'No justice, no peace': Protests, violence continue in Minneapolis, New York City, other US cities following George Floyd's death
MINNEAPOLIS — Protests and, in some cases, violence, continued Thursday in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody after a white officer pinned him to the ground under his knee.
Hundreds of protesters flooded Minneapolis streets Thursday evening for a march through downtown. Traffic was halted as a crowd of people stretched for up to four blocks. Protesters shouted "I can't breathe" and "no justice, no peace; prosecute the police" as volunteer marshals in highlighter-colored vests directed traffic.
"The people of Minneapolis are not just protesting the public execution of George Floyd; they're fighting for their lives. Mr. Floyd's death — in addition to the recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor — is yet another reminder of American law enforcement's toxic tradition of abuse, negligence, violence, and discrimination toward black people," Scott Roberts, senior director of criminal justice campaigns at Color Of Change, said in a statement.
"The protests in Minneapolis are efforts by black and brown activists to rise up against centuries-old racism within the police department and prosecutors office and resist the white supremacy that has claimed far too many black lives."
The demonstration began after a round of speeches that started at 5 p.m. at the Hennepin County Government Center. Mel Reeves, a longtime activist in the city, encouraged the crowd to be peaceful.
He said officials use damaging or violent protests to distract from the true issue of police brutality.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died after he was pinned down by a police officer. The video of the handcuffed man dying while a Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck sparked a fresh furor in the US over police treatment of African Americans. The video shared online showed Floyd pleading that he couldn't breathe. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey fired four police officers following the death in custody of George Floyd. Hundreds of protesters gathered in Minneapolis to protest the death. An FBI investigation is underway.
"They wanna use us to keep us from getting justice ... they act like animals, then wanna make us look like animals," Reeves told the crowd before directing them down South Third Avenue.
Unrest in the area continued, too. Mayor Jacob Frey issued a declaration of a local emergency following "civil disturbance" in the wake of Floyd's death. Gov. Tim Walz tweeted a call to "rebuild."
"George Floyd's death should lead to justice and systemic change, not more death and destruction," Walz said.
Just after 6 p.m., a crowd of at least 300 people gathered at the intersection of Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue. As smoke from several burned-out buildings filled the air, protesters chanted and demanded justice.
"We can't breathe," they yelled. "We can't breathe."
About an hour earlier, a small group of police SUVs raced into the area and appeared to pluck out at least four people from the middle of a crowd, with officers firing what appeared to be tear gas and flash bangs to disperse a crowd of young men throwing rocks and bottles of soda and laundry detergent at their vehicles, along with eggs apparently looted from the nearby Target or Cub Foods stores.
While the core of the protest focused on police brutality and institutional racism, it also took on, at times, the air of a carnival, with young men and women riding bikes into the area to watch.
A young woman casually spray-painted "(expletive) the police" on a metal sign while across the street a man tried to tip over a port-a-potty.
Protests continued elsewhere, too. In some cases, so did the chaos.
Police in New York City clashed with protesters on Thursday night. NYPD Lt. John Grimpel told USA TODAY that there had been "numerous" arrests in Lower Manhattan. He said an officer was hit in the head with a garbage can, another was punched in the face and others had been spit on.
Meanwhile, Colorado state Rep. Leslie Herod said someone "shot into the rally" taking place at the State Capitol in Denver. A local reporter confirmed shots were fired, but the Denver Police Department said there were no reports of injuries.
Later Thursday night in Denver, a video on Twitter showed a person in a car allegedly trying to run over a protester.
"You can be angry. You can be outraged. I certainly am and I join you in those feelings and demands of #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd," Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said on Twitter. "March for justice and to see it served, but please march in peace. Responding to violence with violence will only lead to more violence."
Dozens of protesters — many wearing face masks — gathered in Chicago's South Side Englewood neighborhood on Thursday afternoon. Videos shared to social media showed protesters holding signs that read "Black Lives Matter" and chanting "no justice no peace, no racist police."
