East Phillips neighborhood activists, including residents of the Little Earth of United Tribes housing complex for Native Americans, snipped the fence barring public access to a city-owned vacant building Tuesday morning and set up more than a dozen tents.
But by late evening, police had swarmed the site, clearing the camp, fortifying the fence and arresting at least two of the activists.
The activists were protesting plans to raze the former Roof Depot warehouse and build a new Public Works facility for water maintenance staff, their equipment and vehicles that include a new diesel fuel station and roughly 800 parking spaces.
"This is a fight that can't stop," said Rachel Thunder, a leader in the local American Indian Movement and one of those arrested but soon released Tuesday night.
The contested site is in an area of concentrated heavy industry, where historical chemical manufacturing scattered arsenic across residential yards that was cleaned up in 2019 via the Superfund process. Residents say they are concerned that demolition of Roof Depot would stir up long-buried contaminants.
"We have kids that are young that have died from heart problems that don't have heart problems in their families," said Jolene Jones, who lives at Little Earth. "Don't expect us to sit calmly while you're going to put more pollution in the air. No, we're not going to allow that. ... This is where we're making a stand."
With stockpiles of firewood, carpeting, water and food, the activists battened down in preparation for a long occupation despite a looming storm that could dump up to 20 inches of snow on the Twin Cities. But by 9 p.m., a "heavy police presence" had taken control of the site, a spokesperson for the activists said.
City spokesperson Casper Hill said no demolition date has been set.