Minneapolis, MN
Italy bans loans of works to Minneapolis museum in a dispute over ancient marble statue
Italy’s Culture Ministry has banned loans of works to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, following a dispute with the U.S. museum over an ancient marble statue believed to have been looted from Italy almost a half-century ago.
The dispute began in March 2022 when an Italian court ruled that the Minneapolis museum was irregularly in possession of the Stabiae Doriforo, a Roman-era copy of The Doryphoros of Polykleitos, an ancient Greek sculpture.
Rome claims that the sculpture was looted in the 1970s from an archaeological site at Stabiae, an ancient city close to Pompeii that was also covered by lava and ashes when Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79.
A spokesman for Italy’s Culture Ministry confirmed the ban on Wednesday.
In February 2022, Italian prosecutors issued an international warrant for the artwork to be impounded and returned. At a news conference earlier this year, Nunzio Fragliasso, chief prosecutor at the Torre Annunziata court, said they were “still awaiting a response.”
In 1984, while the work was on display in a German museum, Italy initiated a legal proceeding to claim it. The claim was denied in 1986. The U.S. museum, which bought the statue in 1986 for $2.5 million, said it was purchased from art dealer Elie Borowski and imported into the United States.
“Since that time, the work has been publicly displayed and extensively published,” the Minneapolis museum said in a statement. “While it takes issue with recent press reports regarding the Doryphoros, Mia (the museum) believes that the media is not an appropriate forum to address unproven allegations.”
The museum asserted that it has always acted “responsibly and proactively” with respect to claims related to its collection. However, it added, “where proof has not been provided, as well as where Mia has evidence reasonably demonstrating that a claim is not supported, Mia has declined to transfer the work.”
The museum called Italy’s new ban on loans “contrary to decades of exchanges between museums.”
The Minnesota Institute of Art originally opened its doors in 1915. The museum expanded in 1974 and 2006.
There are more than 89,000 objects held in the museum.
Minneapolis, MN
16-year-old boy injured in north Minneapolis drive-by shooting, police say
MINNEAPOLIS — Police in Minneapolis are investigating after a 16-year-old boy was injured in a drive-by shooting on the northside.
According to police, officers from the 4th Precinct responded at around 8:40 p.m. Friday to the shooting on the 1800 block of Irving Avenue North.
When they arrived, officers found the teenager suffering from a gunshot wound that was not considered life-threatening. He was taken to North Memorial Medical Center for treatment.
Officers then secured the scene, searched the area and collected evidence.
Police say preliminary information, which is subject to change, indicates the victim was standing in an alley when shots were fired from a vehicle.
No arrests have been announced.
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis police chief says carjacking crackdown strategy is working
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Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis police chief says carjacking crackdown is working as auto theft numbers drop
MINNEAPOLIS — Despite recent incidents, carjackings and auto thefts are actually down across Minneapolis.
According to the city’s crime dashboard, so far in 2024 there have been 76 carjackings, down nearly 21% from last year (95) and 41% compared to the three year average (135).
“I feel very confident that the strategies that we have in place are working because we have seen statistically significant declines since we enacted them,” said Chief Brian O’Hara on Friday afternoon. O’Hara wasn’t ready to declare victory over crimes involving cars however.
Earlier this year, robbery sprees sent that crime data skyrocketing.
“Early this year, the amount of robberies which also includes carjackings were up significantly in the city. They were up about 50% year to date when we started having a robbery spree problem,” O’Hara said. “Last week, we had three teenagers shot in one week, one of them was murdered. Two of the three were shot while they were inside of a stolen car. So it’s a very clear connection between, you know, auto theft and joyriding and then these robberies and carjackings.”
The night before O’Hara spoke to WCCO, three teens were arrested for carjacking a woman.
“I think there’s 20 different reports in all for two of them. You know, everything from auto theft to joyriding in a stolen car and carjacking,” O’Hara said. “It’s a problem we’ve seen over the last couple of years.”
O’Hara credits multiple initaitves for the decline in numbers of those years.
“We initiated a robbery response protocol where we saturate areas as soon as we can once we noticed these problems . . . and then even when we do have robbery sprees, there’s fewer robberies and carjackings reported,” O’Hara said. “We also now have juvenile investigators on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week . . . because there’s certain procedures and evidence collection issues that are different for juveniles. We want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can at the time of the incident — whether it’s three o’clock in the morning, or three o’clock on a Monday afternoon — to ensure that we’re doing everything possible to build these cases as quickly as quickly as we can.”
O’Hara says his investigators have also been working with closely with prosecutors to build stronger cases to prevent repeat offenders, but it can be difficult.
“When we have these crimes, several robberies happening in a short period of time, particularly when victims are being approached and the incident is over in less than a minute, sometimes by eight or nine juveniles, sometimes while they’re wearing masks, it becomes very difficult for victims to give us accurate descriptions, to give us license plates, identifying information, that all complicates building these cases,” he said “So there’s been a whole lot of hard work that has gone into this. There’s a number of strategies, you know, and collaborations with other law enforcement that we’re putting together that the community will be seeing very publicly, very soon within the coming weeks, both to get violent offenders off the street and also to try and get as many illegal weapons that we can off the street before the summer hits.”
O’Hara says one of the biggest sources of help in police work continues to be tips from the community.
“If you do see people that look like they’re too young to be driving a car, circling an area driving recklessly, people driving around wearing masks, call that in, because that may be the clue for who we’re looking at a particular moment. And that has been very helpful to make arrests,” he said.
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