Protestors have quietly set up an “autonomous zone” near the George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis, according to one reporter who visited the scene.
“The George Floyd memorial is an ‘autonomous zone’ with several blocks controlled by activists. Police don’t even go in. We tried to respectfully get video-but left after two people confronted us near the barricades. Later learned many protestors don’t even feel comfortable there,” Brian Entin of News Nation Now reported.
The George Floyd memorial is an "autonomous zone" with several blocks controlled by activists. Police don't even go in. We tried to respectfully get video-but left after two people confronted us near the barricades.
Later learned many protestors don't even feel comfortable there. pic.twitter.com/5w32fxQ0hR— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) March 10, 2021
Entin attached a video of his visit to the zone, showing that at least one street is barricaded with a border structure, meant to bar outsiders from entering. He was confronted by two activists while filming his report.
“You’re gonna be in a bad situation in a second,” one of the protestors, whose face was mostly covered, told Entin.
“What do you mean by ‘bad situation?'” Entin asked.
The protestor did not respond.
“Because you’ve been called out for what you are, and you need to get outta here” he said instead.
“I’m just media,” Entin said.
“We know what you are,” the protestor replied. “You need to get in your car and go. I don’t give a f*** who you are. You’ve been called out for who you are. You need to get in your car and go.”
Entin later interviewed a Minneapolis woman, Kim Griffin, who is a supporter of police reform, but who spoke out against the “autonomous zone.”
“The situation at the memorial is – from what I understand – is kind of volatile,” the woman said. “People who want to go and support doesn’t [sic] feel a sense of inclusion. There is more of a like, militant-type atmosphere over there, and a sense of fear.”
Griffin’s nephew was shot and killed inside the “autonomous zone” over the weekend, and police were not allowed to respond to the call.
“Police were not allowed to get into that area,” Griffin said. “He was carried outside the zone of George Floyd Square. It was made clear that law enforcement was not welcome to penetrate that zone, which is an atrocity because his life was taken and, I mean, who knows whether he would’ve survived had things been different”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Minnesota Sun and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
