I’m a renter, a policy advocate, a survivor of police violence, and the DFL endorsed candidate for City Council in Ward 8. I am running for City Council in Ward 8 because I know firsthand that our current system isn’t working. My story, and our story of the last three years, shows why we need transformational change.

In 2020 after George Floyd was murdered, I, like so many others across Minneapolis and the world, said enough is enough. So we took to the streets. Together we marched, sat, chanted, and came together as a community to demand justice for George Floyd and all victims of police brutality. In response, the police shot me in the face in broad daylight and I lost my left eye. 

It’s been a long road to recovery, and a key part of that has been making meaning out of what was done to me and our community. I have come to understand that my injury is a call to action. I was not the first nor the last person to be hurt by the Minneapolis Police Department and the powers in City Hall that prevent accountability and justice. But I survived. Not everyone can say the same. 

The current City Council has not made the transformational change that we need to prevent this kind of brutality from happening again. I know – and community voices have said loud and clear – that Ward 8 needs more community safety, more accountability for MPD, dignified and attainable housing for all, and environmental justice to ensure that all our neighbors can live healthy lives on a healthy planet. The City Council has the legislative authority to pass ordinances to meet our needs, but it has not done that.

I’m running for Ward 8 City Council to create a kinder, safer Minneapolis. I will fight alongside you so that we can live in a city where people are treated with respect, where everyone has a place to sleep at night, and where our communities have clean air and a sustainable future to look forward to. I believe that vision is not only possible but within reach.

I hope you will join me in creating that Minneapolis. I am excited to meet you and to earn your support!

-Soren