Late last night, a fire started at the Cedar High Apartments, a public senior high-rise, leaving 3 seriously injured and 5 dead. We are so devastated for their families, for the Cedars, and for their memory. May they rest in peace.

The newly renovated building that the fire took place last night at Cedar Public housing highrise where five people died and at least 3 people seriously injured didn’t have a sprinkler system. MPHA, Mayor Frey and Abdi Warsame spent over $800,000 dollars on building this fence for this building; it was promoted as a safety measure. Jacob Frey and Abdi Warsame who lobbied for this fence and approved this funding must answer.

http://www.startribune.com/city-to-give-800-000-security-upgrade-to-cedar-riverside-public-housing/481961561/?fbclid=IwAR3hfffGr3rJd4jElzv9xOwbX5ofvbF96G9NqnI7jzWsptWZZ9Z1zheMovU

This is completely unacceptable. It is incredibly dehumanizing to spend enormous amounts of money to police and surveil disabled and vulnerable senior residents without any considerations for their safety or health.
When Associated Press asked Jeff Horwich of MPHA in this article
why the building did not have a sprinkler system, Jeff
Horwich said they are not required to have a sprinkler system due to the age of the building. https://abcnews.go.com/…/dead-hospitalized-fire-minneapolis….
But, this building was fully renovated recently so the City of Minneapolis failed to hold MPHA accountable yet again. This is clear evidence that the City of Minneapolis and MPHA do not care about vulnerable and disabled Black and Brown public housing residents. This is a travesty. We demand an investigation about this fire, the fence, and the approval process.
We are so devastated for families, for the Cedars, and for their memory. May they rest in peace.