Neighbors near Minneapolis' Bde Maka Ska say they were under attack by fireworks-wielding youths
MINNEAPOLIS -- Neighbors on a small, tucked-away street in Minneapolis are describing the terror they felt on Tuesday night, the Fourth of July holiday.
For hours, their block near Lake Bde Maka Ska was overrun with hundreds of people setting off fireworks.
"Couldn't tell what was on fire or not on fire," said neighbor Erin Hewitt. "At some point, we thought our house was on fire. But it was just smoke and mayhem."
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Hewitt describes bushes being set on fire and fireworks exploding underneath cars.
"They were actually assaulting all of us, I mean the neighborhood," Hewitt said. "They were hitting cars, they were hitting buildings, and a few of us neighbors then came out to try to ask them to just go home, then we started getting attacked as well."
Another neighbor named Erin went outside with a hose to put the fires out.
"Their friends were saying horrible things like, 'Light the b—h up,' and then they were shooting them all at me," Erin said. "It was horrible."
Neighbors say law enforcement had trouble getting the crowd to leave.
"What are they gonna do getting out of their cars?" Hewitt said. "At this point, they're being attacked just as much as we were being attacked. They were using these fireworks as assault weapons, and what do we do?"
Police say they had extra patrols out and made more than a dozen arrests between the Bde Maka Ska area and Boom Island.
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Still, Hewitt and her neighbors feel it wasn't enough.
"We're a family," Erin said. "There's so many elderly in this neighborhood and we're all protective of that. This neighborhood's my heart."
In total, police made 16 arrests. Two teenagers are facing felonies for launching a barrage of fireworks at officers.
The police chief said no innocent bystanders were seriously hurt.