Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Whistlin' Resistance
For MinnPost, Trevor Mitchell caught up with locals like Kaleb Lutterman and Samuel Spenader-Roark, who are making and distributing whistles to help people alert their neighbors when ICE is near.
Lutterman has used his 3D printer to make thousands of little red rectangular whistles, which he's getting into the hands of likeminded Twin Citians. (Although, as Mitchell writes, "Lutterman would like for them never to be used.") Simultaneously, groups like mspwhistles and shops like Mischief Toy Store in St. Paul are stocking and distributing free whistles of their own. They've formed "a loose network" of residents who are fighting back against immigration enforcement actions in any way they can.
“I don’t know if it’s enough,” Lutterman tells MinnPost, “but it feels really good to do something about it. It’s definitely better than just wishing it would go away.”
Ilhan Omar's Son Stopped by ICE
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has (accurately) accused federal agents of racially profiling Minnesotans as part of their immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities. Among the people they've accosted? Her son, whom the Somali congresswoman says was stopped and asked to provide proof of citizenship this weekend.
"Yesterday, after he made a stop at Target, he did get pulled over by ICE agents, and once he was able to produce his passport ID, they did let him go," Omar told WCCO's Esme Murphy during an interview Sunday.
Omar added that ICE agents also entered a mosque where her son was praying, and expressed her worry as a parent. "Because all of these areas that they are talking about are areas where he could possibly find himself in and they are racially profiling, they are looking for young men who look Somali that they think are undocumented," she said.
Burrito Mercado Reduces Hours, Store Offerings
It’s not rocket science: When people struggle to keep food on the table, grocery stores struggle to stay open. So now, after 42 million Americans lost their SNAP benefits during the shutdown, we’re starting to see the impact of this on local businesses. That includes Burrito Mercado, a Mexican deli, grocery store, and restaurant that has been open since 1979. They recently announced that they’ll be cutting business hours as well as inventory. “It is foot traffic. It’s shopping habits. They’re buying smaller quantities,” explains co-owner Milissa Silva of shifting consumer spending to Fred Melo for the Pioneer Press. “The immigrant community being very fearful … that’s obviously keeping folks away.”
Melo also notes that other recent closings in St. Paul include the Midway Cub Foods, Oxendale Market in West St. Paul, and downtown’s Lunds and Byerlys. In Minneapolis, folks living on the North Side have been especially impacted; Aldi’s and Walmart in Brooklyn Center both closed earlier this year.
Gamut Gallery To Close After 14 Years
Since 2012, downtown Minneapolis arts space Gamut Gallery has hosted a variety of exhibitions, dance parties, benefits, and other gatherings. But after 108 exhibits featuring over a thousand artists, gallery director and co-owner Francesca Bernardi says the space at South 10th Street will be closing next week.
“The decision follows careful consideration of several factors, including upcoming city development near the gallery, shifts in the Minneapolis art market, and the evolving realities of operating a small, independent art gallery,” they write via press release. “In response, Gamut has reassessed the sustainability of maintaining a brick-and-mortar space and has chosen to conclude this chapter.”
While there won’t be an official goodbye party (at least, nothing has been announced yet), you can still visit the gallery during its annual Raging Art On holiday sale, which finishes up this week with open hours Thursday through Sunday.
