More Minneapolis Mob Attack Reporting

KSTP Eyewitness News now has a report on the (near) Uptown Minneapolis mob attack, as noted in this post following a Minneapolis Police Robbery Alert: "Mob attacks men in Uptown-area park".

Two men were attacked and beaten by a large mob at a park in Uptown Tuesday evening.

Minneapolis police are searching for 10 suspects in the random robbery and beating at the Lyndale School Park on 34 th St. W and Lyndale Ave. S.

One of the victims says a person in the group pulled out a gun and demanded money.
"They started hitting me a few times and started emptying my pockets,” he says.

The two men only had $10 in cash and two cell phones, but the mob continued to beat them.

Armed thugs are taking over.

This is not a terrible area of town. In fact, it's a fairly nice area. It's on a very busy street, Lyndale Avenue, just south and east of Uptown. A popular ice cream shop, Sonny's Crema Cafe, is directly adjacent to Painter Park.

Ironically, the founder of Sonny's Crema Cafe was mugged by a local thug in late 2005. There was an arrest , but Sonny is elderly and was unable to remember his attacker so the scumbag went free. Any bets on whether he was part of the mob in this case?

I posted on the Sonny Siron mugging here on 10/16/05: "Minneapolis - the Fallujah of the west", and here: "No Justice".

More on Tuesday's mob beating from KSTP:

"I was scared,” one victim said. “I know that there was a shooting over in Uptown a few months ago, and I didn't want that to happen.”

Police say they are responding by increasing park patrols after hours, using motorcycles and squad cars.

“You should feel safe to go to your local park or playground without being intimidated by thugs,” says Sgt. Fred McCormick.

I'd be scared too. A guy can handle one or two criminals. Maybe. But 10+ thugs? No way.

And the victim was right to think about the Uptown slaughter of Michael Zebuhr. That incident taught us we have to fight back, although in this case it wasn't possible.

Rambix reader and commenter Chunkstyle offers some firsthand insight:

So, I'm involved in one of these "citizen patrols", here in Uptown. 24 hours before this crime, our patrol went by Painter Park, on the west side of Lyndale. We saw some shady characters drawn up by the hoops court. Once we heard of the robbery, I e-mailed the CCP guy for the 5.2 sector, and told what we saw. Now, since the park is only a couple blocks from me, I'm gonna take an occasional drive around it, as I come and go, during the evening hours. I'll also make sure that our patrols pass by more often. Naturally, we'll talk to the police whenever we can. Luckily, from the police report, the kids beaten didn't seem to be hurt too badly, 2 (18-yo while males) injured, refused treatment, one (16-yo white female) not noted as injured. Thank goodness, as there was a gun involved.
Chunkstyle 06.15.06 - 6:47 am

The Minneapolis Quagmire goes on and on.