Minneapolis business owners targeted by riots on city council plans to dismantle police department

Charles Stotts and Kacey White, the owners of a historic restaurant in Minneapolis that rioters burned down, told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday that they are “not even close” to rebuilding their business.

“We did not own the building, we were tenants of the building so we don't have a say of what gets rebuilt there and if the landlord that rebuilds wants another restaurant in there or not, but that area is, I would say, years out from being rebuilt,” White, the owner of Town Talk Diner & Gastropub, said on Sunday.

“They have not begun demolition or removal of anything yet in that area,” she said.

White made the comments two days after Minneapolis City Council members voted unanimously to amend the city's charter to remove the mandate for a police department – the first step toward disbanding it in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

The amendment proposes the city replace the police department with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention, “which will have responsibility for public safety services prioritizing a holistic, public health-oriented approach,” a draft of the amendment said.

The proposal adds that the director of the new agency would have “non-law-enforcement experience in community safety services, including but not limited to public health and/or restorative justice approaches.” It also suggests setting up a division of licensed peace officers, who would answer to the department's director.

“I certainly understand if somebody was to tell me they're going to send a different type of officer for one type of call versus another, I certainly understand that, but it’s hard for me to envision a world complete with abolishment of police officers when that’s all I've known since I've been a child,” Stotts said.

He noted that “there is still a long way to go in the legislative process … before they could possibly get to that state, but a unanimous vote speaks volu... (Read more)

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