Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has announced a citywide curfew Friday and Saturday nights after days of civil unrest over the police killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day.
Probably the right call to give heightened emotions a chance to return to “normal”. Hopefully, the locals will continue to protest during the day to keep the pressure on. The curfew help the local businesses that are getting trashed avoid more misery. It is easier to ID rabble rousers during the day, too.
A curfew alone won’t be effective. Heightened emotions will stay high if there is no dialog, no listening, no outreach.
Not sure if the arrest of Chauvin today will calm things down or just prolong the furor.
Hopefully, the former.
Any word yet on any charges on Chauvin’s three cop accomplices?
No charges yet.
IANAL, but if a man being held down by four cops says he can’t breathe and none of the cops alters his behavior, they all display similar intent. What am I missing?
You should have stopped after “call”. Emotions will remain high, there is no return to “normal”, and in fact we all are never going to return to “normal”. And I mean that because of the virus and what it has wrought. And now with this killing it will take a longer time to discover what the new normal will look and feel like.
One of the way it will be effective is that the regular folks that are protesting, and I mean regular as those from the community, will still come out and protest during the daylight hours. We saw this in Ferguson. We saw this in the verdict not to convict former officer Stockley in St. Louis City.
The setting of fires, the rampant destruction, happen in the cover of darkness. The listening, the chance to have meaningful dialogue will be in the daylight hours.
After Ferguson with Michael Brown, Baltimore with Freddy Gray, and Staten Island, NY with Eric Gardener there should have been a manual/binder with how the police and the district or county attorneys need to handle the death of black person at the hands of the police, especially when they are caught on video.
I would just like us to remember and learn from what has happened before.
How a human responds
Demand an independent Med. examination of the body. They are either (1) incompetent, or (2) corrupt. Pick your choice.
Remember the death of Epstein’s cover-up? What in the world ever makes us think any of this is ever non-partisan or ethical??
My son (young, white adult) lives in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, near the site of the protests. I’m a Mom, so I care about his safety, but I’m also proud that he supports the protesters. He said the single arrest hasn’t really appeased the locals, and they are absolutely furious over this report from the medical examiner. His prediction is that this won’t calm down anytime soon.
Apparently from what I am seeing in NYC at least, the manual says to let all the police off the leash and just go on a wilding of their own making.
Earlier today, Governor Hogan of Maryland contacted the Governor of Minnesota. I suspect he shared lessons learned from the response to the protests and riots over the murder of Freddie Gray in Baltimore.
Ideally, state and local governments should have guidelines on how to respond -
Ideally, the first guideline would be: a badge is not a license to kill. If a death occurs, all officers involved are suspended while the indecent is promptly investigated. If evidence rapidly emerges that a crime was committed (Like the cellphone videos, body cams, etc.), then the people responsible must be arrested and held immediately even if the official investigation is still ongoing.
Funny how the brain works. In this case it is apallingly evident that this was an indecent incident.
A curfew didn’t stop them from protesting after dark.
There has been speculation and some reporting that when darkness falls those that engage in setting fires and damaging property are not from the immediate community.
I have noticed this happened in Ferguson, City of St. Louis, and Baltimore where protests are not violent during the day, but when night falls the agitators for destruction come out.
It seems to be a twisted game of “burn this mother down” for them. And once the violence starts it seems to draw more people in.
“Indecent” may have been a Freudian slip on my part, but my preferred word choice would be much stronger…
Make sure your son stays home. I’m afraid for those who have a true heart.
Take care of yourself as well. The stress can get you.
I have been in some dicey situations at past protests. The G20 in Toronto was freaking scary; I’m Canadian. I was there to document the goings on and got kettled by the police. A buddy was beaten. He’s ok and sued for big bucks but the scar is still in his head.
Thanks for that advice. My son has done a lot of volunteer work with poor and immigrant groups, but he told me he’s staying home right now. I want him to care, but he’s not reckless. He is in a better position than so many others as he has a decent job and can work from home. However, my heart aches for the disenfranchised in these tumultuous times.