The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

In Minneapolis, anger after the death of George Floyd does not drop

2020-05-31T22:55:46.354Z


The governor declared a curfew on Saturday evening, urging everyone to stay at home. In several streets of the city, columns of the National Guard stood ready to intervene.


The curfew took effect Saturday evening at 8 p.m. in Minneapolis and in the twin city of Saint-Paul, on the other bank of the Mississippi. On the radios and via mobile phones, state authorities ordered all residents to leave the streets. " Stay home. If you are at home, stay there, if you are not there, go there, ” said the message broadcast by the governor. In several streets, notably near the fire stations ready to intervene, columns of Humvee of the state national guard were parked, and the soldiers in combat gear stood ready to intervene.

Read also: In the “chaos” of Minneapolis, violence also divides the demonstrators

Governor Tim Walz mobilized the military on Thursday and declared a state of emergency after a night of looting and fire during which the police and relief workers were overwhelmed by the rioters. The protests, which demanded justice for George Floyd, the 46-year-old black man who died on Monday during his brutal arrest by the police, degenerated into riots during the week, especially after dark. Since Wednesday, fires and looting have multiplied in the neighborhoods surrounding Lake Street, an artery that cuts from east to west this vast checkerboard of residential houses and shopping centers. A police station, several supermarkets and supermarkets and dozens of shops were ransacked and burned.
Tim Walz, Democratic governor, said he "understood" the anger of the protesters, but nevertheless condemned the violence and the thugs.

The announcement Friday of the arrest of the police officer responsible for the death of George Floyd and his indictment for murder had not been enough to calm the spirits.

In residential areas south of the city, residents feared another night of riots. Some had barricaded their street by parking cars at the ends, or put obstacles across the road.

The security system was significantly strengthened during the day on Saturday. A thousand soldiers have been deployed in the city, according to the National Guard. "We are in a strong position compared to the previous day in Minneapolis and Saint Paul," said Lieutenant-General Jon Jensen, who commands the National Guard.

All afternoon, helicopters flew over the city. The highways to central Minneapolis have been blocked. The curfew and reinforcements from the National Guard seem to have allowed the authorities to regain some control over the situation.

Some fires broke out, notably in a shopping center on avenue Nicollet, but the firefighters were able to intervene and extinguish it in time.

Groups of looters were formed, but the police and soldiers, equipped with tear gas canisters, dispersed them. A barricade built in front of the Kmart supermarket on Lake Street was quickly dismantled by the police. Police checkpoints have also prevented the movements of riot groups.

At around 10:30 p.m., Governor Walz thanked the peaceful demonstrators for having evacuated the streets, for letting the police intervene against "those who sow chaos".

But the damage of the past few days has been considerable. During the day, thousands of volunteers, white and black, had converged on the district which surrounds the police station of the 3rd district, burned down by the rioters in the night from Thursday to Friday, together with shops and supermarkets nearby. Equipped with shovels and brooms, they set out to clear the streets of debris. The smoking ruins of the police station had been surrounded by fences. People have started to clear the sidewalks. The Minehaha liquor store, across the street, was nothing more than a blackened carcass, the roof and the floor reduced to a heap of charred beams. On the other side of the crossroads, the Autozone automotive equipment store is nothing more than a heap of charred sheets.

In front of the Target hypermarket, ransacked by looters, other volunteers take out the still intact products from the shelves flooded by the fire hoses of the firemen. They line up jars, sachets and cans along the wall. People come to take advantage of the windfall, filling entire carts or the trunk of their car. Others in the parking lot filled garbage bags with charred debris soaked in water.

"I don't live here, but I came to help rehabilitate this neighborhood," said Shelly Lynne, a 50-year-old childcare worker. “My son worked at Auto Zone. He also asked me to come and see what his store looked like. I can hardly believe that it was the people in the neighborhood who did this: why would they burn down their own businesses? "

This hypothesis of looters from neighboring states had been raised by Governor Walz. However, according to police arrests, 80% of those arrested are residents of Minneapolis.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-05-31

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.