There were two groups of protesters, and one person was arrested for disorderly conduct, the city's superintendent, David Brown, said during an evening press conference. The demonstration "otherwise ended peacefully," he said.
Also Thursday, attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Floyd's family, said protesters "cannot sink to the level of our oppressors."
"Looting and violence distract from the strength of our collective voice," Crump said in a statement. "To assuage this death and begin the community's healing, city and police leaders need to look at the culture they've created and ask the hard questions."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'No justice, no peace': Protests, violence continue in Minneapolis, New York City, other US cities following George Floyd's death
Watching a police precinct in Minneapolis burn.
I don't think the protestors are really making any points by burning stuff up.
This is disturbing. it looks like the police and fire dept have evacuated. The crowd looks like they really aren't doing anything just standing around. Don't burn your neighborhood people.
I get WHY the protestors are mad, and I don't blame them for their feelings. But burning shit up ain't going to change anything.
I think the decision was made to let it burn so maybe the protest would run its course without any further damage or clashes with police.
I am not sure that is the best course, but at least I can understand the reasoning behind it.
Just never seemed to me to be a good idea to placate people by ignoring arson or other serious crimes.
It will be nice if all the protestors everywhere and all the rest of the people can make it home safely.
These people are confronted with yet another death at the hands of police and they feel like they have no voice. They are being heard now. I get burning the cop shop but none of this is going to help them. The police have evacuated. I realize that is the safest way to deal with this but they look more scared now than they did when they supposedly feared for their lives at the hands of a man who was handcuffed and on the ground with a knee on his neck. That is, they would look more scared if they were there but they're not.
Okay, far enough for me.
I believe we are both astute enough to recognize that the decision wasn't the cops' to make. Nor will I stand for lumping all cops together.
I have no problem with the firing and prosecution of the cops involved in the reason for the protests.
Questioning the valor of all cops, who do an incredibly difficult and very dangerous job, seems counterproductive to being taken seriously.
Perhaps you should direct your anger at the actual people who did the thing making you angry.
Most people that don't live there or are not very familiar with the history don't fully understand the depth of the anger. This has been the M.O. of the Minneapolis police department for decades. The American Indian Movement (AIM) was founded here in 1968 to fight back against this type of police brutality and racism. Sadly in all the ensuing years, not much has changed.
There is a large Native population in South Minneapolis and they are outraged over the killing, they have been through this for decades. They are in full support of the protests since we have been experiencing this for decades. They are not in support of violent protests.
AIM will be guarding native neighborhoods and native business to ensure their safety.
From 2007 to 2017 Minnesota and in particular, Minneapolis paid out over $60 million in claims for police misconduct.
If you compare the twin cities Minneapolis has a population of around 400,000 and across the Mississippi River St. Paul has around 300,000 yet claims paid out are 1/6 that of Minneapolis.
The Native community supports the new Chief of Police as in the few years that he has been there we have seen a marked improvement in the lines of communication between the native community and the Chief. Sadly this isn't the same attitude that Natives have of the much of the force up to and including the head of the police union there.
Hopefully, the violence will stop and we will not be going back to the old normal, but forward to a new and better normal.
If there isn't a new and better normal this cycle of violence will repeat itself.
They don't want to make any points. They are there simply to loot and burn. I doubt they even know who Mr. Floyd is. They completely dishonor the peaceful protesters and Mr. Floyd's memory. I don't know how many have been arrested elsewhere, but here (L.A.), there have been over a hundred arrests. They will go into sticker shock when they get the bill for what they destroyed.
Arrests here are now up to 400.
Moms and Grandma’s are now renting out freed up basements all over the country.
As someone who grew up in 1950's America, I never, ever thought I would see the police evacuate (obviously under orders) a police station, which was then occupied and then burned down by a gang of thugs that nobody attempted to arrest! Progressive mayors have emasculated their police departments and have left all law abiding citizens at the mercy of a hate-filled mob!
Wanna know what the twin cities is going to look like in 50 years? Look at Detroit. They are headed down the exact same path.
Sad!
Ever been to Detroit Sparty?
