A violent takedown involving private security guards and a 22-year-old man outside a Metro Transit light rail station in Minneapolis is now the subject of at least one “active investigation” after 5 INVESTIGATES demanded answers about the incident.

The video starts with a verbal dispute between guards and the man, Elante Holston. The encounter suddenly turned physical when one of the guards grabbed Holston from behind as he appeared to be walking away from the Lake Street/Midtown station last November. 

A guard later told Metro Transit Police that Holston “threatened to shoot him,” but officers never found a gun. 

Witnesses who called 911 described the guards as “attacking” Holston, who “looked as if he was defenseless,” according to a police report. 

Metro Transit says it reviews all allegations of misconduct, but the incident is raising larger questions about a contract with security giant Allied Universal. Metro Transit is on the hook to spend up to $11 million of taxpayers’ money for supplemental security at light rail stations in the Twin Cities.   

The video

Ervena Carter, Holston’s mother, has questions of her own. Carter had not seen the video of the incident until 5 INVESTIGATES contacted her. 

“What I saw shouldn’t have happened, shouldn’t have escalated like that,” Carter said. “I didn’t see anything that my son did to prompt him to put his hands on him.”

The video shows Holston and three others followed an order from a guard to leave the lobby of the Lake Street Station, but once outside, Holston continued to exchange words with security. 

One of the guards, Kendall McGinnis, later told police that he ”verbally trespassed” Holston, but audio from one of the security cameras reveals the commands from the guards suddenly changed. 

“Come over here,” one of the guards shouted to Holston. “I’ll whoop your ass! C’mon, let’s go right now!”

Cameras did not record what was said next, but one of the guards can be seen throwing Holston’s bike two different times.

“It does not show that that security guard feared for his life,” Carter said. “Elante was just going to retrieve his bike, and he was caught off guard by the security guard attacking him.”

The Metro Transit police report confirms Holston was “maced” during the altercation, and witnesses described three guards slamming him to the ground in a prone position. 

‘A George Floyd moment’

One of the witnesses, who asked not to be identified, said he saw one of the guards place a knee on Holston’s neck.

“I swear to God, it was a George Floyd moment all over again,” the witness told 5 INVESTIGATES. “The guy was – bloodied face, screaming.”

Holston’s mother says he later transported himself to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. 

“I noticed there were visible scars on his face, his mouth was busted,” Carter said. 

Holston was not charged with a crime related to the incident.

Jeff Storms, an attorney who represented the family of George Floyd, is not involved in the case, but agreed to review the video showing what happened to Holston.

“At the critical moment, when force began to be used, he appeared to be leaving,” Storms said. “I think we need to have a better understanding of what rules the Met Council is letting (security guards) play by.”  

When 5 INVESTIGATES requested the use of force policies for Allied Universal, the Metropolitan Council said it “does not maintain use of force policies for private security officers beyond what may be discussed in the contract documents.”

Metro Transit response

Metro Transit’s contract with Allied Universal makes no explicit reference to the rules around use of force, but it spells out a duty to “de-escalate.” The contract also requires the company to submit monthly “shift logs” and special incident reports for “unusual incidents or activities.”

Yet, in response to a public data request for that information, the Met Council said, “we are not aware of any reports created by the private contractor.”

Metro Transit declined multiple requests to schedule an interview with General Manager Lesley Kandaras, but she acknowledged concerns about the apparent lack of documentation when 5 INVESTIGATES approached her after a public meeting this month. 

“We are reviewing those processes because it is important that we have that documentation,” Kandaras said. “Anytime there is any allegation of misconduct, we have to take that very seriously.”

An email shows Kandaras asked Metro Transit Interim Police Chief Joe Dotseth to look into the incident involving Holston after receiving an online complaint from a witness who said security guards “repeatedly slammed him into the cement.” 

Five months later, Kandaras now says she has seen “parts” of the video.

“I believe that we need to be looking into this situation,” she said. 

Metro Transit says the guards involved continued to work for Allied Universal and on transit property.

At last check, Holston was being held in the Ramsey County Jail on an unrelated case. Carter says her son has been struggling with addiction, and they are working to get him into treatment. 

“I’m not saying that he’s perfect because he’s definitely not perfect,” Carter said. “But in this situation, he wasn’t the aggressor and he didn’t deserve for that security officer to do what he did.”