Minneapolis Social Injustice and Related

[caleb]

I've had a bad habit lately of waking up at first light, and this morning I smelled smoke. After reading the news and making coffee, I got on my bike and rode toward Lake and Hiawatha to see for myself.




At about 7am, I went by a guy sitting on his front steps drinking a beer. It only got stranger from there.




The destruction on Lake is difficult to comprehend. It went for at least a mile on East Lake, and I understand it went for a few miles further to the west. There was still open flame coming from an incomplete housing complex that was totally burned, and the smoke was thick.


















The most surreal moment was standing in the Target parking lot, in broad daylight, directly across the street from the police station with officers standing outside, when a woman came out of a side door of the Target pushing a shopping cart full of what looked like TVs and just casually loaded them into the white van like she was out for a shopping trip.



I understand that the governor is calling out the national guard.

[AngryScientist]

Wow. These images are really sad and tragic in so many ways. Very depressing and concerning. Stay safe!

[caleb]

The really tragic part is that the damage will fall most heavily on communities of color in the area.

The two grocery stores that were looted served heavily black and Latino customers, and without them the area is a huge food desert.

The building project they burned was an affordable housing complex.

Lots of the damaged businesses were minority owned and/or managed.

[rwsaunders]

The really tragic part is that the damage will fall most heavily on communities of color in the area.

The two grocery stores that were looted served heavily black and Latino customers, and without them the area is a huge food desert.

The building project they burned was an affordable housing complex.

Lots of the damaged businesses were minority owned and/or managed.

That’s really the sad part but I can understand the frustration and the anger regarding the police event. Too often the protests occur in the neighborhood where the event took place and when emotions spill over, the businesses take the brunt of the impact. Thanks for posting as your photos are real and unaltered, which is unlike many of the images shared on news outlets these days.

[caleb]

The video up on the NYT matches what I saw this morning. It captures the scale of the burning better than my pictures.

George Floyd’s Death and Minneapolis Protests: Live Updates - The New York Times

[beeatnik]

That’s really the sad part but I can understand the frustration and the anger regarding the police event. Too often the protests occur in the neighborhood where the event took place and when emotions spill over, the businesses take the brunt of the impact. Thanks for posting as your photos are real and unaltered, which is unlike many of the images shared on news outlets these days.

I was a kid during the LA Riots/Uprising. I often heard people ask that question. The black community was certainly affected but the burning and looting extended to Hollywood and crossed through neighborhoods that were in the early stages of gentrificafion or redevelopment. I understood the rage. Although I was an honors student at an elite, white prep school (the wealthiest and oldest high school in the city), I was mistreated or profiled by the LAPD on a regular basis (4 traffic citations in one year on average). And I was a 120 pound Latino who wore Doc Martins. I can only describe what I felt as elation and awe when I witnessed the early scenes of people in the streets near Downtown Los Angeles with riot police unable to act. Of course, the Reginald Denny scenes were upsetting and incomprehensible.

By day 2, half my friends had looted or acquired televisions and personal electronics from the hundreds (thousands) of targeted business in areas away from their homes. As I mentioned the riots spread through diverse areas of the City; however, the super majority Latino neighborhoods northeast and east of Downtown didn't experience any destruction or looting. The only looting reported in Boyle Heights/East LA (historic Mexican/Chicano center of LA) occurred at a Sears as six individuals gained access to the store but, according to now legend, returned the merchandise after their mothers and grandmothers became aware of their lawlessness. I don't know what kept Latinos from uprising in their own neighborhoods; we were nearly as persecuted as African-Americans at the time. The black-white binary of American
racism, immigrant disenfranchisement, Catholism, historical patriarchy all these forces made (continue to make) our community passive and fearful.

[Colinmclelland]

I was going to say that police murder thing wouldn't happen twice here..but then I thought about it for a nano-second.

We had an "Aboriginal deaths in custody" enquiry a very long time ago and SFA has changed since then. Shameful shit keeps happening, they just aren't stupid enough to do it in public, letting people film them on their phones.

As an aside, how are they going to find jury members who haven't already seen that footage and formed a view?

[Saab2000]

I was appalled when I saw the first reports of what happened. I am equally appalled by the rioting and looting. This is my adopted hometown, having spent much time there since my childhood and it's sad to see what it has become.

