George Floyd murder and aftermath

[EOst]

I don't think there was any regular police force on Earth that could have dealt with Wed/Thu/Fri on its own.

[SurlyLHT]

Is anyone else starting to worry that Lake St is going to become empty for years? West Broadway, wasn't hit nearly as bad and is likely to bounce back with more of the damage on chain businesses. Only two mom and pop places burned. Lake Street, the scale is so much larger and with businesses not having insurance or great cash flows anyhow with the Coronavirus or to begin with the prospect seems dimmer.

[Mdcastle]

I don't think there was any regular police force on Earth that could have dealt with Wed/Thu/Fri on its own.

Especially not a police force that lacks enough officers to even respond to thousands of priority 911 calls under normal circumstances.

[Silophant]

I don't know about that. Seems to me that a police force that has enough officers to send four to respond to a call about a potentially counterfeit bill could probably manage to respond to 911 calls, if they weren't ignoring them to make a political point.

[VacantLuxuries]

When Bob Kroll makes threats about pulling back on enforcement whenever the elected leaders suggest the most modest of reforms, you can't ignore the possibility that using aggressive crowd control to agitate peaceful protestors and then disappearing once things started to get violent was an intentional decision.

[karlshea]

Given the police's behavior captured not only on livestreams but also by the news media on live TV, I absolutely think ignoring calls to make a point is plausible.

[uptownbro]

Bob Kroll needs to go. He should never have been in a position of power but he is. I know some large companies are stepping to help and alot of fundraising has taken place(I heart lake street is just under 6 million raised) but lake street is still in a massive hole imo.
Also its pretty obvious the city was overwhelmed Thursday and Friday. Now did Kroll let Wednesday get out of hand maybe.

[QuietBlue]

Is anyone else starting to worry that Lake St is going to become empty for years? West Broadway, wasn't hit nearly as bad and is likely to bounce back with more of the damage on chain businesses. Only two mom and pop places burned. Lake Street, the scale is so much larger and with businesses not having insurance or great cash flows anyhow with the Coronavirus or to begin with the prospect seems dimmer.

I think it will be rebuilt, just not by the same people who are there now. I see a lot of these businesses taking the insurance money and leaving, with larger companies coming in to replace them. Target and Aldi are rebuilding, so they think the area has a future, but it's also much easier for them to absorb losses like this.

[nordeast homer]

We already had one manufacturer in the area say that they will not rebuild in Minneapolis. They're taking their 50 jobs and looking to rebuild in the suburbs.

[mplsjaromir]

The owner went on the record basically saying the police abandoned them.

[Tiller]

Or the police were trying to teach us a lesson.

Multiple city council members have also publicly stated that MPD has threatened/pulled this kind of stunt before.

[alexschief]

In New York City, post-Eric Garner and post the murders of two cops sitting in their car, the NYPD staged a months long slowdown. They never publicly acknowledged it of course, but the message was obvious. Ever since that happened, Mayor De Blasio has been in their pocket.

That's not a police force, that's a protection racket.

[Mdcastle]

Even as someone that normally strongly supports the police, given the context of the feud between the Minneapolis PD and the city government I'll admit that the idea that the cops may have been trying to teach us a lesson by not doing anything, or even actively trying to provoke things is not some tinfoil hat outlandish theory.

[SurlyLHT]

The Chief had a press conference a bit ago. I think he is a good guy and trying to do his best, but there are so many barriers to reform and much of what he was saying seemed to be too little too late. The Camden NJ model might be a good compromise. Do we want a thread on the future of MPD?

[uptownbro]

St Paul is not jumping in this bandwagon.
https://www.startribune.com/st-paul-lea ... 571160712/

The mayor is withdrawing from talks with the union which will put pressure on Kroll. The MSPD has such low approval rating right now I think the public is on the mayor’s side this time. Money talks and if the options are either you start making real changes or the city council will disband you the choice becomes a lot easier.

[SurlyLHT]

They're talking about placing a permanent memorial at 38th and Chicago. A roundabout with a garden or sculpture seems to be the top idea. My only question is if people want to visit the roundabout how peaceful would it be with cars passing by. Also how safe to have people potentially crossing the street to visit the roundabout? Looks like both roads are one lane in each direction with parking? There are also bike lanes on Chicago, as a cyclists I would give up some bike lane for George Floyd. Another option might be to take the lane away in front of the mural to add a memorial?
https://www.startribune.com/shrine-to-g ... 571211342/

[MNdible]

Yeah, my first response was that a memorial in a roundabout is a really bad idea. I wonder if the city shouldn't entertain buying out Cup Foods and building some sort of interpretive center.

[SurlyLHT]

I don't know how a roundabout would work with BRT?

[uptownbro]

I don’t think a roundabout would work there as it’s just too tight. Maybe buy cup foods but then that’s taking away a grocery store in an area that just became a food desert. I guess I would just put a plaque there and rename the road. Also rename a park and move the memorial there as well as add a statue and build from there.

[SurlyLHT]

Maybe use part of the parking lot on the southwest corner which appears to belong to a church.