Defund the police divisions add to tension on eve of Floyd murder trial
Visitors to the George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis must walk past concrete barricades and makeshift checkpoints to reach the site where the 46-year-old took his last breath with his face pressed to the ground.
Signs marking the entrance to the birthplace of a global racial justice movement read: “You are now entering the free state of George Floyd” and “cops not welcome”.
The world is set to revisit Mr Floyd’s death this week when the trial of Derek Chauvin, the white police officer who knelt on his neck during his final moments, begins.
His death not only triggered a hot summer of protests but also calls to “defund the police” that have reverberated across the US and spread to the UK.
The four-block intersection where Mr Floyd died – renamed George Floyd Square – is now a test case, with concrete barricades and a regular swarm of activists manning an “autonomous zone”, effectively barring police from the area.
And it is not going well. Earlier this month, a 30-year-old volunteer was shot dead;d business owners say customers have fled, and emergency services refuse to enter the area.
“I call that the United States,” says Sam Willis, the owner of Just Turkey restaurant, as he gestures beyond the barrier. “Over here, this is an area where there’s lawlessness.”
The so-called autonomous zone was initially supported by Minneapolis’s progressive city council. Last June a majority of councillors vowed to dismantle the city’s police department and later cut $8million (£5.8million) from its budget, in a knee-jerk reaction to protests over Mr Floyd’s death.
More than 100 police officers left the force last year – double the usual number – and dozens more are on leave with post-traumatic stress.
The police department says the drop in resources has forced it to respond to only the most serious crimes.
At the barriers to George Floyd Square, activists sit in the graffitied checkpoint stalls with heaters and kettles, peering out from plastic windows to ensure the police do not gain entry.
The flowers and messages of hope and peace that first adorned the streets have been overshadowed by boardedup businesses and graffiti.
Mr Willis said: “A guy got killed down here three weeks ago. They had to drive them to the hospital because the ambulance won’t come. You can’t have that.”
Next door, the owners of a barbecue joint have made their feelings known with a mural across their shop front. “The wise build bridges. The foolish build barriers,” it reads.
Ivy Alexander, 58, the restaurant’s co-owner, says she is sympathetic to the activists’ demands, but has felt unsafe at more than one point over the last year. “I had one employee quit because he feared for his life,” she said.
Activists in the area argue that the crime levels in the square are no higher than in other parts of the city, but claim the incidents get more media attention as it is a police-free zone.
“There’s always been crime here, that’s just the neighbourhood,” said one activist, who did not wish to be named. “Outsiders give more focus to it because they don’t like what’s happening here.”
He claimed that volunteers like him stop troublemakers at the entrance to the area. But the signs of criminal activity are clear to see. Gangs operate openly, and residents say it is not unusual to see people carrying guns.
Don Samuels, 72, who is black and a former city councillor, said there was a bitter irony to the area’s plight. “Even though George Floyd Square is the epicentre of global focus and certainly the place where this all started, it’s truly the case that the residents there have experienced more violence.”
He is among a group of residents who are suing the city council for failing to protect the community, arguing it support for the “defund the police movement” emboldened criminals and demoralised officers.
Medaria Arradondo, the city’s police chief, has admitted the level of violence in the area is “staggering and unacceptable”, but said a shortage of police resources has presented an “operational challenge”.
Some city councillors have now recanted on their earlier pledge to dismantle the police department and recently approved a $6.4 million (£4.6 million) recruitment drive.
Minneapolis is not unique. Attempts to create an autonomous zone in Portland and Seattle were unmitigated failures, and pledges by 20 US cities s to drastically cut police funding have not materialised. .
Support for the movement is also at an n all-time low among the public, with a recent Ipsos psos poll showing just 18 per er cent of Americans backed the e initiative.
But tensions between en law enforcement and the Minneapolis community nity are set to be tested again ain in the coming weeks, with th the trial of Chauvin.
With opening arguments ments due to begin tomorrow, w, Minneapolis is once again gain in the spotlight. In anticipation ipation of potential unrest, much h of the city centre – including the courthouse where the trial is taking place – have been en boarded up and surrounded unded by layers of fencing. Thousands usands of National Guard troops s and other officers have been drafted fted into the city for the duration of f the trial.
City officials have delayed elayed reopening George Floyd yd Square, fearing any sudden su moves may lead to a fresh wave w of violence, but Jacob Frey, the mayor, has promised the barriers will come down at the end of the trial. But not everyone e in the area welcomes welco an end to the autonomous autonomou zone. “There’s violence v that’s happening over o there but I think the police p are just going to make it worse,” said Louis Hunter, a 42-year-old business owner who served food to demonstrators d during last la year’s protests. Mr Hunter Hu is the cousin of Philando Philan Castile, another black man who was killed by Minneapolis Minneapol police in 2016. He argued “lives “have been saved” by the decision to cut the city’s police resources. reso
“We tried the police po body cameras, we’ve engaged them every which way, so now let’s defund de the police,” he said.
“Our city is emotional emot right now because we’re looking looki for a victory. No justice, no peace. peace That’s not going to be that way just here h in Minneapolis – it’s going to be throughout thr the world,” he added.
‘There’s always been crime here. Outsiders give more focus to it because they don’t like what’s happening’