Tuesday June 2, 2020
Several hundred protesters gather outside the State Capitol, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, on Monday. Protesters peacefully marched from the governor's residence earlier the day, chanting Floyd's name as they headed to the Capitol. Christine T. Nguyen | MPR News
The Twin Cities has so far had a third night of calm following last week’s unrest.
St. Paul police and state law enforcement Monday night arrested a few dozen protesters for curfew violations in front of the Capitol at about 10:30 p.m. The arrests were made largely without incident, said reporter Tom Scheck.
The protesters had been part of a much larger group that rallied peacefully near the governor’s residence and then spent much of the evening at the Capitol. The crowd began to break up as the 10 p.m. curfew neared.
There have been few reports of violence in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Gov. Tim Walz had earlier announced that the modified curfew would last until 4 a.m. Unlike prior nights, interstates weren’t closed before the curfew.At an 8 p.m. briefing, Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said that several thousand National Guard troops had been deployed across the Twin Cities. He praised residents for “tremendous success” in complying with curfews in recent nights but added that the guard presence would remain for now.
“You will not see a big shift,” he said. “We will be evaluating this on a day-by-day basis. The governor will direct the reduction further as we get stabilization.”
While Monday brought more peaceful protests of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police a week ago, it also saw two new reports on the cause of Floyd’s death.
The first came from a lawyer for Floyd family members whose independent autopsy concluded George Floyd died of “asphyxia due to neck and back compression.” That contradicted a preliminary report from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner last week.
But later in the day, the medical examiner’s office released a new document that termed Floyd’s death a “homicide.” The office said death was caused by cardiopulmonary arrest while “being restrained” by Minneapolis police. The office also listed “hypertensive heart disease”, “fentanyl intoxication” and “recent methamphetamine use” as other “significant conditions.”
The former officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck during the arrest, Derek Chauvin, was charged last week with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The other three officers involved haven’t been charged.
Protesters continue to demand accountability for all four officers. A crowd of several thousand people demonstrated peacefully late Monday afternoon near the governor’s residence in St. Paul. “All four!” they chanted, urging officials to arrest and charge the other three officers.
Speakers included Diamond Reynolds, who used Facebook live to show the aftermath of the 2016 fatal police shooting of her boyfriend, Philando Castile, in a suburb of St. Paul. The police officer in that case was tried and acquitted.
About 30 St. Paul police officers knelt in solidarity during the protest, and Gov. Tim Walz mingled with the crowd.
“They don’t trust the system that hasn’t served them, and they deserve to be heard,” Walz told reporters during the protest. “They expect change, and that’s why I’m here to listen to them.”
Organizers ended the protest early due to what they called a security threat. They wouldn’t specify the threat, saying that their security team, not law enforcement, had made them aware of it, and they decided to end the gathering out of an abundance of caution. Several hundred demonstrators then began marching down Summit Avenue toward the Capitol. As evening fell, they milled about peacefully on the Capitol grounds.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump announced at the White House this evening that he had mobilized civilian and military personnel to help restore calm to U.S. cities but didn’t specify what that would involve. He said he was “revolted” by Floyd’s death and promised that his administration would seek justice. He added that if states couldn’t restore calm, he would send in the U.S. military.
Earlier in the day, George Floyd’s brother Terrence Floyd called for calm while visiting the site of his brother’s death in South Minneapolis.
“I understand y’all are upset. I doubt y’all are half as upset as I am,” said Terrence Floyd, who lives in New York. “What are y’all doing? ... That’s not going to bring my brother back at all.”