So what’s become of the area where George Floyd was outrageously killed? Well, as per The New York Times, it’s a “no-go” neighborhood for police officers.
But once the sun goes down — or therefore, once the sun goes down — it becomes something more.
According to a Wednesday report by the Times, the Minneapolis region’s become a memorial to Floyd’s tragedy:
Two months after the police killing of George Floyd, the four-block area of South Minneapolis where he gasped his last breaths remains a sacred space, a no-go zone for officers. There is a neatly trimmed garden, anchored by a sculpture of a raised fist. There are colorful murals and the words “I can’t breathe” painted across the pavement, as well as the names of dozens of other Black people killed by the police.
What’s likely to happen to law in territories not overseen by law enforcement?
Well, this could be coincidence, but here’s what NYT had to say:
At night…the space is increasingly a battleground, with shootings and drug overdoses. The area has had an uptick in gun violence similar to what other cities have seen in the wake of protests.
Perhaps that’s the destiny of the entire Mini Apple — after all, as I covered last month, a revolutionary City Council moved to defund the town’s PD.
Among that unanimous vote was council member Andrea Jenkins, who — as noted by RedState writer Nick Arama — was among three for whom the city began forking over $4,500 a day for private security.
Nick wrote at the time:
Jenkins said the concern was the “large number of white nationalist(s) in our city and other threatening communications.” Jenkins said she hadn’t told the police because she was too busy with the “global pandemic and global uprising” in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.According to Fox 9, the council didn’t have to approve this because it only has to approve city contracts over $175,000. The mayor traditionally has security provided by a police officer who doubles as a driver, but council members normally aren’t provided any security details. The city said that the amount for the private security was similar to if they had a police detail.
About moonlighting criminals in the Floyd neighborhood, Andrea told the Times:
“What people aren’t recognizing is that people who live there are having a very, very challenging time from the unlawfulness that is occurring after the sun goes down. There are constant gunshots every night. Emergency vehicles can’t get in. Disabled people are not able to access their medications, their appointments, their food deliveries, et cetera. It’s a very challenging situation.”
There used to be a remedy for that kind of thing, but it appears the Boys and Girls in Blue have been #Canceled.
So how’s the city doing in general?
The memorial’s neighborhood is not alone in suffering from an uptick in violence. Minneapolis had three the number of shootings in June of 2020 than in 2019, and there have already been nearly 50 incidents of gun violence in July, according to The Wall Street Journal, compared to under 30 last year.The WSJ reported Monday that armed Minneapolis citizens are now taking it upon themselves to keep law and order, particularly in areas where the police either won’t or can’t go.
Minneapolis residents in some areas still recovering from rioting and unrest are forming community watch and security groups, some bearing firearms, to fight a surge of crime in the wake of the George Floyd killing in May. At least one neighborhood has put up barricades to keep away outsiders.
You might think the City Council would would reconsider where the police are concerned.
As of Monday, the council offered a new proposal, effectively replacing the Minneapolis Police from the government dole.“The proposed amendment seeks to remove the Minneapolis Police Department as a charter department and create in its place a department of community safety and violence prevention,” Minneapolis’s public radio network reported Monday.
If the plan’s approved by city government, it’ll be on the ballot in November.
By then, perhaps everyone’ll be armed — so they can shoot their way to the polls.