Shocking video posted online lays bare just how crime-ridden downtown Minneapolis has become, with a police horse harassed and sworn at, people brawling, and illegal street races happening near where rowdy women twerked on top of cars.
The scene outside The Gay 90s bar on Saturday night seemed chaotic in the video posted online by Rebecca Brannon, as girls were filmed twerking on top of cars and yelling at a police horse as an officer tried to break up a fight involving the women.
Officers in the video told the girls to ‘get out, keep moving’ after the fight broke out in front of the bar, but the group remained defiant, yelling at the police officers on horseback.
At one point, one of the girls appears to try to pet the officer’s steed, at which point he yells: ‘Don’t touch my horse.’
In response, one of the girls could be heard screaming back: ‘F*** your horse b****.’
Video posted online shows a group of men assaulting a victim in the street outside a gay bar
As the victim tried to get up, one of the men kicked him in the face Saturday night
Another scene shows women cursing out a police horse after officers tried to dissemble a fight
The altercation came amid other scenes of debauchery outside the bar Saturday night, with one man clearly being assaulted as the shocking footage begins.
A group of men could be seen kicking the victim, who was already in the fetal position on the ground, until he rolls into the street.
The victim then tries to get up, but is then kicked in the head by one of his attackers.
He could then be seen trying to crawl away before the film cuts to EMS crews carrying an assault victim on a stretcher and lifting him into an ambulance.
Other clips showed women yelling, pushing and punching each other outside the bar before the police showed up, as well as some women twerking on top of a car that was blocking traffic.
‘It’s been some time since I went downtown at night given the crime and shootings,’ Brannon tweeted Sunday, adding that she ‘saw a lot ore chaos than I expected, especially given how cold it was.’
Brannon said ‘police were scarce’ throughout the night, and the ‘situation felt volatile’ so she tried to keep her distance.
‘It was also completely chaotic outside the Gay 90s; there have been multiple shootings near there in the last few months alone.’
The assault victim was seen Saturday night lying in the middle of the road as his attackers walked back into the bar
Another fight broke out between a group of women outside the Gay 90s bar
Women were also filmed twerking on top of cars that blocked traffic outside the club
EMS crews brought the assault victim into an ambulance Saturday night
The video comes as crime in the city continues to spiral out of control in the wake of the Defund the Police movement.
Minneapolis was at the center of those protests after the murder of George Floyd by cop Derek Chauvin in May 2020.
Motor vehicle thefts in the city are now up 38.4 percent when compared to the same time last year, while larcenies are up 24.8 percent.
Property crimes are also up 14.8 percent over last year, with assaults up 8.8 percent.
Overall, crime in the city is up a whopping 15.9 percent over last year.
And over the last year, CNN reports, 93 people were shot in the city — just shy of the total killings in 1995 when the city earned the nickname Murderapolis.
It now ranks 19th out of 70 jurisdiction in per-capita murders this year.
Meanwhile, its clearance rate for homicide cases has been shrinking since 2016, when around 54 percent of the cases were solved.
By 2020, that number fell to just 38 percent.
Crime has been spiraling out of control in Minneapolis since it became the epicenter of the Defund the Police movement
Experts say the rise in crime began in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in May 2020, after which the city became the epicenter for the Defund the Police Movement.
Fiery riots broke out throughout Minneapolis, with protesters demanding justice for Floyd and calling for an end to the Minneapolis Police Department.
Eventually, City Council officials relented and pledged to ‘end policing as we know it’ in July 2020.
The council cut $1.1 million from the city’s policing budget with plans to reallocate the money to the city health department to fund civilian violence interrupters who would mediate conflicts.
Soon after, residents say, police began to withdraw from the more dangerous neighborhoods.
‘The criminals were celebrating,’ said KG Wilson, a longtime resident. ‘They were getting rich. They were selling drugs openly.’
Following the death of George Floyd in May 2020, protesters called for an end to the Minneapolis Police Department. A protester is seen here standing in front of a burning building at one of the riots
Eventually, City Council officials gave in to the protesters and pledged to ‘end policing as we know it’ in July 2020. Protesters are seen here holding up their fists as flams rise behind them in front of the Third Police Precinct
At the same time, Minneapolis police saw a large cop exodus in the last two years due to retirements, resignations and disability leaves following Floyd’s death.
Its council voted to disband the police department, although they have since walked plans to do so.
Leaders at the police department say that the number of officers shrank in the city from 900 in early 2020 to about 560 in August of this year — a loss of more than one-third of the police force.
As a result, the average 911 response time jumped in May 2020 from around 10 to 11 minutes earlier that year to around 14 minutes.
It kept rising in 2021 to 16 minutes, CNN reports, with response times in the city’s crime-ridden north side surpassing 17 minutes.
Some nights are now so busy that dispatchers are told to hold all non-priority-1 calls citywide, including reports of property damage, suspicious persons or theft.
And in some cases, the Minneapolis Police Department has even refused to respond to certain crimes in a timely manner — in part due to the limited staff and also due to low morale.
‘It’s no secret that law enforcement, especially in the last two and a half years has been badly vilified and wrongly vilified,’ said Sgt Betsy Brantner Smith of the National Police Association.
‘You can’t just call an entire profession racist and expect people to just sit back and say, “Ok, you know, keep piling on.”‘
Wealthy residents crowdfunded $210,000 to pay the city’s police department for extra patrols amid skyrocketing crime in the Lowry Hill neighborhood
Now, residents are trying to take back their city.
When a referendum to defund the police and replace it with a new ‘public health-oriented’ Department of Public Safety came up for a vote in November 2021, 56 percent of voters rejected the measure.
That figure was even higher in north Minneapolis, a predominantly black area, where about 60 percent of police calls for shots fired this year came from.
Wealthy residents also crowdfunded $210,000 to pay the city’s police department for extra patrols amid skyrocketing crime in the Lowry Hill neighborhood.
The Minneapolis Safety Initiative, a resident-created nonprofit crowdfunding for additional police patrols, calls the program a ‘temporary measure to address the current crime wave while MPD continues to rebuild to full staffing levels.’
Residents are encouraged to donate $220 monthly, for six months, in order for the initiative to have its ‘desired impact.’
Meanwhile, eight residents of the north side even filed a lawsuit in the summer of 2020, calling on the city to fill vacant positions at the police department.
The suit singled out city council members who supported the ‘radical “dismantle the police” idea, and accused them and Mayor Jacob Frey of creating a ‘hostile’ environment for police.
It was largely upheld by a state Supreme Court decision this summer — meaning the city now needs to staff up to at least 731 officers.