After fireworks mayhem, more cops to be deployed for next 2 weekends in Dinkytown, elsewhere near University of Minnesota

In the wake of recent incidents involving fireworks being used as weapons, police from the University of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis say they will provide "enhanced public safety protection" at night in Dinkytown and near campus for the next two weekends.

The school disclosed the initiative to students, faculty and staff on Wednesday, following at least three reports of late-night Halloween weekend disturbances that all involved fireworks being used as weapons targeting people and buildings.

No arrests have been announced in any of the incidents, and police have yet to say whether the same perpetrators were responsible.

"In partnership with the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), we are announcing Operation Gopher Guardian, a targeted law enforcement presence in Dinkytown and the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood," Myron Frans, senior vice president for finance and operations, wrote to the campus community.

University spokesman Jake Ricker said Thursday that the operation is " in response to the uptick in crimes that have occurred recently in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood, including the Dinkytown area. The Halloween weekend events, along with growing University community concerns that preceded the Halloween weekend, led University leaders to invest in this initiative."

Frans said that for the next two Fridays and Saturdays (Nov. 4-5 and Nov. 11-12), from the evening into the early morning hours, an additional 10 officers from the two police forces will be deployed in the high-traffic areas near campus that include bars, restaurants and other nightspots, as well as fraternity houses.

"This short-term initiative provides additional focused attention to specific areas near campus," Frans wrote, "and is designed to enhance safety and be responsive to the needs of our University community."

The most aggressive and violent of the incidents this past weekend occurred shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday at an off-campus residence in the 1200 block of SE. 7th Street, when males in plastic masks and black hoodies launched fireworks and firecrackers at people.

Callers to 911 from that address, where a large party was being held, said 15 to 20 people were "trying to get into the house [and] trying to kick the doors in," according to a police report.

Murad Aslam, a 23-year-old physical therapy graduate student who lives at the address, said he was punched and stomped outside and left with a serious concussion, hearing and memory loss, and a ripped-open ear piercing. He said his injuries have left him unable to continue his studies.

Aslam said a crowd of people converged at the house demanding to be let into the party, but "we told them they can't enter, and they just started jumping in the windows," which were open during the unusually warm late-October night.

He said he and others "kicked everybody out [and] they started shooting Roman candles. ... Cars and the house have burn marks. One person got hit in the face with a firecracker. He could have gone blind."

Aslam, who's been a student at the U since he arrived as a freshman in 2018, said, "I've been concerned about safety but never expected a home invasion."

He said he's in the process of moving across town to the Lowry Hill neighborhood, where "it's better than Dinkytown. It's absolutely insane the lack of police" and the fact there have been no arrests.

Barely 20 minutes later and about four blocks to the south, fireworks were thrown into a crowd waiting for food outside Frank From Philly and Andrea Pizza in the 1200 block of SE. 4th Street, a police report read. Police arrived within two minutes but not soon enough to locate any suspects. No one was injured, the report continued.

The first report of troubling behavior with fireworks last weekend occurred about 11:50 p.m. Saturday outside one of the fraternities in the 1600 block of SE. University Avenue, according to a city police incident report.

A caller to 911 said a "group of people [were] going along Frat Row shooting off fireworks at houses," the report read.

A second caller said people from the group were in a parking lot behind his fraternity house, but they were gone by the time police arrived within five minutes.

The Minneapolis officers participating in Operation Gopher Guardian will be working overtime, which will be paid for by the university, Frans' notice said. The campus officers also will be on overtime duty.