Minneapolis braces for Derek Chauvin’s judgment and possible unrest

“It’s like we’re getting ready for war or something,” she said of the city’s preparations for a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in May with the death of black George Floyd. The jury began to deliberate on Monday after closing arguments.

“It’s just so much,” said Ms. Hinton, 53.

Without knowing how soon a verdict could come – and whether that decision will rekindle the looting and arson that damaged parts of the city last summer – Minneapolis has tightened security in recent days, including strengthening temporary barricades around government buildings.

Security plans were accelerated last week after a Minneapolis suburban police officer shot and killed 20-year-old black man Daunte Wright, an action police described as an accident, after appearing to mistake her gun for a Taser. Mr. Wright’s death sparked another round of protests in the Twin Cities region. By Monday night, dozens of people had already started marching and chanting anti-police slogans near the Minneapolis courthouse.

According to Major General Shawn Manke, adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard, the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis have requested additional assistance from the National Guard, which has deployed more than 3,000 troops throughout the area.

Law enforcement officials and community leaders said Monday they would strive to ease any post-verdict tensions while ensuring people have safe spaces to gather or protest.

“We know we have a city in mourning, that is in grief,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo. “It’s not about arresting people.”

Still, many in Minneapolis remained concerned, especially Nicollet. Stretching from the center to the city’s southern border, the avenue became a focal point for protests, looting, and arson after Mr. Floyd’s death, and some of the blocks still bear the remains.

On Monday, fences and barbed wire surrounded the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth District near the 31st, where crowds gathered on several evenings last summer and sometimes collided with police. Across the street were all that was left of a garbage dump and two evergreens from the Wells Fargo bank branch that burned amid the turmoil.

At Finer Meats & Eats, on the corner of 38th, owner Doug Meyer and several of his customers said they had watched the trial regularly and hoped the outcome wouldn’t bring their neighborhoods back in their sights.

“It was crazy. I saw it from my house – the smoke and stuff in the sky, the helicopters,” Pamela Wilkes recalled from the summer when she and her 80-year-old father, Tom, bought several cuts of meat on Monday. Mr. Wilkes was concerned about what would happen if the jury decided to acquit Mr. Chauvin.

“If he isn’t convicted, we’ll all be in trouble,” he said.

“I am confident he will be convicted,” said Steven Gonzalez, another customer, who came to get bones for his dogs. “If he doesn’t, it will be Rodney King all over again, except in Minneapolis and 10 times worse.”

Mr. Meyer, whose family has run the meat market on the corner of 38th and Nicollet for about 60 years, said he expected emotions to flare up regardless of the verdict and that he intended to stand guard outside his shop at night. love – just like he did last summer.

“I hope I’m wrong,” said Mr. Meyer. “I just feel like it’s going to be really ugly for a week or two.”

A few blocks away, archaeologist Geoff Jones stopped on the sidewalk outside Glam Doll Donuts on Nicollet at 26th Street and recalled how part of his neighborhood in the nearby Powderhorn area went up in flames last summer, though he attributed that kind of damage to opportunists and no local protesters.

He said it is stressful to watch the city prepare again for unrest, especially given that National Guard troops are now armed with long guns, as opposed to just the helmets, shields and other protective gear they use. last year.

“I wonder what they expect,” he said. “This is not the kind of equipment you wear during protests.”

In the street near the City of Lakes Waldorf School on the corner of the 24th, some 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students began waiting for a verdict by taking part in a strike to protest racial injustice on a Monday. number of local schools took place. Minneapolis schools are closed for in-person learning Wednesday through Friday pending verdict.

Faculty Chair Marcee Hansen, who lives in the Third Precinct area that was also badly affected last summer, followed the group as they circled the block behind the school, holding Black Lives Matters signs and singing as they marched.

“No justice, no peace,” Mrs. Hansen called out as she passed a playground full of younger students. “Say his name!” replied a little girl with a raised fist.

Write to Deanna Paul at [email protected]