On Thursday night, the Minneapolis 3rd Precinct Police Station was set on fire by protesters of victim George Floyd, a man who was killed on Monday when an officer purposely placed his knee on the neck until the man died.

Although many bystanders were asking the local official to remove the knee so that the victim could catch his breath, the officer wasn’t listening to anyone, therefore killing Floyd.

The poor guy is dead was unlawfully killed. That’s a tragedy but why is that an excuse to steal and destroy other people’s property?

I saw one ‘protester’ post on Instagram a video showing what looked like a brand new SUV full of the spoils from his looting to give to his children. This is what this is all about not George.

[Associated Press] Protesters angered by the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died while in police custody, gained access to a Minneapolis police precinct on Thursday, the third straight night of violent protests spreading beyond the city.

Livestream video showed the protesters entering the building, where fire alarms blared and sprinklers ran as blazes were set. Police appeared to have left the building located in the neighborhood not far from where Floyd died Monday. A spokesman didn’t immediately respond to messages left by The Associated Press.

In footage recorded by a bystander, Floyd can be seen pleading that he can’t breathe as Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, kneels on his neck. As minutes pass, Floyd slowly stops talking and moving.

Dozens of businesses across the Twin Cities were boarding up their windows and doors Thursday in an effort to prevent looting, with the Minneapolis-based Target announcing it was temporarily closing two dozen area stores. Minneapolis shut down nearly its entire light-rail system and all bus service through Sunday out of safety concerns.

In St. Paul, clouds of smoke hung in the air as police armed with batons and wearing gas masks and body armor kept a watchful eye on protesters along one of the city’s main commercial corridors, where firefighters also sprayed water onto a series of small fires. At one point, officers stood in line in front of a Target, trying to keep out looters, who were also smashing windows of other businesses.

Hundreds of demonstrators returned Thursday to the Minneapolis neighborhood at the center of the violence, where the nighttime scene veered between an angry protest and a street party. At one point, a band playing in a parking lot across from the police’s 3rd Precinct, the focus of the protests, broke into a punk version of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” Nearby, demonstrators carried clothing mannequins from a looted Target and threw them onto a burning car. Later, a building fire erupted nearby.

You accuse the government of profiling, stereotyping, and treating you like a second class citizen. Then, you assemble in the street, throw bottles and rocks, start fires, steal and destroy property in protest of the treatment. This is not the way people.

Leadership needs to speak up and find solutions. No Justice, no peace. Better get on that Justice train.
 

This piece was written by Wayne Dupree on May 29, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com and is used by permission.

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