George Floyd and life in Minneapolis
May. 27th, 2020 08:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catherineldfHello! Greetings to all the new people who started following me after virtual WisCon. I try to post out here roughly once a week, usually with a mix of writing and personal updates. Here is a personal update that is not about me, per se.
What's going on right now as you have all no doubt seen online or on the news is that the Minneapolis Police Department straight up murdered an African American man named George Floyd on camera about 4 blocks from our house on Monday. George was a security guard at a local night club and a beloved member of his community, based on what I've seen.
So last night, I went down with some friends and we joined the march to demand justice for George and other victims of police violence. It was a very powerful march and there were thousands of marchers, plus hundreds of people hanging signs out of of their houses and cars to show their support. We chose not to walk up to the 3rd Precinct, which is where things got lively (see photos with tear gas and rubber bullets). Today, there are more scattered rallies, our neighborhoods are being buzzed by police helicopters and it is all pretty hellish. The police officers who killed George Floyd have been fired but the MPD is running amok (there is a long, multi-part story about how the MPD got to be such a mess that I'll skip for now) and it's not clear that the county attorney will press charges. Said count attorney is notorious for not charging the police, when he can get away with it. Short version: it is all horrible and sad and enraging. Our city and our community have many lovely things to recommend them and I hope to see those things again. After police prosecutions, significant jail time and a complete overhaul of the MPD.
What's going on right now as you have all no doubt seen online or on the news is that the Minneapolis Police Department straight up murdered an African American man named George Floyd on camera about 4 blocks from our house on Monday. George was a security guard at a local night club and a beloved member of his community, based on what I've seen.
So last night, I went down with some friends and we joined the march to demand justice for George and other victims of police violence. It was a very powerful march and there were thousands of marchers, plus hundreds of people hanging signs out of of their houses and cars to show their support. We chose not to walk up to the 3rd Precinct, which is where things got lively (see photos with tear gas and rubber bullets). Today, there are more scattered rallies, our neighborhoods are being buzzed by police helicopters and it is all pretty hellish. The police officers who killed George Floyd have been fired but the MPD is running amok (there is a long, multi-part story about how the MPD got to be such a mess that I'll skip for now) and it's not clear that the county attorney will press charges. Said count attorney is notorious for not charging the police, when he can get away with it. Short version: it is all horrible and sad and enraging. Our city and our community have many lovely things to recommend them and I hope to see those things again. After police prosecutions, significant jail time and a complete overhaul of the MPD.