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https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...e4d904-9f9e-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html
Let's keep the protest and potential riot news here for this thread, as it feels a separate chapter.
Excerpts from above article, not full thing-
MINNEAPOLIS — Night after night, tear gas has hung like a cloud over the Sterling Square Apartments, just across the street from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, seeping through the walls and air vents like an invisible predator.
The two-story apartment complex has been ground zero for demonstrations over the April 11 fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by a Brooklyn Center police officer. Residents have looked outside their windows as protesters clash with law enforcement officers who have used the chemical irritant as well as stun grenades and other less-lethal weapons to control the demonstrators.
The aggressive tactics have injured dozens of protesters and journalists and sent dangerous fumes and projectiles into the adjacent apartments, leaving residents sick and fearful in what many describe as a war zone. The tenants, many of them low-income and Black, have reported rashes and nosebleeds and say they are unable to sleep because of the fumes and noise.
Two Minnesota National Guard members were injured when someone fired on a security team made up of troops and the Minneapolis Police Department in a drive-by shooting early Sunday. There were no serious injuries, according to the Guard’s leader, Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke, but he said the incident “highlights the volatility and tension in our communities right now.”
Last week, thousands of Minnesota National Guard troops began deploying throughout the city, taking up armed positions along commercial corridors and in residential neighborhoods alongside police officers as part of what city and state officials describe as a deterrent to potential looting and violence in response to the Chauvin verdict.
The unprecedented level of security includes more than 3,000 National Guard troops and at least 1,100 officers from public safety agencies across the state as part of a joint effort known as Operation Safety Net. The massive show of force, officials say, is aimed at preventing a repeat of the violence that erupted across the city last summer, including the burning of a police station and an estimated $350 million in damage to buildings and businesses.
But the wartime posture has alarmed some residents and elected officials who have repeatedly complained in recent weeks that the heavily militarized approach ignores the community’s trauma over the events of last summer, when mostly peaceful protesters ((ha. they're still unironically using this line)) were tear-gassed and injured by police action. Many elected officials think that aggressive response resulted in the subsequent violence and destruction, lessons that some believe were ignored in Brooklyn Center.
Keynan initially was disheartened last week when he saw National Guard troops in predominantly White commercial districts. But his dismay turned to relief when soldiers arrived in Cedar-Riverside on Friday — a repositioning that came after a city council member complained that the area had been overlooked. Armed troops walked the neighborhood, occasionally popping into stores to greet people who were fasting as part of the month-long observation of Ramadan. Other soldiers hung out in Humvees, with armored vehicles parked nearby.
“When I see the police and when I see the military, I feel comfortable,” said Keynan, as two troops in combat fatigues walked past his store. “I at least feel like they will protect our neighborhood.”
But Keynan said local business owners are still terrified that the Chauvin verdict could trigger the “worst” violence yet in the Twin Cities region. He and others are not convinced that troops will stick around, leaving merchants on their own again.
“If [Chauvin] gets off, everything will be upside down,” Keynan said, adding that the Somali American community also fears possible retaliation from far-right extremist groups, should the ex-officer be convicted. “Everyone is very nervous, because we just don’t know what is going to be happening.”
Let's keep the protest and potential riot news here for this thread, as it feels a separate chapter.
Excerpts from above article, not full thing-
MINNEAPOLIS — Night after night, tear gas has hung like a cloud over the Sterling Square Apartments, just across the street from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, seeping through the walls and air vents like an invisible predator.
The two-story apartment complex has been ground zero for demonstrations over the April 11 fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by a Brooklyn Center police officer. Residents have looked outside their windows as protesters clash with law enforcement officers who have used the chemical irritant as well as stun grenades and other less-lethal weapons to control the demonstrators.
The aggressive tactics have injured dozens of protesters and journalists and sent dangerous fumes and projectiles into the adjacent apartments, leaving residents sick and fearful in what many describe as a war zone. The tenants, many of them low-income and Black, have reported rashes and nosebleeds and say they are unable to sleep because of the fumes and noise.
Two Minnesota National Guard members were injured when someone fired on a security team made up of troops and the Minneapolis Police Department in a drive-by shooting early Sunday. There were no serious injuries, according to the Guard’s leader, Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke, but he said the incident “highlights the volatility and tension in our communities right now.”
Last week, thousands of Minnesota National Guard troops began deploying throughout the city, taking up armed positions along commercial corridors and in residential neighborhoods alongside police officers as part of what city and state officials describe as a deterrent to potential looting and violence in response to the Chauvin verdict.
The unprecedented level of security includes more than 3,000 National Guard troops and at least 1,100 officers from public safety agencies across the state as part of a joint effort known as Operation Safety Net. The massive show of force, officials say, is aimed at preventing a repeat of the violence that erupted across the city last summer, including the burning of a police station and an estimated $350 million in damage to buildings and businesses.
But the wartime posture has alarmed some residents and elected officials who have repeatedly complained in recent weeks that the heavily militarized approach ignores the community’s trauma over the events of last summer, when mostly peaceful protesters ((ha. they're still unironically using this line)) were tear-gassed and injured by police action. Many elected officials think that aggressive response resulted in the subsequent violence and destruction, lessons that some believe were ignored in Brooklyn Center.
Keynan initially was disheartened last week when he saw National Guard troops in predominantly White commercial districts. But his dismay turned to relief when soldiers arrived in Cedar-Riverside on Friday — a repositioning that came after a city council member complained that the area had been overlooked. Armed troops walked the neighborhood, occasionally popping into stores to greet people who were fasting as part of the month-long observation of Ramadan. Other soldiers hung out in Humvees, with armored vehicles parked nearby.
“When I see the police and when I see the military, I feel comfortable,” said Keynan, as two troops in combat fatigues walked past his store. “I at least feel like they will protect our neighborhood.”
But Keynan said local business owners are still terrified that the Chauvin verdict could trigger the “worst” violence yet in the Twin Cities region. He and others are not convinced that troops will stick around, leaving merchants on their own again.
“If [Chauvin] gets off, everything will be upside down,” Keynan said, adding that the Somali American community also fears possible retaliation from far-right extremist groups, should the ex-officer be convicted. “Everyone is very nervous, because we just don’t know what is going to be happening.”
