments in "Oops, I Missed My Turn"

Sometimes buildings get in the way.

No helmet, no reflective clothing. smh. https://t.co/1kC6Z4GLoM

— § (@section_sign) November 1, 2015

A driver crashed a vehicle into the dry cleaner at 2500 Hennepin early Sunday morning. It's happened before, in far more spectacular fashion, just one block north. In 2005, the driver of a van nearly demolished the building at 2400 Hennepin (which still houses Sudz Salon, as well as newer occupant Spyhouse Coffee). 

News coverage of the 2005 crash reprinted below—as always, without permission.