It’s tough being a victim of crime nowadays. Stores like Walgreens and CVS are publicly criticized for closing stores in cities like San Francisco–where organized bands of retail thieves brazenly steal items knowing that police and prosecutors are not going to pursue them. Private citizens that have cars stolen or have people break into their homes to steal items are told that “insurance will take care of that” and efforts to protect one’s property by use of deadly force is “racist” and “unjust”. And now those who call police while they are being victimized are held responsible in the public eye for the resulting deaths of those that resist arrest.
Last Wednesday night, a man named Andrew “Tekle” Sundberg entered a Minneapolis apartment building and started firing shots into one of the units. The woman inside that apartment–Arabella Yarbrough–called 911. Officers that initially responded to the scene tried to evacuate those living in the complex, but were met with more gunfire and were forced to retreat. The SWAT team was called in–and a six-hour standoff ensued. Early Thursday morning, police snipers positioned on a nearby roof got a clean view of Sundberg inside the building and shot him to death.
As is standard now, this police-involved shooting resulted in a protest staged outside of the apartment building where Sundberg was killed. But it played out quite differently than many in the past, as the actual victim of the crime–Arabella Yarbrough–showed up and demanded that the protesters go home. Several of the Twin Cities’ TV stations were on-hand for the protest–likely getting ready to write stories comparing the death of “Tekle” Sundberg to those of Philando Castille and George Floyd in that area–but Yarbrough’s appearance threw a monkey wrench into those plans and completely changed the narrative.
Video of the confrontation between the protesters and the victim shows very clearly that Yarbrough is not welcome to present the viewpoint of a person directly threatened by a gunman that may have opened fire on police as well. And the responses to her claims of fearing for her life–and those of her children in the apartment–were of no concern to those there only to blame the police.
When Yarbrough points out that Sundberg was shooting into her apartment, a guy who looks like he just got off the golf course tells her “I’m sure it was just a terrible misunderstanding” (Yarbrough told police and the media that she did not know Sundberg before the shooting). As she talks about the bullet holes in her kitchen–where she was making dinner at the time–someone off camera says “At least they aren’t in you”–while another protester yells “Yeah, you’re still alive”. There are also multiple shouts for the woman to “Shut up!!” and “You’re lying!”.
Another guy on camera has his back to Yarbrough and is telling the protesters “She’s obviously going through a moment”. Like a few days from now she’s going to sit down and think “Wow, I really over-reacted there when people showed up to say the guy shooting at me and my kids was the good guy–and the police that stopped him were the bad guys”. The same guy (on-camera) laments the fact that “This is what they want to see”–referring to the cameras, which are going to feature this little exchange prominently in what was supposed to be the protest group’s day in the spotlight.
Then a woman off-camera yells out that “This is not the time or place!” Because how dare the victim of a violent crime speak out about the perpetrator of the violent crime AT HER OWN HOUSE!!! And then, of course, the festivities end with one of the protesters getting in Yarbrough’s face, physical contact is made, and the “discussion” turns to “DON’T YOU PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME!!”
I have not seen full video footage of the protest, so I don’t know if the protesters realized that maybe the people living in that apartment complex didn’t appreciate having the man that terrorized them for more than 6-hours “honored” by the community and went home to reconsider their stances on complex issues–but I highly doubt they did. Many of them likely subscribe to the belief that if Yarbrough had not called police, Sundberg would have just walked away and a simple apology the next day would have represented “restorative justice”.
Those living in those units might want to consider finding new lodging before the “members of the local art community” paint the walls of their building with a mural “memorializing” “Tekle” and “helping the community to heal”.
