Minneapolis begins clearing Nenookaasi homeless encampment
MINNEAPOLIS — The city of Minneapolis began clearing a controversial homeless encampment in Minneapolis' Ventura Village neighborhood Thursday.
Camp Nenookaasi sits on a city-owned lot on 13th Avenue South and East 23rd Street. As of Thursday morning, about 160 people called the camp home.
People who lived at the camp filed a lawsuit against the city to stop Thursday's closure in hopes of buying more time to get residents the help they need, but their efforts were denied as a judge ruled Wednesday the city could move forward with its plans.
Minneapolis police officers began shutting down the encampment around 11:30 a.m. It's been a busy day at the camp filled with a lot of emotion from both residents of the encampment and neighbors who are angry that the camp was allowed to grow unchecked.
"We were told that long-term solutions were on the table and what happened? An eviction showed up," camp organizer Nicole Mason said. "It's not right. A lot of things have been promised, and then taken away and shown with an eviction. That's not a solution. The people don't want to live like this. They want permanent housing."
Community, neighbors, faith leaders and elected officials gathered earlier in the morning for a breakfast and prayer vigil ahead of the closure. Residents began packing up their things before the city arrived.
"I was supposed to go and sign a lease today for my apartment and I've been waiting in my tent all day and my worker didn't show up to bring me to my appointment," Marissa, who lived at the camp, said.
After police began clearing Camp Nenookaasi, some residents began setting up at a new location just blocks away. The Minneapolis Police Department told WCCO it had no comment on the new site.
"As seen today with some encampment residents moving to a new site, the City alone does not have the resources available to address multiple encampment sites at once," Minneapolis officials said in a statement. "The City and its residents are seeing first-hand the reason there needs to be a coordinated approach between the City, County, and State – the City cannot do this work on its own. All government entities must work together to address the movement of our unsheltered residents and the long-term provision of shelter, housing, and social services."
Hundreds of people have lived at the camp since last August.
The camp was originally supposed to close on Dec. 14 but then got delayed to Dec. 19, which then got delayed until Thursday.
The city cites a number of reasons for the closure, including a fatal shooting that happened at Nenookaasi in December. The Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors has also expressed their concern to city officials about the safety of encampments.
Oscar Ramos Morales, who lives near the camp, said his family is ready to move.
"It's not safe for this neighborhood because there's families with kids," he said. "If they keep doing this again, everybody is going to be moving out of their houses."
The city says 104 people have been connected to housing and shelter.
Camp leaders had encouraged people to park in a circle around the camp Thursday as a last effort to protect it.
Once the encampment is closed, the city plans to start developing the area in order to build a new community center.
The Indigenous Peoples Task Force has a redevelopment agreement with the city for the site to construct the Mikwanedun Audisookon Art and Wellness Center.
