Minneapolis, MN – This week has been eventful in the East Phillips fight to stop the demolition of the arsenic-contaminated site of the Roof Depot building in south Minneapolis.

At dawn on Tuesday, February 22, defenders set up encampment at the site. That evening, Minneapolis cops evicted the encampment.

On Thursday, February 24, Little Earth – a mostly native housing complex bordering the Roof Depot site – residents had a caravan to the Minneapolis city council meeting. Despite over a foot of snow falling, dozens of residents made their way to City Hall in support of City Councilors Jason Chavez (who represents the East Phillips area) and Aisha Chughtai as they made one more attempt to rescind the demolition contract.

While one council member was persuaded by the packed room of Little Earth residents and ongoing struggle by community members and supporters, the measure failed, and the demolition was to move forward as previously planned.

Cowardly city council members, who didn’t want to be confronted about their choice to poison the neighborhood, filed charges against three of the protesters. These charges are an ongoing issue that the Climate Justice Committee and members of the community will continue to fight against.

Then on Friday, February 24, a Hennepin County District Court judge granted an injunction, halting the city of Minneapolis from demolishing the former Roof Depot building. The injunction gives at minimum a two-week window halting demolition while the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, authors of the lawsuit, put together a $10,000 bond and meet other stipulations.

Little Earth residents, the American Indian Movement, the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, the Climate Justice Committee and many others vow to use this time to continue to build opposition to the city plan, which is to demolish the building to make create a facility for over 800 diesel trucks.

For updates, follow @climatejusticemn, @eastphillipsurbanfarm and @defendthedepot on Instagram.

#MinneapolisMN #EnvironmentalJustice #environmentalRacism #EastPhillips