The conviction of Earl Bennett for the triple homicide at a Minneapolis homeless encampment represents a necessary step toward justice for the victims and their families. However, this tragedy exposes far more than just one man’s violent actions—it lays bare the catastrophic failure of our social safety nets and the normalization of encampments as de facto housing solutions for our most vulnerable citizens.
Bennett’s guilty verdict on three counts of second-degree murder provides legal closure in a case that shocked the Minneapolis community. The cold-blooded shooting of Christopher Martell Washington, Louis Mitchell Lemons, Jr., and Samantha Jo Moss demands accountability. Yet focusing solely on Bennett’s individual culpability without examining the conditions that created the environment where this violence occurred represents a profound moral and policy failure.
The Criminalization of Homelessness Masks Deeper Policy Failures
The existence of encampments in Minneapolis—much like in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Portland—represents not a failure of individual responsibility but a systemic breakdown in housing policy. These makeshift communities don’t emerge from nowhere; they materialize when affordable housing becomes scarce and mental health services remain inaccessible. The average one-bedroom apartment in Minneapolis now costs approximately $1,300 per month, requiring an hourly wage of nearly $25 to afford—far beyond what minimum wage jobs provide.
When three people are murdered in a housed community, we question what went wrong with the perpetrator. When three people are murdered in an encampment, the conversation too often shifts to what’s wrong with encampments themselves. This framing conveniently absolves policymakers of responsibility for creating genuine housing solutions.
The Minneapolis City Council has repeatedly focused on encampment sweeps rather than sustainable housing. In 2022 alone, the city conducted over 90 encampment clearings at significant taxpayer expense, yet homelessness rates continued to climb. Each sweep costs between $1,000-3,000 per person—money that could instead fund permanent supportive housing, which has proven more effective and less expensive in the long run.
Mental Health Crisis Demands More Than Criminal Justice Responses
Bennett’s behavior during his arrest—placing a gun to his head, refusing to surrender, and ultimately forcing a police confrontation—strongly suggests untreated mental illness. This pattern mirrors countless other cases where individuals experiencing mental health crises encounter law enforcement rather than healthcare providers.
Minnesota, like many states, has experienced a dramatic decline in available psychiatric beds—from 2,000+ in the 1990s to fewer than 1,000 today. Meanwhile, the state’s largest mental health provider has become Hennepin County Jail. This criminalization of mental illness creates a revolving door where people cycle between jails, emergency rooms, and encampments without receiving comprehensive treatment.
The tragic irony is that providing comprehensive mental health services costs significantly less than this cycle of crisis response. A 2021 Wilder Foundation study found that providing supportive housing with integrated mental health services costs approximately $18,000 per person annually, compared to over $30,000 for the combined emergency services, jail time, and hospital visits typically used instead.
Violence Within Encampments Reflects Broader Societal Violence
The violence that occurred at this Minneapolis encampment wasn’t an anomaly but a concentrated reflection of the violence inflicted upon homeless populations daily. Homeless individuals experience violent victimization at rates 13 times higher than the general population. The lack of security, privacy, and stability creates conditions where violence becomes more likely.
However, portraying encampments as inherently dangerous misses the critical point that most violence experienced by homeless individuals comes from outside these communities. A 2023 National Coalition for the Homeless report documented over 1,800 acts of violence against homeless individuals by housed perpetrators over the past decade, including 428 fatal attacks.
The victims in this case—Washington, Lemons, and Moss—deserve to be remembered as more than statistics. They were community members with dreams, relationships, and potential that was violently taken from them. Their deaths should prompt not just criminal prosecution but a fundamental reevaluation of how we address homelessness.
Alternative Viewpoints: The Public Safety Argument
Some will argue that encampments inherently create public safety hazards and should be removed regardless of available alternatives. This position typically emphasizes the concerns of nearby residents and businesses who report increased crime, public drug use, and sanitation issues.
This perspective contains legitimate concerns but fundamentally misdiagnoses the problem. Encampments don’t cause homelessness—they are the visible symptom of it. Clearing encampments without providing adequate housing alternatives merely displaces vulnerable people, making their situations more desperate while solving none of the underlying issues.
The evidence from cities that have tried aggressive encampment removal without sufficient housing alternatives shows this approach fails. In 2018, San Francisco spent $20 million on encampment sweeps only to see homelessness increase by 17% the following year. Contrast this with Houston, which reduced homelessness by 54% through a housing-first approach that prioritized permanent solutions over enforcement.
Moving Forward: Real Solutions Require Real Investment
Bennett’s sentencing in January 2026 will provide a measure of justice for the victims’ families. But true justice would mean preventing such tragedies from occurring again. This requires immediate action on multiple fronts:
First, Minneapolis must dramatically expand its affordable housing stock. The current deficit of approximately 15,000 affordable units won’t be solved through market forces alone. This requires public investment and zoning reform to allow more multi-family housing.
Second, mental health services must be expanded and integrated with housing initiatives. The successful Housing First model, which provides stable housing without preconditions while offering supportive services, has shown 80% retention rates even among those with severe mental illness.
Third, we must recognize homelessness as a public health emergency deserving of emergency-level resources. The cost of inaction—both in human lives and public resources—far exceeds the cost of comprehensive solutions.
The conviction of Earl Bennett closes one tragic chapter in Minneapolis’s struggle with homelessness and violence. But without addressing the conditions that foster such tragedies, we’re simply waiting for the next headline. The victims of this senseless violence deserve more than just the incarceration of their killer—they deserve a society that values housing as a human right and invests accordingly.
