A Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party official who once vowed to “dismantle” the Minneapolis Police Department is now calling for tougher crime laws after she was beaten and bloodied in a carjacking outside of her home this week.
Shivanthi Sathanandan, the Second Vice Chairwoman for the DFL, shared news of her attack in a Wednesday Facebook post, where she fumed that the four young suspects need to be brought to justice.
“I have a broken leg, deep lacerations on my head, bruising and cuts all over my body. And I have rage,” wrote Sathanandan, who said the beating occurred in front of her 4-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son at around 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.
“These men knew what they were doing. I have NO DOUBT they have done this before. Yet they are still on OUR STREETS. Killing mothers. Giving babies psychological trauma that a lifetime of therapy cannot ease. With no hesitation and no remorse,” Sathanandan continued.
Included in the post was a selfie of Sathanandan, showing blood pouring down the right side of her face.
“I’m now part of the statistics. I wasn’t silent when I fought these men to save my life and my babies, and I won’t be silent now. We need to get illegal guns off of our streets, catch these young people who are running wild creating chaos across our city and HOLD THEM IN CUSTODY AND PROSECUTE THEM,” she said.
“Look at my face. REMEMBER ME when you are thinking about supporting letting juveniles and young people out of custody to roam our streets instead of HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS.
Minneapolis police confirmed the carjacking in Sathanandan’s Folwell neighborhood in a statement to KSTP. Her car was later recovered, but no suspects have been arrested.
Sathanandan thanked the “incredible” Minneapolis PD for assisting in the terrifying experience — a far cry from her attitude toward law enforcement three years ago when she posted online that she and other activists were “going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.”
“MPD has systematically failed the Black Community, they have failed ALL OF US. It’s time to build a new infrastructure that works for ALL communities. If you are still disagreeing with that BASIC FACT, I’m not sure what to say to you,” she said in the June 5, 2020 post — less than two weeks after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.
In another post on June 2 of that year, she applauded the Minneapolis School Board’s decision to terminate its contract with the department: “MPD should have no place in our children’s schools,” she wrote.
Minnesota DFL Chairman Ken Martin told KSTP in a statement Thursday that he was “heartbroken at the news of Shivanthi’s attack.”
“It is my sincere hope that the people who assaulted Shivanthi are quickly brought to justice and face punishment commensurate with the severity of their crimes,” said. “My heart goes out to Shivanthi and her family and I hope their recovery from such a horrifying experience is as swift as possible.”
The Post has reached out to Sathanandan for comment.
