MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — More than 200 homeless people have been evicted from a Minneapolis hotel that had become a refuge during protests against the death of George Floyd who died after a police officer kept his knee on his neck while he was handcuffed on the ground.
Volunteers at the Sheraton Minneapolis Midtown Hotel say the owner, Jay Patel, ordered the eviction of all guests Tuesday after the hotel’s fire alarm was pulled following a report of a drug overdose.
The hotel had been a source of stability and hope amid the civil unrest that followed Floyd’s death on May 25, the Star Tribune reported.
Some residents say conditions at the hotel began to unravel in recent days with people injecting heroin and methamphetamine in the hallways and fights breaking out at night.
“It started out well, then descended into chaos,” said Jennie Taylor, who had a room on the second floor. “People got the message that this was a place where you could use drugs freely and that attracted the wrong crowd.”
Moon Beaumaster, another resident and volunteer at the hotel, agreed. “There were too many parasitic drug dealers who were using this place for the wrong reason,” she said.
