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On Monday, May 25, bystander video showed George Floyd repeatedly telling Minneapolis police, as they held him down, that he could not breathe. Officers told Floyd that because he could talk, he was fine. Floyd, like Eric Garner and so many before them, died at the scene.
On Tuesday, May 26, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz vowed to find answers and “seek justice.” Several hundred people gathered at the location in south Minneapolis where Floyd was killed, spilling onto the street. The Minneapolis Police Chief, Medaria Arradondo, fired the four officers involved in Floyd’s murder.
On Wednesday, May 27, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called on Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman to immediately charge Officer Derek Chauvin, who had placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Several hundred people gathered at the Third Precinct, some vandalizing it. Police again deployedstun grenades and tear gas.
In Minneapolis, protesters breached the Third Precinct and began settingfires after officers evacuated. People also hijacked multiple mail trucks. By the end of the night, the Third Precinct had been torched.
Target temporarily closednearly 30 Twin Cities stores. All bus and light rail service was suspended.
On Friday, May 29, fires were stillburning out of control. Officer Chauvin was arrested and charged with third degree murder and manslaughter. Michael Freeman said this was by far the fastest his office had ever charged a police officer, and that usually a case like this could take a year to put together and charge.
We cannot be successful if we have literally thousands of people violating the curfew.
At this point, the Pentagon took the rare step of putting military police units on alert to go to Minneapolis on short notice. Governor Walz admitted he had underestimated the crowds. The 2,500 law enforcement officers on duty were confronted by tens of thousands of people.
On Saturday, May 30, Governor Walz fully mobilized the Minnesota National Guard for the first time in the state’s history. Mayor Frey predictablyblamed the disorder and violence on outside agitators. (President Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr have repeatedlyblamed anti-fascist activists for the violence.)
People continued to protest, but compared to previous days, there were fewer people on the streets after curfew and the property destruction was minimal. This was due, at least in part, to the dramatic increase in law enforcement officers on duty.
On Sunday, May 31, Governor Walz said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison would lead the prosecution in the Floyd case, something Floyd’s family had wanted. In addition, more than 275 people were arrested on Sunday and early Monday, about 150 of whom were mass arrested for curfew violations after ignoring dispersal orders.
Protests over the killing of Floyd spread across the U.S. There were mass protests in dozens of cities. As of May 31, police had arrested at least 1,669 people in 22 U.S. cities. Target temporarily closed 105 stores in 10 states after several were broken into during protests. Demonstrators even organized protests in the U.K., Germany, and Canada.
On Monday, June 1, autopsies described Floyd’s death as a homicide, and found that Floyd had, in fact, died at the scene where Minneapolis police restrained him. (Police had initially said Floyd died after a “medical incident.”) Sixty-five people were arrested at the state capitol in St. Paul for violating curfew.
On Tuesday, June 2, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights lodged a charge of discrimination against the Minneapolis Police Department, meaning there would be a state investigation of the entire department looking for patterns of discrimination against people of color.
On Wednesday, June 3, Minnesota Attorney General Ellison announced that he had added a second-degree murder charge against Officer Chauvin, which the Legal Rights Center and the ACLU of Minnesota had urged Ellison to do. Ellison also announced that arrest warrants for the other three officers involved in Floyd’s murder had been issued, something Floyd’s family had wanted and protesters had demanded.
Thursday, June 4, was Floyd’s funeral in Minneapolis.
On Friday, June 5, Minneapolis agreed to ban the use of chokeholds by police, and to require officers to intervene and report when they witness another officer using unauthorized force.
On Saturday, June 6, hundreds of marchers called for Minneapolis to defund its police department.
On Sunday, June 7, a veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council pledged to dismantle the police department.
On Wednesday, June 10, Chief Arradondo announced that he intended to end contract negotiations with the Minneapolis police union. Protesters openly tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus at the state capitol. The State Patrol decided not to intervene to stop the removal of the statue.
On Thursday, June 11, 14 (of approximately 800) Minneapolis police officers signed an open letter saying Officer Chauvin had “failed as a human” and “stripped George Floyd of his dignity and life.”
On Friday, June 12, the St. Paul City Attorney’s Office decided that recent criminal cases where demonstrators were engaged in peaceful protest, not violence or threats to people or property, would be dismissed. Even some people who went beyond peaceful protest, mostly first-time or nonviolent offenders, would be able to participate in alternative programs in lieu of traditional charges.
In Minneapolis, the City Council took initial steps to place changes to the police department before voters in November.
A lot has transpired in these three weeks of shock, rage, devastation, restlessness, and grief.
So often, police officers kill or injure people with impunity; and it is the people who take collective action for change whoarepersecuted. But after countless beautiful tributes to George Floyd, 87 fires in five days, and a week-long curfew, the uprising in Minneapolis has challenged us to chart a new course.
