A crime scene?
No, a mausoleum.
Since May 25, the place where George Floyd breathed his last, at the foot of the Cup Foods grocery store on Chicago Avenue, has become a place of contemplation and sharing.
The trial of the main police officer implicated in his fatal arrest, Derek Chauvin, opens this Monday in Minneapolis (United States).
“When I arrived, I hesitated to take off my shoes because I felt like I was in a sacred place,” breathes Wanda Classen, a 46-year-old social worker who bows silently in front of the metal sculpture of 'a clenched fist planted in the middle of the roundabout.
Others, like Lauren and Claire, place a candle in addition to the stuffed animals and bouquets that pile up around this corner of sanctuary asphalt.
"A murder with a badge is always a murder"
The crossroads, renamed after the deceased suffocated under the knee of the policeman, has become the epicenter of a battered city that sails between sadness, shame and anger.
Here beats the heart of a revolt that shakes America and shakes the planet.
His rallying cry?
"I can't breathe", the last words of the tortured.
On the sign at the crossroads gas station, a countdown ticks down the days before the start of Derek Chauvin's trial.
The deadline stirs up hopes and fears.
"This bastard must go to jail, him like the three other police officers who attended the scene without reacting," says Krystel, 26, whose father knew George Floyd.
"A murder with a badge is always a murder," proclaims a sign.
At the Chicago Avenue gas station, the sign does not display the prices, but the countdown to the trial. / LP / Philippe de Poulpiquet
“Unfortunately I have learned to be cynical, concedes Wanda Classen.
When Philando Castile was killed
(Editor's note: this 32-year-old African-American was shot dead during a banal traffic stop by a Hispanic policeman in 2016, the scene was broadcast live on Facebook by his girlfriend)
I was convinced that the officer would be condemned, but he was acquitted.
I had been very surprised, but found that my black colleagues were not.
"
VIDEO. Death of George Floyd: Minneapolis feverishly awaits trial of Derek Chauvin
The lawsuit forces America to question the flawed relationship between its police and its minorities, as well as the functioning of its justice system.
"I would like to believe in justice, but have you ever seen a lot of white policemen convicted after killing a black man?"
», Launches Madie, a 28-year-old apprentice electrician who guards the southern entrance to the sector.
"The system is totally perverted and virtually guarantees impunity for the police," continues this committed and energetic young girl.
It suffices to establish that they were afraid for them to be acquitted.
"
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Here, everyone points out that the only Minneapolis police officer sentenced to prison (12.5 years) is an officer of Somali origin, Mohamed Noor, who had killed an Australian-American in 2017, that is to say say a white woman.
The repeated burrs and deaths with no judicial outcome have left too many traces.
"How do you want me to give you my point of view on the outcome of this trial?"
», Mileesha gets angry.
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Death of George Floyd: in Minneapolis, the impunity of the police at the heart of the demonstrations
“Watch how our society works,” continues this slender 30-year-old African-American who takes us away to a stretch of snowy grass on which some 130 graves have been symbolically lined up.
On each one a name, a date, an age and a place.
"All were killed by the police," says the young woman overwhelmed by emotion and rage.
In the front row there is a 4 year old girl!
How do you expect me to tell my two sons aged 5 and 8 to trust the police if, in the eyes of law enforcement, they are considered a threat?
How to live in a country where we are afraid of those who are supposed to protect us?
America can be a great country but it is so unfair… ”
A clenched fist, symbol of the struggle of blacks in the United States, sits in the middle of the crossroads where George Floyd was killed./LP/Philippe de Poulpiquet
The wave of protest over the death of George Floyd, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, has provoked an examination of conscience.
Particularly in Minneapolis, a Democratic city that believed itself to be open and liberal.
However, the figures reveal significant disparities in income between blacks and whites and above all a serious lack of access to property: the legacy of a past openly segregationist policy during the first half of the twentieth century.
If Minneapolis has scores to settle with its past, it also has scores with its police.
The current head of the department, Medaria Arradondo, even sued the service accusing it of racist practices before becoming its boss!
The case of Derek Chauvin - targeted by 17 complaints but never really reprimanded - also highlighted the inability of the department to sanction its bad apples.
"Of the 2,600 complaints from the population submitted to internal control between 2012 and 2020, only 13 resulted in disciplinary sanctions, or 1 in 200", explains Dave Bicking, member of the board of the Communities united against police brutalities association ( communities united against police brutality).
In the neighborhood, a false cemetery has been installed with the name of each person killed by the police for several years in the United States./LP/Philippe de Poulpiquet
This group of activists is a reference on the subject by analyzing all procedures and promoting the use of best practices.
“This total lack of discipline is one of the reasons that led to the death of George Floyd, adds the activist.
Derek Chauvin could calmly continue to behave badly, he had no reason to think he could be punished.
"
"Your breath will change the world"
The change brought about by the death of George Floyd remains difficult to measure.
The movement launched to dismantle the Minneapolis police, promised by some elected officials, has not prospered.
Since his death, other Americans have died under police bullets.
But even if American society remains deeply divided, everyone wants to believe that mentalities have changed.
"Your breath will change the world," inscribed an anonymous hand on a pebble at the foot of his mausoleum.
"People have opened their eyes to the repression of black people in this country," said Stuart Devaan, a 57-year-old white engineer.
But in America we are at least fortunate enough to live in an open society where we wash our dirty laundry in public.
This story should help us understand what we need to change to become better.
"
At the scene of the tragedy, life has undeniably changed.
With its shared library, its service station converted into a discussion space and its autonomous management of traffic, the whole lives to the rhythm of an outline of utopia.
“Our community is much stronger, proudly announces Madie.
Before I only knew two of my neighbors and now I know them all.
»Brotherhood, the best legacy left by George Floyd.
