Global Information2020 Minneapolis park encampments information
 Encampment in Powderhorn Park, July 20, 2020 | |
| Duration | June 10, 2020 – January 7, 2021[1] |
|---|---|
| Venue | Minneapolis parks and public property |
| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
| Also known as | "Sanctuary sites" |
| Type | Tent city |
| Cause |
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| Budget |
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| Organised by | Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board |
| Participants | Volunteers |
| Outcome | Permitted encampments closed January 7, 2021;[5] permits not renewed for 2021[2] |
| Deaths |
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| Website | www |
The U.S. city of Minneapolis featured officially and unofficially designated camp sites in city parks for people experiencing homelessness that operated from June 10, 2020, to January 7, 2021.[1] The emergence of encampments on public property in Minneapolis was the result of pervasive homelessness, mitigations measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota, local unrest after the murder of George Floyd, and local policies that permitted encampments.[8] At its peak in the summer of 2020, there were thousands of people camping at dozens of park sites across the city. Many of the encampment residents came from outside of Minneapolis to live in the parks.[1] By the end of the permit experiment, four people had died in the city's park encampments,[1] including the city's first homicide victim of 2021, who was stabbed to death inside a tent at Minnehaha Park on January 3, 2021.[9]
The encampment crisis grew out of civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, while under arrest by a Derek Chauvin, a White officer from the Minneapolis Police Department on Memorial Day on May 25, 2020. A period of intense protests, riots, and property destruction from May 26 to 30, 2020—largely concentrated on East Lake Street in Minneapolis—resulted in the deployment of the Minnesota National Guard and nightly curfews to keep demonstrators off the streets. Though homeless people were exempt from curfew orders, volunteers helped about 200 unsheltered persons take up residence at an unoccupied Sheraton Hotel in the city's Midtown neighborhood.[10] After several overdoses, one death, violence, and fires, occupants of the hotel were evicted by the hotel's owner, and volunteers helped establish an encampment in the city's Powderhorn Park. Growth of the Powderhorn Park encampment and several safety issues resulted in controversy, and by July 2020 the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board established a permit process to restrict the size of camps.[11]
By mid July 2020, the situation was described as having grown out of the control of park board officials, as encampments spread to unpermitted park sites and other locations throughout the city. Like the camp at Powderhorn Park, many other camp sites had shootings, rampant drug use, sexual assaults, sex trafficking, and other safety issues.[12][13][11][1] The city's social programs attempted to connect people experiencing homeless with services, including establishing three new shelters, but shelter beds remained available during the project. City officials adopted a de-escalation for disbanding camps due to the ongoing civil unrest, and when they attempted to remove tents at non-permitted sites, they faced opposition from a sanctuary movement and protest groups.[14]
Encampments appeared at 44 park sites during the summer months, according to the park board, or at as many as 55 park sites, according to news media reports.[15][1] Park board officials set a deadline to close all encampments by October 2020, and then shifted the deadline to before the onset of freezing temperatures brought on by winter weather. Fifty-three tents, however, remained at three encampments by early December 2020 as some encampment residents declined available shelter space.[16] It was not until January 7, 2021, that the last official encampment, at the city's Minnehaha Park, closed.[1][9][2]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (April 2021). "Superintendent's Annual Report 2020 Rising to Challenges During a Pandemic". www.minneapolisparks.org. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
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:32was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Schroven, Kay (2020-08-17). "Shrinking sanctuary encampment at Powderhorn Park?". Southside Pride.
- ^ a b Staff (2021-01-03). "Man's death at Minneapolis homeless encampment under investigation". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
- ^ Otárola, Miguel (4 June 2020). "Volunteers turned former Sheraton Hotel in Minneapolis into sanctuary for homeless". Star Tribune.
- ^ a b Otárola, Miguel (22 July 2020). "Minneapolis Park Board clears one of the Powderhorn homeless encampments". Star Tribune. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
- ^ Sepic, Matt (2020-07-16). "Minneapolis Park Board approves smaller encampments". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:162was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Otárola, Miguel (3 September 2020). "Encampment returns to Wall of Forgotten Natives, bringing call to action from Indigenous leaders". Star Tribune.
- ^ Gray, Callan (2020-08-06). "More encampments emerging in Minneapolis as Park Board pushes for action". KSTP. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ Miguel Otárola, Miguel Otárola (2020-12-07). "Despite cold and Park Board pleas, homeless camps persist in three Minneapolis parks". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-12-11.