Minn. under state of emergency as protests of man’s death turn violent
Dept. of Justice says its probe is ‘top priority’
Gov. Tim Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard on Thursday after two nights of escalating protests following the death of George Floyd, declaring a state of emergency in Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding communities.
Protests erupted across South Minneapolis on
Wednesday into early Thursday morning after former Houston resident Floyd, who was black, died in police custody Monday. He repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe,” while being detained by a white police officer, who was fired after the encounter.
The governor said that he supported peaceful demonstrations but that the destruction Wednesday night warranted further action to keep the peace. During the pro
tests, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as people set buildings on fire and looted stores.
“Unfortunately, some individuals have engaged in unlawful and dangerous activity, including arson, rioting, looting, and damaging public and private property,” Walz wrote in his proclamation. “These activities threaten the safety of lawful demonstrators and other Minnesotans, and both first responders and demonstrators have already been injured.”
‘Executed him in daylight’
After a night of demonstrations, ash fell Thursday morning at a shopping center on Lake Street, where the recently renovated Target had been defaced and looted. A nearly completed apartment development across the street had been burned to its concrete lower floor. Other commercial structures were also badly damaged.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Mayor Jacob Frey said the destructive protests were a reflection of the black community’s anger over 400 years of inequality.
“What we’ve seen over the last two days and the emotion-ridden conflict over the last night is the result of so much built up anger and sadness,” he said.
Frey declared an “all-out effort to restore peace and security” in the city, and said he has authorized a “unified command structure” to protect infrastructure and communities, particularly during the pandemic.
“In believing in our city, we must believe that we can be better than we have been,” the mayor said. “We must confront our shortcomings with both humility, as well as hope. We must restore the peace, so that we can do this hard work together.”
Floyd, 46, died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a white police officer who pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes. A video of the arrest, in which he is heard pleading “I can’t breathe,” spread widely online.
“They executed my brother in broad daylight,” Philonise Floyd told CNN on Thursday, breaking down in tears. “I am just tired of seeing black people dying.”
Floyd’s death also spurred protests in Memphis, Tenn., and in
Los Angeles, where law enforcement officials faced off with people blocking the 101 freeway downtown.
The Houston chapter of Black Lives Matter is hosting a rally Friday at Discovery Green to protest police violence.
On Thursday afternoon, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Texas Sen. John Whitmire, who serves as chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, issued a joint statement condemning the officers’ actions.
“What happened in Minneapolis amplifies the events surrounding any loss of life of a person involving police officers anywhere in the country and further damages the relationship between the police and the community, and specifically communities of color,” according to a portion of the statement. “That is why we must uniformly speak out against what occurred in Minneapolis as totally unjust and unacceptable.”
Investigation begins
Four officers involved in the arrest were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department, and the FBI joined the investigation into the death of Floyd, a resident of St. Louis Park, Minn. On Wednesday, Frey, the mayor, called for the police officer who had pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck to be arrested and charged.
The Justice Department said in a statement Thursday that it had made a federal investigation into Floyd’s death a “top priority” and would investigate the officers involved and determine whether they should face federal criminal charges. The department “urges calm as investigators methodically continue to gather facts,” the statement said.
The violence came at the end of what had been a tense period.
Protesters began gathering Wednesday afternoon outside the 3rd Precinct headquarters, but by early evening, officers were trying to disperse the crowds using flash-bang grenades and tear gas.
Some residents of the area said Thursday that they believed people from outside the city had been responsible for a large portion of the fires and looting.
“This is just painful,” said Cynthia Montana, 57. “I don’t think the people who did the looting and all this destruction are the same as the peaceful protesters that have been at Cup Foods,” where Floyd was arrested Monday.
“I’m a protester,” Montana said. “It was so peaceful over there.”
Floyd’s family called for murder charges against the officers involved in his arrest.
The Minneapolis Police Department on Wednesday identified the fired officers as Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng.
President Donald Trump has condemned the actions by the officers caught on video and urged the department to expedite the investigation, but he has not reached out to Floyd’s family. During a news conference Thursday, Trump declined to say whether the officers should be prosecuted, but he called the video “shocking.”
Minor protests and looting continued Thursday, forcing the evacuation of the state Capitol.
St. Paul police officers encountered large groups of people stealing merchandise from a Target store and other businesses in the city’s Midway neighborhood, said St. Paul Police Department spokesman Steve Linder.
Some threw rocks, bottles and bricks at the responding officers, while another group of people rushed into a Foot Locker in an attempt to “pillage” sneakers, he said, noting that a fight broke out in the parking lot between a pedestrian and a driver who tried to run the person over.
“Our officers have been busy trying to keep things calm and deescalate when possible, and protect people and property,” said Linder. “It’s beyond just St. Paul,” he said, referring to instances of “flash looting.”
In a report on Floyd’s arrest, the Minneapolis police said they had been investigating an accusation of someone trying to pass a fake $20 bill on Monday in the southern part of the city when they confronted a man who was sitting on a blue car and was later identified as Floyd.
“He was ordered to step from his car,” the police department said in a statement Monday. “After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress.”
Video footage from nearby security cameras and bystanders did not show any attempt by Floyd to resist officers. Instead, it showed him begging for his life as he lay handcuffed on the ground, one officer grinding a knee into his neck while three others stood by.
The Minneapolis Police Department has received many excessive force complaints, especially from black residents.
One of the officers involved in Floyd’s death, Chauvin, 44, had several complaints filed against him, three of which led to reprimands for his language and tone.