Yes and if you’re looking for a gotcha moment you aren’t going to find it here.
Yea i have. Better hope your windows dont get busted out for some change
Who wants to invest in an area where they periodically burn everything. There'll be more of those Food Deserts and they'll scream racism but they're doing it to themselves. I know this is only a small fraction of the Black community but this type of thing has been happening in black communities for generations. In the 1935 Harlem Riots they trashed 200 businesses then they had riots in 1943, 64, 65, 68 and each time they got worse and caused more damage till they ended up with the Harlem of the 70's which was a shithole that looked like a Bombed Out war zone. That's just Harlem but it's been happening across the country in many communities for many decades and the result is always the same it chases away retailers and employers because nobody wants to watch their Life's work get looted, trashed, or burned to the ground over something they have no fault in.
The looting, and burning completely negates their"protest". What really makes this sad is that they think they are justified.
Aaaahhhhh yes. Nothing says social justice like a 70" flat screen TV.....................SMMFH
Nah, one is not enough. Gotta get several. Spares can be traded for crack and weed.
It looks like it wasn’t the far right that want the Electric word that is banned here.
I get Protesting this situation, but Burning down and looting your own neighborhood business's and calling it "Justified", is just "Idiotic".
The next protest will be complaints that business's won't rebuild or how new ones won't come to the neighborhood, and they'll ALL be called racist.
They didn't "Social" distance either. Can they be called "Murder's" too, if people come down with Covid-19 and die ?
A friend of mine had a small clothing store during the King riots. They looted him and then burned him out. Luckily he had really good insurance and told me he would start over with a new store. I asked him if he would do it where his first was and he told me "No fing way! My clothes are for humans not fing animals."
I'd be the same way.
Why stay in a neighborhood where the neighbors will burn YOUR life down to the ground to make "Their Point" about something your not even involved in.
Imagine if that had been four black police officers with a white man pinned on the ground. Any bets on how long it would have taken for them to have been arrested?
Unequal handling of police matters like these are the root cause of the riots across the nation. Fix the root cause, and much of the rioting and burning will be gone.
Nothing excuses rioting. The dumbasses are destroying their own neighbors and businesses. At least the ones that are actually from the area and not bused in to just foment unrest.
Nothing good comes from that. Nothing.
Turn that around Sparty.... nothing excuses murder.
Again.... get to the root cause. If you didn't have the match, there wouldn't be the fire.
Murder is never justified....
Lets start there Kathleen. If you can answer as to why the arresting officers haven't been arrested and charged, then you will have the answer to why peaceful protesting turned into arson & looting.
No I don't condone the latter, but civil protests haven't gotten the black community justice either....
And take a good look at those rioters.... a big number of them are white..... just like you and me!
There are no buts in this...... unjustified murder is at the top of this conversation.
Fly - as you know, the individuals have not been charged, as required by criminal law - probably because the prosecuting attorneys'/DA are getting all the specifications/stipulations/charges written to ensure there will be no legal set-backs as happened with that police officer in NY where the specifications weren't complete and he was released on a technicality.
When I was doing LE, I never issued charges until I had every "i" dotted and every "t" crossed in my filing - never lost any of my 86 cases either.
I do agree that the officer's involved should have been taken into custody (72 hours max holding 'til charges filed). If the person weren't a police officer, they would have already been in custody. But, it's a privilege thing based on being in law enforcement - extended time allowed. Why? Don't know.
A peaceful protest is righteous, the rioting is not.
No exceptions. Not even murder.
No other way to look at it in a civilized society.
Maybe they will get their punishment if found guilty. Do you honestly think that the focus in this death would have the same focus without the burning down of a city?
Civil obedience has never gotten the oppressed any progress towards civil equality.
It took people with guns in 1775 to fight against oppression now didn't it?
But that's just it..... is our society civilized?
Is it civil to be protesting with an AR15 slung over your shoulder? It may be constitutional, but is it civil?
One of the definitions of civil is "courteous and polite". I find that politeness and courteousness is draining away from our society at the same rate that political correctness is being shunned.
