Public Safety Messages from Ward 2 Council Member Robin Wonsley

Below are excerpts relating to Public Safety from the Robin Wonsley in her latest constituent newsletter:

Davis Moturi Speaks to City Council

Summary: Davis Moturi spoke to the Public Health, Safety and Equity Committee about his experience being the victim of a racist hate crime after MPD failed to protect him.

Background: Davis Moturi is a Black resident of South Minneapolis who faced racist harassment and threats from his white neighbor. Mr. Moturi called MPD more than 30 times asking for help, but did not receive it. In October 2024, Mr. Moturi was shot in the neck by his neighbor. MPD did not arrest his neighbor for five days.

Council requested an independent after-action review of MPD’s actions in this case, which was presented in April. Last week, after extensive delay, MPPD released their internal review of the case.

This week, Mr. Moturi came to the Public Health, Safety and Equity (PHSE) Committee and spoke directly about his experiences that led to him being shot, and the trauma he continues to face today nearly two years later. You can watch Mr. Moturi’s comments and the subsequent committee discussion here. 

Key votes: No votes taken. 

Stop Cop City

Summary: For a second time, Mayor Frey is asking the City Council to spend $6 million to begin building a “Community Safety Training and Wellness Center”/Cop City that is estimated to cost at least $40 million.

Background: For several months, the City Council has repeatedly pushed back against Mayor Frey’s  proposal to allocate $38 million to build a “Community Safety Training and Wellness Center” in Minneapolis. The numerous discussions that took place in committees confirmed the proposal is fiscally irresponsible and will not make residents safer. It reflects MPD’s wish list, not community needs, and is being proposed at a time when the city is in significant financial hardship.

In March, the Frey administration asked Council to defund nearly $6 million from neighborhood traffic calming and repairs to the animal shelter in order to purchase land to build this new Cop City. The City Council rejected this proposal.

Mayor Frey is now bringing back the proposal to acquire the land for Cop City. The updated proposal does not draw funding from traffic calming, but in every other way it is the same.

The Frey administration is no longer pointing to bonding dollars from the state as a guaranteed or even likely part of the funding for the project. The 2026 state legislative session is wrapping up and unsurprisingly no funding was allocated to this proposal.

At the same time, the Public Health, Safety and Equity (PHSE) Committee approved a three-year contract to rent a gun range for MPD training, which underscores why a $40 million building is not necessary. The contract demonstrates that we can rent a gun range for $100,000/year – a tiny fraction of the astronomical amounts we’re talking about for the Mayor’s proposed Cop City. The City Council is already funding nearly $100 million in precinct renovations, which of all will include training and wellness facilities. This affirms what residents and some Council Members have been saying, which is a $40 million building is unnecessary and wasteful, especially when the police department is already depleting the bulk of city resources.

Key votes: Council will vote at the May 19th Committee of the Whole to authorize $6 million in capital dollars to acquire a building for the Mayor’s proposed Cop City. 

MPD Participation in Homeland Security Task Force

Summary: The Public Health, Safety and Equity (PHSE) Committee unanimously approved a legislative directive about MPD’s role in the Homeland Security Task Force.

Background: In January of 2026, while the federal government was terrorizing our communities with Operation Metro Surge, MPD entered into a Homeland Security Task Force with the Trump administration. This is incredibly concerning given the Trump administration’s explicit goals of using local task forces to advance their racist agenda.

Council Members Chavez, Stevenson, and President Payne brought forward a legislative directive to get more information on exactly what occurred in this task force and its impacts on our city. I supported this directive and am grateful to my colleagues for bringing it forward.

Since President Trump’s second term began, residents made it clear that it was a top priority to prohibit MPD from coordinating with federal immigration agents.

On June 3rd of 2025, federal agents arrived on the corner of Lake and Bloomington and began raiding an immigrant-owned business. Many of us saw this as the Trump administration testing our city to see how compliant we would be to immigration raids. The community rose to that occasion and showed up making it clear that we would not move one inch towards allowing federal agents to harass and kidnap our neighbors. On the other hand, MPD was seen escorting HSI and doing crowd control for them. This raised serious concerns about how MPD would relate to ICE if and when it became a larger threat.

Council Members took this seriously and immediately began an overhaul of our separation ordinance to ensure strong restrictions and protections against local and federal collaboration.

When Operation Metro Surge began, residents continued to be concerned about the role that MPD was playing. Some of these concerns related to MPD sharing data or surveillance footage with federal agencies and seeing ICE or HSI cars parked outside City Hall. It continues to be unclear how Mayor Frey navigated data practices between local and federal agencies. Mayor Frey has also refused to answer questions about data sharing and using City data to hold the federal government accountable for months, delaying response to a legislative directive for over two months.

Key votes: The Public Health, Safety and Equity (PHSE) Committee unanimously approved a legislative directive about MPD’s role in a Homeland Security Task Force, with a presentation requested on June 3rd.

Drones as First Responders

Summary: Staff presented on their current uses of drones in first response and policing, and potential future uses.

Background: The City Council approved a legislative directive requesting updates on the City’s current and potential future uses of drones as first responders. This week, staff from MPD and the Office of Community Safety presented on the current use of drones and a pilot program they’re interested in exploring.

MPD has been using drones since 2022 in a limited capacity. Now, they would like to do a free 75-day pilot program through a company called Skydio.

I and the other committee members had many questions and concerns about this potential pilot program, and more generally how it relates to public safety response quality, surveillance, civil liberties, and more. I encourage anyone who is interested in this topic to watch the presentation and discussion, and reach out to the City Council with your thoughts.

Key votes: No votes taken.