Minneapolis city leaders sought to reassure the public after the death of 46-year-old George Floyd in police custody Monday prompted peaceful protests that morphed into destructive fires and looting late Wednesday night and Thursday.
Dozens stormed a Target in neighboring St. Paul and grabbed items they did not pay for at about 11:30 a.m. local time Thursday, St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders told The Washington Post. Officers quickly arrived and “broke that group up,” he said, and no arrests were made.
Mayor Jacob Frey said during a Thursday news conference that the work ahead will focus on community safety, including the protection of infrastructure, such as grocery stores that residents need to access amid the coronavirus pandemic. At least 16 buildings were damaged as a result of the chaos, the city’s fire chief confirmed.
Recall a viral video that showed a white police officer holding his knee on the neck of Floyd, who was black, and who was taken without a pulse from the scene and pronounced dead at a hospital, prompted the unrest.
Here are some significant developments:
The Justice Department and FBI have pledged to undertake a “robust criminal investigation” into George Floyd ’s death and said in a joint statement that the inquiry is “a top priority.”
Floyd’s family will seek an independent autopsy of his body because it does not trust Minneapolis city officials, an attorney for the family said Thursday on CNN.
Floyd’s death also sparked rallies in other parts of the country Wednesday. In Memphis, a crowd gathered outside a police building and chanted “no justice, no peace.” In Los Angeles, protesters blocked a freeway and confronted a California Highway Patrol vehicle.
U.S. police chiefs, many of whom have been pushing their officers to de-escalate tense situations and decrease their use of force, responded with disgust to Floyd’s death and praised Minneapolis’s chief for firing the officers involved.
Looting continued to rock the Twin Cities area a day after initially peaceful protests in Minneapolis turned destructive, as dozens stormed a Target in neighboring St. Paul and grabbed items they did not pay for, police said.
Thursday afternoon, officers were still trying to disperse groups damaging property and attempting to steal from businesses around the city, the St. Paul police department said. “Please avoid the area if possible,” the department urged on Twitter, saying rocks, liquor bottles and bricks were being thrown at officers and harming squad cars.
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