Minneapolis high school cancels classes after wild allegedly race fueled brawl drew in parents, 2 adults arrested

Administrators at a Minneapolis high school canceled classes Friday after a pair of allegedly “race-fueled” fights Thursday between African-American and Somali students that drew in parents and resulted in the arrests of two adults.

CrimeWatchMinneapolis reported that a fight initially broke out between groups of African-American and Somali students at St. Louis Park High School.

The school said in a statement that the first incident, which took place during the latter part of the school day, was broken up by teachers and staff.

“Unfortunately, the situation escalated further at the end of the school day when adults (not SLP employees), who were aware of the earlier altercation, became involved in another physical altercation with some of the students,” the statement said.

Crimewatch said the brawl involved some parents.

Abreeha Annalisa Smith, 22, and Latoys Renail Milon, 41, were arrested but later released without being charged, the Daily Mail reported Saturday.

Milon’s daughter, Sanaiah Milon, said she was punched and kicked to the floor by dozens of students because of “a personal beef,” denying claims the fight was racially-motivated. But school officials are still investigating the incident as possibly race-based.

Sanaiah said she’d argued with a Somali classmate months earlier, but thought the issue had been resolved, the outlet reported.

But then she was told she was going to get “jumped,” Sanaiah told KARE11.

“And I got punched. And I got punched again from the other side. Then one student grabbed me by the neck and she tossed me and we were on the floor. And it was just kicks, punches. In my head, it felt like it was going on forever. Like, I was just scared.”

Videos on social media show Sanaiah being beaten up, but classes resumed after the fight.

The situation worsened when Sanaiah’s 41-year-old mother, with her older daughter, showed up because she had apparently learned of the initial fight and wanted to help Sanaiah.

Somehow a second fight broke out and Latoys Milon, who had an active warrant for theft of services, was arrested but then released in less than five hours. 

Smith, the other adult who was arrested, was found to have an active felony warrant for aiding and abetting theft and two other ongoing cases related to theft, the Daily Mail said.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that the St. Louis police have not had have a dedicated officer on the campus since late August, when they were pulled in response to changes in the law governing their use of force.

St. Louis police said the adults were behind the second fight, but Latoys Milon denied it. 

“Now the way they’re trying to make it look like we’re the bad guys. It had nothing to do with race,” the mother said. “I had nothing to do with anything. It was just trying to get to my daughter to make sure she’s OK.”

School officials, however, said they are investigating. “We are actively gathering information and working closely with law enforcement to understand the full scope of these incidents, including whether or not the incidents were racially motivated,” the statement said.

The high school cancelled all classes on Friday and remained closed to students, families and public.