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.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-28 01:31 am (UTC)ETA: This particular instance is apparently so grievous that the (white) CEO of the Fortune 500 I work for sent out an all employee email talking how it was important this was, how he had no words for how this must feel to employees of color, and how we need to do better. (Why this particular instance and not all the many, many others? Who knows. It was a shock nonetheless.)
no subject
Date: 2020-05-28 01:41 am (UTC)The MPD has been a complete trashfire for decades. I've lived here over 20 years and have seen an incredible number of attempts to regulate it, rein it in, reform it, etc. Bob Kroll is both a symptom and a disease.