Public Order

There was an apparent homicide last night – a woman was killed in the alley behind the Trend Bar on University at Pascal. The Trend – known throughout the neighborhood as “the place where alcoholics go to get drunk and robbed, and the drug trade goes to romp and play” – is eight blocks south of my house.

It’s squarely in the district of Councilwoman Mitra Jalali – who ran for office as “Mitra Jalali-Nelson”, but apparently that whole Swedish surname thing has become less convenient in Saint Paul politics in recent months.

She’s the one who advocates de-funding Saint Paul’s police department.

Seems like a bit of a conundrum, no?

8 thoughts on “Public Order

  1. If the woman who was killed was of the white variety, than I do not see a conundrum for Jalalali. If she was of the non-white variety, than she must have died, brutally, at the hands of the police, no? And since all other homicides are ignored and excused, I see no conundrum whatsoever.

  2. I’m thinking that reality does not really intrude much into the thoughts of people who ignore the reality that criminals commit crimes, and that if you want to keep crime in check, you need somebody to apprehend, investigate, and prosecute those criminals. So Ms. Jalali-Nelson is probably not bothered much by this at all, especially since the deceased is probably not in her social circles.

  3. When the city was proposing light rail on University, I went to a public information meeting to provide citizen input. We listened to the city planners’ presentation, saw the watercolor posters showing a beautiful streetscape, then broke into small groups to discuss community needs. Which did we want more: the train, a library, public art, etc?

    Overwhelmingly, the top result of all groups was “do something about the whores and drug dealers in the alley between University and Sherburne.” About two people said a train would be nice. So, naturally, the Planning Department’s report to the council said “there was significant public support for light rail.”

    That’s the alley where she died and that was what – 10 years ago? More? And still, it’s a problem the Council can’t seem to get cleaned up.

    News reports claim Dominique Taylor, aged 20, was arrested at the hospital in connection with the shooting. I wonder if he shot her, regretted it, and was trying to do the right thing by taking her to the doctor?

    20 years old. Not old enough to have a Permit to Carry. Not old enough to purchase a handgun. Not old enough to be drinking in a bar. But old enough to kill someone at 1:15 a.m. in the alley behind the bar.

  4. St. Paul murders 2020 vs. 2019: 17 vs. 12. Shootings: 96 vs. 70. Shots fired up 130%.

    Apparently somebody forgot to tell the criminal element that “black lives matter”, and the failure of the police to ferret out the criminal elements in this area has claimed yet another life. Or, most likely, a bunch, if indeed this area is where the druggies go, who knows how many overdoses are attributable to this failure?

    But yes, it’s a great idea to “defund the police”. It’s not like peoples’ lives depend on it, after all.

  5. Dominique Taylor

    From the respected Norwegian Taylor family? What went wrong?

  6. Dominique is a very common French name. No need to malign gallic peoples!

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  8. “So Ms. Jalali-Nelson is probably not bothered much by this at all, especially since the deceased is probably not in her social circles.”

    Yes, exactly. Several neighbors have ask the councilwoman to visit more places within her district, especially the high crime areas. She never does. I mean, if this woman had been shot by police, she would have seen it as a photo op. But, in general, she will not visit places like this.

    Looked at her Twitter feed. Crickets as far as this incident. She did take a photo op, however, to support some graffiti on a bar along University Avenue, however.

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