City Of Minneapolis Shuts Down Powderhorn East Encampment

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Organizers and police shut down the Powderhorn Park east encampment Monday afternoon. The action took place after Minneapolis Parks and Recreation notified people living at the camp Friday that they had to vacate within 72 hours.

On July 9, there were 310 tents at the east encampment. By Monday there were approximately 50 tents remaining, with many tents vacant, according to park officials.

There were 30 people living at the east encampment Monday morning, but all left except for "two or three people who refused to leave," park officials said.

At one point protesters showed up at the park Monday. In total, 20 people were arrested.

Later, a contractor hired by the parks department started cleaning the site, which included the removal of needles and bio-hazard materials.

Occupants who wanted shelter were given resources and contact information. Other occupants who wanted to stay in a Minneapolis park were taken to another one in the city.

"There have been growing safety issues at the east encampment at Powderhorn Park," Superintendent Al Bangoura said in a statement.

"Many homeless individuals, service agencies, and volunteers had already left the east encampment last week out of concern for their safety. The risks to those unsheltered and to residents had risen to an unacceptable level."

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Wednesday voted to restrict the growing number of homeless encampments in parks across the city. The resolution limits the number of parks with encampments to 20 and the number of tents per encampment to 25.

The locations of the 20 "refuge sites" for the encampments has not yet been determined.

At Wednesday's Board meeting, community members, staff and commissioners alike acknowledged that serving people experiencing homelessness is not the role of the MPRB and that temporary park encampments do not address the bigger issues facing the growing population of homeless individuals and families.

In June, the Minneapolis Park Board passed a resolution allowing people with no permanent housing to stay in the city's parks. The resolution works in conjunction with Gov. Tim Walz's executive order that — with some exceptions — prevents the removal of homeless people from public sites amid the economic crisis caused by the spread of coronavirus.