After chaos over holiday weekend, Minneapolis residents want more security for future events
MINNEAPOLIS -- After chaotic scenes of violence in Minneapolis for the 4th of July holiday, concerned neighbors are worried about the Aquatennial later this month.
Jen Bernhardt lives downtown, and she feels the planned Aquatennial event should be safer than Monday night, when she called 911 seven times.
"It wasn't 10 minutes [of shooting fireworks]," she said. "This went on for over three hours."
Joe Tamburino sits on the board of the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association and is president of his condo building.
After crowds in the city got out of control Monday and at least nine people were shot, Tamburino and several of his neighbors have signed a petition for Mayor Jacob Frey.
"Either the city provides enough security during the Aquatennial festivals or they cancel it, because we can't have more riots," Tamburino said.
Leaders in the Minneapolis Police Department say Monday's gatherings of hundreds of people were unplanned, which made them greater challenges to contain.
Frey said at a press conference on Tuesday that officers were forced to play whack-a-mole.
"We need to make sure we're holding the perpetrators of these violent crimes accountable," Frey said Tuesday. "We need to make sure youth have good and beneficial activities to engage in. It's on all of us throughout community as well. If you're the parents of children that were out last night, you need to know where they are."
For some, his words didn't give peace of mind.
"There's close to zero confidence with the city leaders, and here's why: We keep hearing the same things," Tamburino said.
Bernhardt says she doesn't see a solution coming from the people who are supposed to be providing one.
Police described Monday's crowds as "resistant" to instructions, and say they shot commercial-grade fireworks at first responders.
Minneapolis police say that at no time did officers request approval from higher-ups to use crowd control weapons.