No I don’t, because there isn’t one there. Not in the full context of my comment anyway
Not something I’d do but you answered you own question. It’s constitutional AND civil because no one was breaking any laws. No cars or buildings were burned. No businesses were looted, etc, etc. It’s a ridiculous comparison, the armed protests in Michigan and rioting in the twin cities. Can’t believe anyone is trying to equate the two. One is out of control illegal the other 100% legal and peaceful.
Most people don’t agree with rioting. Almost everyone agrees with peaceful protest in this situation. That’s most everyone.
This a minority doing the rioting. IMO it’s past time to start busting heads. You come down there to riot and you could get arrested, should get arrested.
Period.
Nope, not all. Not unless you have unrealistic view of reality.
But hey, if you’re all in for full on anarchy that comes from trying to justify rioting for cause let’s get it on.
It won’t end like you think it will I promise you that.
One of best things in this country and one of the big things that separates us from much of the world. The expectation of due process for everyone. Mob rule will never rule because this mob or that is pissed off and wants to take the law into their own hands.
Even the most heinous of criminals get due process no matter how loud the hanging crowd crows or how hard they riot.
Part of the solid footing that helped build this great country.
One looter was shot and killed by the owner of a pawn shop when he tried to break in to steal. That is called taking out the trash.
He probably got shot with the same gun he intended to steal. Now that is what I call karma.
Does burning a police precinct accomplish anything productive?
Yes, we must be better.
I don't think rioting and burning are "better".
Try this on for size...
IMO it’s past time to start busting heads. You come down killing unarmed people of color and you could get arrested, should get arrested.
Period.
Buildings and property are "things" that can be replaced. Death is forever.
It sure as hell gains focus on the original problem of a man being murdered does it not?
Not really.
The protestors decided to make it about THEM and nothing more to do with the original premise for the protest.
You see what you want to see as what is important to you.
Me...... I see a dead man that shouldn't be. If there wasn't the death, there wouldn't be any riots.
Don't we all?
No, he shouldn't be dead, but I learned from my parents a long time ago that two wrongs don't make a right. I find it reprehensible what the cops did and what the protestors did.
There are people on this site who would think this story was incomplete unless they got to talk about the community "rioting" in the aftermath.
There are very few black members of NT and none that I know of that bring a consistent "black" viewpoint. There are a few American Indians, and they are the minority group with the most visibility on this particular forum. So we dont see stories here often from the black point of view as relates to police misconduct.
Many of our members are more prone to talk about the rioters disparagingly than they are to hold the rogue cops feet to the fire.
And some are inclined to give a pass to riots and looting and arson, believing, seemingly, that the ends always justifies the means.
Prosecute those responsible--just like I would attempt to punish the rioters who broke the law---not ALL the people at the protest.
For which the cops will be charged and tried for their crimes. Still not justification for rioting or looting. Not even close. There’s your due process. As for GF, bad things happen in this world which is why we have laws to punish those that WILL break them. The color of the sky in my world in blue. How about yours?
True, everyone can do better. The cops can do better. The citizens can DEFINITELY do better and not riot and loot but rather protest as the law allows. No one is above the law for any reason. No one.
Trying to rob a place that sells guns.
Clearly not the fastest puppy in the litter.
Anyone who started a fire or threw a brick through a window should be arrested and prosecuted.
The main focus of this entire chain of events should be the death of George Floyd, not the aftermath. The cop knelt on Floyds neck for over five minutes, even though Floyd was handcuffed and not resisting. Five minutes is a long long long ass time to be kneeling on someones neck, cutting off the blood to their head and brain. Its a long time.
The cop was torturing Floyd in plain sight. He should be arrested immediately.
Of course.
Yes. That makes no excuses for rioting.
Yep. The really sad thing is now there are some people that will only focus on the aftermath. Pointing fingers and placing blame, if not saying they deserve what they get.
All the while ignoring what initiated all of this to begin with.
