He knows that just by standing there, he's attracting the attention of police officers. And he says the police unfairly judge people who look like him.

 "They judge you just by your appearance," he says. "I'm not going to say it's a racial issue, but they just judge you."

 His complaints draw the attention of another young man standing nearby.

 This man will also not give his real name, but says he goes by P-Funk. He's 23 and lives in north Minneapolis. He says the city would rather keep young black men like him out of downtown.

 "Look at the City Center," he says. "It ain't nowhere for a young black person to go in there no more. No Twins town, no Foot Locker. None of that. No Urban Wear. They took all that (expletive) away from us. They trying to make this to where it ain't nothing but white people."

 Police officials deny that they single out black youth. Officers say they look at the behaviors that raise suspicion of criminal acts, not skin color.

 But the perception that police are pushing out black youth as a way to make white people feel safer about coming downtown is shared by more than those who feel targeted.