The city of Minneapolis is clearing a homeless encampment in south Minneapolis Tuesday for the second time this month, restricting public viewing of the process by using police tape to block off a two- or three-block radius around the encampment.
The encampment at E. 26th Street and 14th Avenue S. was formed by occupants who left Camp Nenookaasi when it was evicted by the city cleared on January 4. The new camp formed three blocks from Camp Nenookaasi. Both camps had a large Native population.
Members of the media were allowed closer to the encampment Tuesday. A camp organizer said there is no plan to move the camp residents to a third location, and that it’s unclear where occupants will go.
The city issued a media advisory Tuesday noting that it was closing the encampment in the Phillips neighborhood “due to ongoing public health and safety concerns.”
City Operations Officer Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette were expected to address the situation at an 11 a.m. news conference.