Minneapolis, MN
'This is just not humane': Tenants in Minneapolis duplex left without heat for a week
Tenants in Minneapolis duplex left without heat for a week
A Minneapolis duplex could be condemned after tenants say they were stuck without heat and hot water in freezing temperatures for a week.
The Verde Property Management Company property manager said as of Tuesday they’ve restored heat to about two-thirds of the building.
A tenant said she did not see a sense of urgency to fix the problem until the city of Minneapolis stepped in.
“This is just not humane to have anybody living like this,” Capri Rogers, tenant, said
For nearly a week, Rodgers said her family did not have heat or hot water.
“My son slept in his coat. My daughter’s room read at 48 degrees,” Rogers said. “My 8-month-old son is sick with a terrible cough.”
Rodgers showed us messages that confirmed she told Verde Property Management Company about the problem last Tuesday, Dec. 31.
She said days later, the company insulated the windows with plastic and supplied space heaters, but it was still cold.
“I don’t feel like I’ve been heard and that’s why I called the news because I just feel like they’re very like inconsiderate,” Rogers said.
As a last resort, on Sunday, Rogers called the police for help.
On Monday, a city inspector slapped a “Notice Intent to Condemn” on the front door. The notice explained the property is unfit to live in because of the “lack of required heat” and the building would be condemned if the heat is not fixed by Friday, Jan. 10.
“This should be a message to tenants and landlords that we have rights and landlords need to uphold their bargain when it comes to tenants, regardless of where they come from, what neighborhood it’s in, or anything like that,” Rodgers said.
Jeremy Pekarek, Verde Property Management Company, said they’ve been sending out boiler technicians to fix the frozen pipes.
“We’ve been doing our best to try to identify the situation and figure out exactly what’s going on with the property,” he said. “I agree with her, it has been cooler than normal, and I know it’s a tough situation for them.”
During the interview, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS saw a maintenance technician walk in to check the radiator.
Pekarek said they plan to use the space heaters to thaw the pipes so they can restore heat to the entire building.
He said the building’s heat will be fixed by the city’s deadline.
If a landlord or property manager does not take immediate steps to restore the heat in your building, you can report it to the city by calling 311 or 612-673-3000.
The city website says an inspector will respond to you the same day.
Minneapolis, MN
‘She’s pregnant’: Trump’s immigration agent drags woman through Minneapolis street, kneels on her; video goes viral
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents violently dragged a woman in Minneapolis this week, and pinned her face down on snow-filled streets as onlookers screamed. According to ICE officials, they were deployed for ‘targeted vehicle stop,’ when protesters swarmed the agents. Soon after several onlookers including journalists saw an ICE agent holding a woman on the ground. The video of the incident has now gone viral on social media with people criticising ICE for their violent methods. The Minneapolis police chief criticised federal immigration enforcement tactics after the chaotic scene.
What exactly happened?
According to the video, ICE agents handcuffed a pregnant woman, and violently pinned her to the ground by forcing her onto her stomach and pressed their body weight into her even as the crowd shouted that she was pregnant. According to ICE, the incident happened during ‘Operation Metro Surge.’
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said that ICE did not appear to take steps to de-escalate the situation as bystanders shouted at agents and threw snowballs in an attempt to save the woman. “We have been training our officers for the last five years very, very intensely on de-escalation, but unfortunately that is … often not what we are seeing from other agencies in the city,” O’Hara said. O’Hara also accused ICE of stoking fear, including the practice of hiding their identities with masks and unmarked clothes.
This comes as US President Donald Trump’s administration has increased immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minnesota – Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Trump called Somali immigrants there “garbage” and said they should be deported after dozens of people, including Somali immigrants, were charged in a fraud scheme.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara expressed concerns about the “instability” created by the ongoing ICE operations in Minneapolis during a sit-down interview on FOX 9 All Day on Wednesday.
O’Hara on ICE operation
What they’re saying:
Speaking with FOX 9’s Amy Hockert, Chief O’Hara said the issue isn’t necessarily what the agents are doing in enforcing federal law but rather the tactics they are using to go about their business.
“I think it’s been very destabilizing for a lot of people in the community,” explained Chief O’Hara. “A significant portion of the city are immigrants and that sort of instability is something that criminals and bad actors can take advantage of and that’s been the concern.”
Identifying ICE
Big picture view:
O’Hara says he is also concerned about masked federal authorities. Often, ICE agents will be masked, in unmarked squads, and not wearing visible identification of their law enforcement status. Chief O’Hara said a bad actor posing as law enforcement is a legitimate concern, pointing to the murders of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at the hands of a man posing as a police officer.
“Two or three months ago, the FBI put out a law enforcement bulletin saying that there were people committing violent crimes in cities around the country that were posing as ICE,” O’Hara said. “And it urged ICE to better identify themselves during law enforcement operations. And so that’s not just something I came up with – that’s something the FBI has been recommending.”
O’Hara says the department has also responded to calls from people who’ve encountered federal law enforcement and were unsure if they were legitimate.
“We have had calls from people who aren’t sure,” said O’Hara. “We’ve responded, and it turns out it was federal law enforcement. In other cases, it turns out it wasn’t. It was someone with a gun. We’ve had it happen both ways.”
The armed man and an officer who fired shots at him in Minneapolis last week have been identified by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).
The BCA identified the suspect as 26-year-old Hanun Mohamed Awow and the Minneapolis police officer who fired his gun as Ariel Luna Sanchez.
Sanchez has three years of law enforcement experience and has been placed on critical incident leave, the BCA said.
Minneapolis police officer shoots at armed man, BCA investigating: MPD
According to the BCA, officers responded around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday to a 911 call from a resident on the 3000 block of Fifth Avenue South, who said a neighbor had pointed a gun at their mom.
The caller told Minneapolis police that the neighbor, later identified as Awow, had a handgun and went back into his apartment. Officers went to Awow’s apartment and he opened the door and stepped out with a gun in his hand.
Police shouted for him to drop the gun and that’s when Sanchez fired shots, the BCA says.
Awow, who was not injured, was taken into custody by police. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said last week that he believed Awow was intoxicated at the time of the incident.
BCA crime scene personnel recovered a handgun from the scene and body cameras worn by officers.
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