And nothing will change.
if anyone commits a murder, then they need to be appropriately dealt with.
That's precisely the point to all of this Kathleen. The officers are NOT be dealt with appropriately. Anybody else not wearing police blue would be sitting in jail right now being held for 72 hours at the very least.
Still not justification to riot. Protestor yes, riot and loot, no.
The cops will get dealt with. Peaceful protest could have assured that and no more innocents would have gotten hurt
You are way to emotional about this to be taken seriously. Now you’re upset because I abbreviated his name?
Crazy!
History is not on the side of that statement.
Not the point of my comment.
No, I'm pretty sure that r.t..b... is focused on the dead persons rights being flagrantly violated. Again property and things can be replaced. Death is permanent.
Rioting and looting are wrong, but peaceful protest has always kept people of color at the back of the bus.
And I still say rioting will just make it worse, not better. The truth of that bears out time and time again.
Nah, most of the rioters are just thugs, many of whom don’t even have a dog in the hunt as evidenced by all the young white pricks down there.
There is nothing righteous about the rioting like this. Nothing at all.
Attack mode on eh? I guess you felt like I attacked you I suppose. Not my intention so I apologize if you took it that way. Should get you more than a couple sympathy votes though.
My main position on this has been firm and steady from the start. Rioting and looting accomplishes nothing positive in the end. Nothing contrarian about that. MLK Jr understood that. Too bad more people today don’t I guess.
What a laughable comment.
Oh yeah, I forgot. You like those antifa pricks.
Bet "Antifa" is there.
Maybe "BAMN" too ?
Sales on Spaghetti-O’s work as well .... as long as they can get mom’s credit card that is.
If anything, it detracts from it imo.
What justice will the owners of the businesses who got looted and burned out get?
No Peace, No Justice – A.F. Branco Cartoon
A.F. Branco
Minnesota Business owners get a worse deal from the press that the rioters and the looters in Minneapolis. Political cartoon by a.F. Branco
Those arrested for the destruction aren't even from the cities they did it in. They are outside agitators with one purpose only. On a side note...the wife of the cop who is responsible for all of this is filing for divorce. Good for her.
No one gave it a chance after the Vid surfaced. They all went straight to "Riot" mode !
While I agree with premise of this statement, I should point out that like it or not this is not how it works for police officers in wrongful death cases, regardless of their race. There must always be at least a brief investigation of the circumstances before charges are leveled if you want to make sure the charges will stick. That is why initially they charged him with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter , because a charge of murder 1 might not stick if a lawyer could prove no pre-meditated motive and no intent. However, the initial charge could be elevated to murder 1 if additional evidence points to a motive and pre-meditated intent. This article explains the definition of the charges fairly well.
My understanding is that all 4 officers were indeed immediately fired. Whether the others will be charged remains to be seen, as again, they will want to make sure charges will stick. It has been reported that at least one of the other officers was trying to get Chauvin to get off of Floyd's neck, so it might be tough to charge them all strictly as accomplices.
My understanding is that there were at least 20 other complaints of excessive force by Chauvin in the past, so I am hoping he gets the maximum sentence possible for this crime and that the City is forced to take such cases seriously and do something about how officers are trained and weed out those who are accused of excessive force or any sort of racist behavior. This article illustrates the real problem that needs to be resolved in Minneapolis and police departments across the country.
Proper mandatory training needs to take place and must be strictly enforced across the country, and those officers who are disproportionately accused of excessive force must be investigated and dealt with before they cause another tragic death like this. Every officer I know agrees with this and feels that there was absolutely no excuse for how Chauvin acted in this case and that he should do the maximum time allowed by law for this crime..
My favorite oxymoron is The Civil War. It's not like one fighter goes up to another and says "Excuse me, might I shoot you now?"
Not sure that MLK Jr. would have agreed with that, and continued riotous protests could end up having the opposite of the intended effect.
I remember a story from years ago about a guy trying to rob a clerk at a convenience store. He brandished two revolvers (pearl handled I think). The clerk got him talking about them and offered to buy them. When the would be robber handed him them to look at, he turned them on him and he was arrested. It turns out that they were worth a lot of money.
