Officer’s trial could reopen intersection where Floyd died
MINNEAPOLIS — During a group’s recent meeting at the now-vacant Speedway gas station near where George Floyd died, children roasted marshmallows on a fire pit while adults discussed topics ranging from activism to snow removal.
“Black joy is a form of protest,” said Marcia Howard, one of the group’s organizers, referencing plans for celebrating Arctic explorer Matthew Henson as part of Black History Month.
But the agenda on this chilly Thursday morning in February quickly segued to more immediate concerns: Who would pick up skis and broomball sticks for an event being planned at a nearby park? And what’s to be done about the snow piling up at the site’s greenhouse that preserves plants left in Floyd’s memory?
Such is life at George Floyd Square, the place where former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. Although many in the community consider the place where the Black man died to be a sacred space, it also has presented some headaches for the city.
The square sprang up organically in the days after Floyd’s death. As people gathered to express their grief and anger, including leaving offerings, community members set up barricades of refrigerators, trash cans and wooden pallets to block traffic. The city eventually replaced those with concrete barriers.
Amid concerns that the barricaded square was decimating businesses and making the neighborhood less safe at night, city leaders recently pledged to reopen it after Chauvin’s murder trial. Jury selection starts Monday, and the trial is expected to stretch into April.