Lesson from the attack on St. Anne’s: It’s time to build community

A temporary door had to be installed at St. Anne’s Place, a family shelter, after the recent attack. Courtesy photo.

Since I started speaking out about the attack on our family shelter, St. Anne’s Place, and the police’s substandard response, much of the conversation has naturally turned to policing. 

But that’s not the conversation I think we should be having. The tragic attack on St. Anne’s Place should not be reduced to an argument about policing. 

Instead, we all need to examine how something like the attack at St. Anne’s Place can happen in the first place — and resolve to do the hard work of community building that will prevent anything like it from happening again. 

So, let’s look at what happened. 

On September 5, more than a half dozen people from neighboring homes assaulted St. Anne’s Place shelter guests and staff; destroyed two doors with a baseball bat; attempted to enter the shelter; shot at and destroyed a guest’s vehicle; and threatened to kill the women and children inside.

The Minneapolis police officers who were called to the scene were dismissive of the victims, disrespectful to staff and guests, and provided comfort and reassurance to the assailants. No arrests were made that night or in the following days even though staff were willing to provide statements, and there was clear camera footage identifying the assailants.  

The neighbors were emboldened by the MPD’s lack of response and continued to threaten and harass families and staff through Thursday evening and Friday. When People Serving People tried to relocate one of the impacted families to a nearby hotel, the neighbors followed and attempted to harm them.    

It was only after I called six City Council members, the mayor, and the media that the police started taking the incident seriously, making two arrests weeks after the incident. 

Meanwhile, St. Anne’s Place was temporarily closed. Sixteen families who are experiencing homelessness were displaced. Our already over-taxed shelter network is sheltering 16 fewer families than it was before the attack. 

Through all of this, I’ve been asking myself, “Why? What was the point? What led to the neighbors’ anger and the police’s indifference?” 

I know that this is not simply a case of a few bad actors. It’s more than a few neighbors who overreacted to a shortage of street parking. It’s bigger than inept and biased policing. The attack at St. Anne’s Place and the police’s dismissive response are symptoms of broken community. 

We won’t prevent incidents like this from happening in the future by supporting or abolishing the police. The families and guests who were at St. Anne’s Place that night won’t feel safe in the community because there are more police or fewer. 

A sense of safety — public safety — comes from being in community. From knowing who our neighbors are and letting them know we’re here for them, no matter who they are and whether they’re housed or unhoused. 

At People Serving People, we are demanding justice for the families and staff attacked at St. Anne’s Place. Justice doesn’t come from arrests, though. The arrests are only one small step toward helping the families and guests feel safe after being attacked.

Justice will come when we, as a community, stop treating families and others who are unhoused as second-class citizens. When our policies, language and attitudes toward homelessness no longer dehumanize those without stable housing. When we no longer tolerate an environment where people experiencing homelessness are viewed as less worthy of protection and dignity. When instead, we treat them like the neighbors they are and ones we claim to be.

At People Serving People, we’ll be doing the deep work of restorative justice with our neighbors at St. Anne’s Place, with those who watched the attack and did nothing and, if they’re willing, with the perpetrators themselves. We’ll come together with city officials and police to engage in difficult but necessary conversations about what it means to be a good neighbor and a just community. 

We’re also calling for a deeper reckoning in our city. We’re calling on each of you to look around. We all live here together, whether we’re housed or unhoused. If we want to be and feel safe in our community, we have to look out for each other at both a personal and a policy level. 

Get to know your neighbors. Lend a hand when they need one. Speak up when you see injustice. Vote for leaders who will create more affordable homes, promote public safety, and craft a safety net that will be there for all of us. 

Let’s build a new kind of community. Instead of simply fighting over the systems we have, let’s focus our attention on building the one we all deserve. After all, we are all neighbors, no matter where we lay our head at night.