By Hayley Feland
MINNEAPOLIS – A Minnesota Democratic-Farm-Labor (DFL) Party leader who once expressed support for “dismantling” the police is now benefiting from a heightened police presence in her neighborhood after she was allegedly carjacked.
Sources told Alpha News that Minneapolis police were “instructed to do extra patrols in her neighborhood,” saying the request “came from downtown.” The Minneapolis Police Department confirmed that it has added extra patrols to DFL Second Vice Chair Shivanthi Sathanandan’s north Minneapolis neighborhood.
“As a normal course of operation, MPD continually evaluates crime levels and utilizes resources accordingly. Extra patrols in her neighborhood are one of several areas throughout the city that will receive extra patrols,” said Sgt. Garrett Parten, MPD’s public information officer.
Sathanandan was allegedly carjacked in front of her children in the driveway of her home Sept. 5. A photo she posted online shows blood streaming down her face from a laceration to the side of her head. She said she also suffered a broken leg along with other cuts and bruises.
“Four very young men, all carrying guns, beat me violently down to the ground in front of our kids,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “And I have rage. These men knew what they were doing. I have NO DOUBT they have done this before. Yet they are still on OUR STREETS. Killing mothers. Giving babies psychological trauma that a lifetime of therapy cannot erase. With no hesitation and no remorse.”
Sathanandan then thanked the “incredible Minneapolis 4th Precinct Officers” and called for tougher penalties for criminals.
“Look at my face. REMEMBER ME when you are thinking about supporting letting juveniles and young people out of custody to roam our streets instead of HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS,” she wrote.
Her story was picked up by national media outlets after it was revealed that Sathanandan expressed support for dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department in a 2020 Facebook post following the death of George Floyd.
“We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department. Say it with me,” she wrote, thanking two Minneapolis City Council members for their “radical leadership.”
“MPD has systematically failed the Black Community, they have failed ALL OF US. It’s time to build a new infrastructure that works for ALL communities,” she said.
In another 2020 post, Sathanandan thanked the Minneapolis Board of Education for removing school resource officers from the district, saying “MPD should have no place in our children’s schools.”
This article originally appeared at Alpha News and was reprinted with permission.
