Nearly a year after the death of George Floyd, prompting calls from activists and Democrat leaders to defund the police, residents of Minneapolis are complaining that police won’t respond to their calls.
“George Floyd Square has been a place for mourning and healing for the thousands who pay a visit,” WCCO reported. “But for the people who live there, once night falls, they say it becomes a place where lawlessness abounds.”
Residents say police are hesitant to respond to calls near 38th street and 10th street, the now-infamous corner where George Floyd died at the hands of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been convicted of murder.
Instead, residents say, police are asking them to meet them in different locations, blocks away from that corner.
George Floyd Square has been run by local militants as an “autonomous zone,” denying journalists entry and setting specific rules for White people who want to enter.
The anti-police sentiment has not been lost on Minneapolis Police officers, either.
The department began 2021 with 200 fewer officers than it had at the beginning of 2020, causing the city to spend millions trying to hire new recruits.
One of the loudest of the anti-police voices in the city has been Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5), whose district includes Minneapolis. She called the Minneapolis Police Department “rotten to the root” in an interview on CNN shortly after Floyd’s death.
“A new way forward can’t be put in place if we have a department that is having a crisis of credibility, if we have a department that’s led by a chief who sued it for racism, if we have a department that hasn’t solved homicides – half of the homicides in the Minneapolis Police Department go unsolved. There have been cases where they have destroyed rape kits” she said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Tapper pressed, asking her what happens if there simply are no more police officers.
“What takes its place?” Tapper asked Omar. “Who investigates crimes? Who arrests criminals? What happens?”
She did not answer the question, but nearly a year later, it appears to be answering itself: no one.
“Unfortunately that the [sic] norm in this neighborhood post-George Floyd,” Minneapolis resident Kimyia Whitehead-Partee told WCCO. “Who wants to live somewhere where you can be a victim of crime and nobody comes to help?”
– – –
Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Minnesota Sun and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Minneapolis Police Officer” by Tony Webster. CC BY 2.0.