Correct! The comment you responded to flies in the face of everything MLK Jr. believed in and stood for
To be honest, I don't think anyone would even hear about it because it does not fit particular narratives.
Please explain the "particular narrative".
"White man deserved what he got." attitude from the left. No media attention, no national outcry, no protests or rioting, nothing.
Simple enough?
Very easily..
The media and democrats want you to believe that only blacks have been victimized by police brutality. In fact, there have been more whites, per capita, than blacks that have been killed by police, rightfully or not, but the left and the media, who is controlled by the left, would never report that.
Can you remember the last time the national media reported like this Minnesota case, or Ferguson, or Brunswick, on a white person wrongly killed by blacks?
I can't.
On a side note, but kinda related, do you remember the elderly couple in Delaware that were killed by the black guy while they were visiting the grave of a friend in a VA cemetery? That made a short quip in the realm of a news cycle and lasted only a couple of hours.
Joe Biden is from Delaware, and was there at the time, but never found time to comment about that murder, but seems to have the need to comment about a case over a thousand miles away. ,
The media and the left only want you to believe there is wrongdoing only to minorities in this country.
Oh yea.....and blame Trump for it all.
I expected nothing less than the left making excuses for these thugs.
I watched a grown ass man crying today on the news after these thugs you sympathize with destroyed his business he invested his life and families saving in. Then the son of a bitches had the audacity to return while cameras were rolling trying to drag out his safe.
I would have put a bullet in their head myself.
What did this man do to deserve his life destroyed other than be a outstanding member of his community?
Bastards..............................
Side note................who in the hell flagged your comment.
Are you surprised?
The looters could give a rat's ass about "justice". They just want to steal.
Yep, spot on, beau coup up votes.
I saw the same thing happen here during the Rodney King riots. It was all about "free stuff" and doing as much damage as possible.
Insane that Minnesota is arresting reporters and giving free reign to rioters.
Total failure of leadership.
Holy shit, Keith Ellison is Minnesota’s AG.
That should be interesting.
To say the least......
I could be wrong, but I believe I just heard him say to the rioters and looters to not react to the National Guard as they would to the Minnesota Police. Is he advocating violence against the police?
I just hope the gov keeps tight reins on the guy. As I recall from his days in congress he was a bit of a lose cannon.
Minnesota sure picked some doozies last election ....
Isn't MN where a really bad actor was gov once?
Yep, Jesse coo coo ca choo Ventura
Ahh yes. Thank you. I just finished watching The Running Man and the one scene always cracks me up. It is the one when Ventura and Arnold are fighting to the death. Two future governors going at it out is hysterical.
That does sound hysterical, I’ll have to find it somewhere. My favorite line of Jesse’s is in the first Predator.
Jesse: SOB is dug in like a Alabama tick
teammate: You’re hit, you’re bleed man
Jesse: I ain’t got time to bleed
Delete out.
I think he meant for them not to act in the same way which involved violence against the police. But they will anyway most likely.
This just in...The officer who killed Mr. Floyd has been arrested.
All four ?
The news said just him so far. I suspect the others will be charged with accessory.
Fingers Crossed !
The " Baltimore Six " again ?
Thank you for that link. I had not heard about that one.
Welcome !
Seems "Because you were just there, your guilty", is only good if it's about a "Private Citizen". "Public Workers" have perks !
The charges are third degree murder and manslaughter.
Just for "The One" though. Others stood around and watched, and said NOTHING, thus my comment # 15.1.4 !
They ALL should get a Massive kick in the ass for what happened. Not just "Fired" !
It was important for them to charge the main aggressor first in this whole mess. The others will soon follow if the DA is doing his job.
"We can't breathe," they yelled. "We can't breathe."
What did they expect after they burned businesses, the scent of lilac filling the air?
Notice how the officer seems to be leaning back as this moron gets in his face? Is that practicing social distancing or his way of saying "Damn woman! Get some breath mints already"