Five People Assaulted Near U of M

Early Monday morning, five people were assaulted by large groups of men.  The assaults took place near the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

Students are being warned by the University to be on the look out and be careful when they are out and about, despite the fact that the assaults took place off of the campus.

According to Bring Me The News, police were called to a property near the intersection of 17th Avenue and University Avenue after a homeowner was assaulted after he told a group of men to leave his property.

After the group assaulted the homeowner, they assaulted another person as they walked down University Avenue.  Neither victim required medical attention.

A few minutes later, a group of around five men assaulted a group of three people around the same area. One of the victims was injured and required medical attention.

Detailed descriptions of the suspects have not been made available, but in the last incident, the suspects drove off in a black Subaru.

As reported by FOX 9 News in 2015, the University of Minnesota announced that they would be removing a suspect’s race from their crime alert descriptions.  According to the University, the reason they no longer include this information is because they received feedback that by using a suspect’s race “unintentionally reinforces racist stereotypes of black men, and other people of color, as criminal threats.”

If anyone has information on these assaults, call the police tips department on 612-692-8477, or visit the Minneapolis Police Tips website.

Donna Azarian