A few weeks ago, I joked – well, “joked” – that you could that most of the destructive rioters were upper middle class white kids, closely linked to the Twin Cities’ political class.
How could I tell this?
Because Allianz Field, home of “Minnesota United” soccer club, and a mere block from stores that were burned or looted wall to wall, didn’t have so much as a single graffito on it.
We’ll come back to Allianz Field in a moment.
The strip mall that adjoins Allianz, the “Midway Center”, essentially the Midway’s “main street”, was damaged extensively in the riots – but not comprehensively.
That hasn’t stopped the mall’s owner from terminating all the leases in the complex.
Jenny Hui got choked up earlier this week when talking about the family business being shut down.
She’s 28-years old and essentially grew up inside Golden Gate Cafe.
Her parents opened the restaurant in St. Paul’s Midway Shopping Center shortly after they emigrated from China decades ago.
“They worked super hard all these years to build everything we have now,” Hui said. “It’s devastating to see it go out like this.”
But the aftermath of civil unrest last month left parts of the Midway Shopping Center significantly damaged, and the landlord has informed tenants that he intends to terminate their leases.
The Pioneer Press obtained a copy of a letter dated June 25 in which the landlord cited a clause in the lease agreement that allows him to terminate in the case of extensive damage. He noted that all personal property must be removed from the premises by July 1
Now, stop me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t “MN United” looking to clear that shopping center out of the way to make way for its own development plans – plans that cater only dubiously to the neighborhood?
Major League Soccer’s Minnesota United principal owner Bill McGuire is involved in the property, though owner Rick Birdoff with RK Midway wrote the letter to tenants. Neither responded to requests for comment.
The Midway Shopping Center sits in the shadows of the newly constructed Allianz Field soccer stadium, home to Minnesota United.
Convenient, huh?
If only the MPD had actually made some arrests of the destructive rioters so we could know for sure precisely who they were. Agreed that the pattern does suggest privileged kids of the political class, and if I were a resident, I’d seriously consider pleading with those clowns to “get off my side, you destroyed the places where I parked and shopped and replaced it with a playground for your fellow rich kids.”
Follow the money…
If only the Twin Cities had more Korean restaurants, things might have gone differently.
They didn’t bother to interview the mayor or city council member for this article.
Huh, imagine that.
If only the Twin Cities had more Korean restaurants, things might have gone differently
At least a couple of Midway businesses, one run by immigrants and the other by “People of Color”, were seen on the roofs of their businesses, strapped up like Rambo.
I won’t name them, because I don’t want either “canceled”. But I’ve sent them a bunch of business in the past month in thanks.
Pingback: Fortuitous | Shot in the Dark