Make no mistake - George Floyd was murdered and the officers need to be held accountable but more violence isn't going to solve anything. It will only beget more resentment and more violence in a never ending cycle.

[sk_tle]

Honestly this is depressing, but I can understand people of color losing their nerves and wanting a revenge after what happened with George Floyd.

How else but a scum of a country can a man be tortured to death while being handcuffed ?How can a community accept to be tortured and murdered by the people that should protect them ? And it is not one bad police officer. They were 4 in total. Killing black people has become part of the police culture. Looting might be unacceptable, but if not for covid all the country and not only people of color in Minneapolis should have marched and protested in front of their local police station all day and night to call for a stop.

[dashDustin]

woah. how is this not front and center on my typical morning news sites.

[caleb]

woah. how is this not front and center on my typical morning news sites.

There was no news anywhere to be seen. Not even local news.

[vertical_doug]

There was no news anywhere to be seen. Not even local news.

Minneapolis Mayor says George Floyd would still be alive if he were white | Daily Mail Online

Dailymail has shots from the evening when the shops were on fire.

Is it localized to a 4, 5 block area?

[beeatnik]

The destruction on Lake is difficult to comprehend. It went for at least a mile on East Lake, and I understand it went for a few miles further to the west. There was still open flame coming from an incomplete housing complex that was totally burned, and the smoke was thick.

Now imagine those scenes on every north-south arterial street in a 150 square mile area; that was Los Angeles.

[caleb]

Sitting in the backyard right now, and it’s a din of sirens and helicopters.

Tonight feels like it’s going to be bad. It’s beautiful out, so there’s no reason to go inside. The national guard has been called out, and business owners are staking out their properties heavily armed.

One important difference between this riot and coastal cities is that everyone has guns. Call out the national guard with live ammo, and I’ll cop to being concerned.

I’m hoping that worse doesn’t end up going to worst tonight.

[Too Tall]

Sitting in the backyard right now, and it’s a din of sirens and helicopters.

Tonight feels like it’s going to be bad. It’s beautiful out, so there’s no reason to go inside. The national guard has been called out, and business owners are staking out their properties heavily armed.

One important difference between this riot and coastal cities is that everyone has guns. Call out the national guard with live ammo, and I’ll cop to being concerned.

I’m hoping that worse doesn’t end up going to worst tonight.

I hope for the best Caleb. Watching the FBI presser last evening gave me some reassurance.

F.Y.I. What makes you think "coastal" communities are not armed to the teeth? Ever been to a public range in the DC Metro? Dewd.

[Sbti]

"When the looting starts, the shooting starts!"
-guess who

-Three CNN reporters arrested before four murderers are arrested.

[rowdyhillrambler]

I am just hearing that the Police precinct has been set on fire? That seems like where the energy should focused..

Save the local businesses-Target and AutoZone can rebuild, they have profited long enough and I’m hard pressed to shed too many tears. I am all for a peaceful protest and a consensual dialogue, but when no one is listening and your words arent heard.. sometimes a brick through the window will get some attention.

It might seem as though I totally condone this behavior-a lot of it I don’t.

Focused energy on the problem, limit collateral damage. I can understand the frustration, it’s easy, we are asking you as ‘officers of the law’ to not kill black people or people in general. When they don’t listen, it’s the bed you made.

It’s ugly out there Caleb-I feel for your community, stay safe-

[rwsaunders]

I’ve read a few quotes that have essentially implied that destroying and looting Target and Auto Zone isn’t so much a big deal because they’re large corporations. Well, some people make a living working in those stores and Target in particular, is known for developing in urban locales that not many retailers care to venture into. Target is also HQ’d in Minneapolis and is very involved in the community. If those retailers believe that their employees or customers are threatened or that their properties are unprotected, they’re not coming back.

[rwsaunders]

One more offering from my feeble mind...after watching the video the other day, there is no doubt in my mind that Derek Chauvin (the cop) killed George Floyd and he hasn’t been arrested. The mayor, local politicians, somebody with some stones needs to have this man arrested and growing even bigger stones, meet face to face with people and have a discussion. Hiding on ZOOM at this point and pleading with people from scripted messages does nothing and guess what...nobody is listening.

[j44ke]

The mayor needs to find a way to transcend the anger here and stop the protests. This is becoming a test drive for future events.

I remember coming around a corner in Paris while trying get around a small but active WTO protest and running into a group of cops changing into protestor clothes. Chilling.