Since Tuesday, the wrongful murder of George Floyd, who was pinned down and suffocated by a cop, has generated outrage throughout the country. But nowhere have protests been more violent or intense than in Minneapolis, the city where the murder occurred.
By Thursday, peaceful protests there descended into looting and burning, partially in response to police tear gassing and firing rubber bullets at protestors. Several videos went viral that showed a Target that had been completely ravaged.
Words from the Wise:
This Target was supporting Minnesota PD and wouldn’t sell milk to tear-gassed protestors. So yeah, fuck them. They have insurance for all of it. They not finna prosecute all those people. It would be a waste of time and resources.
pic.twitter.com/YrjkAw2roo— THA GREAT BEAR (@AzeemBearnard) May 28, 2020
The affordable housing development is gone. Wendy’s, too. AutoZone, a husk. pic.twitter.com/95UjML7lN6
— Libor Jany (@StribJany) May 28, 2020
Minneapolis, Minn. on the morning of 28 May, 2020 following a night of race rioting. Buildings have been burned to the ground and stores looted as an alleged act of protest against the death of George Floyd. #BlackLivesMatter #Antifa pic.twitter.com/kvISMLN0jK
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) May 28, 2020
The police officers involved in the murder were fired but they have yet to face any charges.
Images of the Minneapolis protests have been starkly juxtaposed with “Re-Open” protests that occurred at the height of the pandemic throughout the country. Many of those protestors carried guns, threatened to turn violent and endangered public health by gathering in large groups and not wearing masks. Although some of those protestors also carried hate symbols, they were largely left alone.
Well it’s because the police are the problem not part of the solution and are like minded thinkers of the #whitepower reopen America to kill POC MOVEMENT RT @therecount: @SarahKSilverman Here’s a side-by-side of the protests:pic.twitter.com/jognzWkcSe
— Mother Fucker Jones (@Mtherfckerjones) May 28, 2020
The police response to the two protests exposed a double-standard in who is allowed to express outrage and who is not. Although the burning and looting in Minneapolis by protestors feels extreme, it is also important to reflect how differently the two groups were treated from the start. How would “re-open” protestors have reacted if police had fired rubber bullets and tear gas at them?
Protester asks police why their response to this protest is different than police response to protests at the State Capitol a few weeks ago where some protesters asking the governor to reopen the state were openly carrying weapons. pic.twitter.com/GVsqV9VtUG
— Hannah Flood (@hannahfloodfox9) May 27, 2020
Protester asks police why their response to this protest is different than police response to protests at the State Capitol a few weeks ago where some protesters asking the governor to reopen the state were openly carrying weapons. pic.twitter.com/GVsqV9VtUG
— Hannah Flood (@hannahfloodfox9) May 27, 2020
