Minneapolis weighs renaming Blaisdell for Officer Mitchell
The Minneapolis City Planning Commission is set to consider a petition to rename a stretch of Blaisdell Avenue in the Whittier neighborhood as "Officer Jamal Mitchell Way" in honor of the MPD officer killed responding to a mass shooting there on May 30, 2024. The proposal, submitted last month by Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara, would apply to Blaisdell between Franklin Avenue West and 22nd Street West, the corridor where Mitchell was ambushed while stopping to aid what appeared to be a shooting victim. Mitchell, who joined MPD in 2022, had previously been commended for rescuing an elderly couple from a burning house in the 5th Precinct, and O’Hara is publicly backing the naming as recognition of his service and death in the line of duty. If the commission signs off, the recommendation will go to the City Council, putting an official city street renaming tied to one of Minneapolis’s most recent mass‑casualty crimes on the council’s plate. For residents and businesses along Blaisdell, the change would mean updated addressing and signage; for the broader city, it’s a visible statement about how Minneapolis chooses to memorialize officers killed amid ongoing violence and distrust around policing.
📌 Key Facts
- Proposal would rename Blaisdell Avenue between Franklin Ave. W. and 22nd St. W. to "Officer Jamal Mitchell Way."
- Officer Jamal Mitchell was killed May 30, 2024, after being ambushed while responding to a shooting on Blaisdell Avenue.
- The petition was submitted by Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Brian O’Hara and will be taken up by the Minneapolis City Planning Commission before heading to the City Council.
📊 Relevant Data
The gunman who killed Officer Jamal Mitchell was Mustafa Mohamed, a 35-year-old man of Somali descent with a criminal history including first-degree burglary convictions and illegal firearm possession, who was ineligible to carry a firearm and had an active warrant for his arrest.
Mustafa Mohamed identified as gunman in Minneapolis mass shooting that left officer and civilian dead — Hiiraan Online
In Minneapolis, Black residents comprise about 18% of the population but commit 88% of the homicides, resulting in a violent crime rate among Black residents that is 27 times higher than among White residents.
Maligning Minneapolis — City Journal
The Somali population in Minnesota is approximately 107,000 as of 2024, representing about 2% of the state's total population of around 5.7 million.
By the numbers: Minnesota's Somali population, according to census data — KTTC
Somali immigration to Minnesota was primarily driven by refugee resettlement following the Somali Civil War in the 1990s, facilitated by U.S. voluntary agencies and the Refugee Act of 1980.
How Minnesota became the center of the Somali diaspora — Sahan Journal
The Whittier neighborhood in Minneapolis, where the shooting occurred, has a demographic composition of 45.3% White, 30.9% Black, and other groups, compared to the citywide Black population of 18.8%.
Whittier, Minneapolis, MN Demographics: Population, Income, and More — Point2 Homes
The Whittier neighborhood led Minneapolis in gun violence in 2024, with 8 fatal shootings, a significant increase from 1 homicide in 2019.
South Minneapolis' Whittier neighborhood leads city in gun violence — Star Tribune
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