WINONA, Minn. – Winona police called an armored vehicle designed for war zones into the predominantly Black Maplewood neighborhood Tuesday after a stabbing. County Board member Greg Olson said he was flooded with emails decrying militarized policing. On social media, there were accusations of police racism in the almost wholly white Winona police agencies. One post: “Wonder how many times they break out the heavy weaponry in Maplewood vs. anywhere else in Winona.” The man suspected in the stabbing, Lamel Vance Lillard, 40, surrendered after police setup a perimeter around the apartment where he was holed up. Unclear was whether the MRAP armored vehicle, and also a SWAT team, factored into Lillard’s surrender. One online critic compared the Maplewood incident, in which the stabbing victim survived, to a stabbing in virtually all-white Dakota, in which the victim died. “Where was the military tank for the murder that happened?” one post asked rhetorically. Another post asked: “Did they really drive that thing into a neighborhood with children and families to arrest one person?” A Maplewood tenant posted a video of the military vehicle in her yard. Maplewood is subsidized housing neighborhood with many single-parent households and children. There were calls for the county to get rid of the vehicle.
Earlier: Social media a forum on militarized policing