Minneapolis Public Health and Safety committee to discuss encampment removals on Wednesday

Bailey Hurley KSTP

Minneapolis Public Health and Safety committee to discuss encampment removals on Wednesday

The debate is intensifying after a 33-year-old man was shot and killed at an encampment on the city's south side on Monday night. That shooting happened after a large fight broke out at the encampment and spilled out into the street near the intersection of 33rd Street and 3rd Avenue South.

Minneapolis city councilors will be discussing the removal of homeless encampments during their Wednesday meeting.

The debate is intensifying after a 33-year-old man was shot and killed at an encampment on the city’s south side on Monday night. That shooting happened after a large fight broke out at the encampment and spilled out into the street near the intersection of 33rd Street and 3rd Avenue South.

Hours before the shooting, there was a community meeting about that exact encampment, where neighbors told city and county leaders that they felt unsafe and the camp needed to be cleared.

“It was just total chaos, and the city wasn’t doing anything about it. Who was the decision maker? Why didn’t they do something right away? That person could be alive right now,” said Arne Johansson, who owns property near the encampment in south Minneapolis.

Advocates for people experiencing homelessness say clearing encampments is not the solution, rather pointing to permanent housing and treatment as the answer.

“The solution is easy. We need to find housing for those 496 people and provide them with the supportive services that they need to stay in housing,” said homelessness advocate Naomi Wilson.

Councilor Andrea Jenkins said in a statement on Tuesday that the city, county and state are all working together to come up with solutions for handling homelessness and encampments.

That committee meeting starts at 1:30 p.m.