Sanitation workers remove tents and belongings of residents of the Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue homeless camp (Elijah Todd-Walden/BLCK Press)
The City of Minneapolis evicted the homeless camp at Lake St and Hiawatha Avenue Tuesday morning.
Camp residents and Hennepin County outreach teams both say the city gave them 24 hours to prepare for the eviction.
“I don’t have food supplies, I don’t have heat supplies, I don’t have get-out-of-here supplies,” one of the residents screamed from her tent. The resident declined to identify herself.
The eviction started at 9 a.m., with outreach teams walking throughout the camp, evaluating individuals’ situations and informing residents of their options.
Hennepin County systems navigator Randy Flowers explained that the work they do is important because of the dangers homeless people face in these camps - crime, drugs and extreme cold.
“There is no such thing as invisible people,” Flowers said. “The opposite of that is people that care, and our outreach team is here to offer what we can.”
Metro Transit vehicles blocked off one of the exits to the camp, and the Metro Transit Police Homeless Action Team blocked the other on the north side. The 37 people in the camp were effectively corralled as bobcats and sanitation workers tore down their tents.