Activists allegedly refusing to leave George Floyd Square after Chauvin verdict, call for demands to be met
From WWW.FOXNEWS.COM
Activists who have taken up Minneapolis’ George Floyd Square, which grew to become an "autonomous zone," say they will not leave the area until officials agree to comply with their list of two-dozen demands.
The group of protesters who have taken up an area surrounding the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue – now known as George Floyd Square – wrote on Twitter late Wednesday that they will continue to hold the zone until all 24 of their demands are met.
Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died on May 25, 2020 after a White Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, held his knee against Floyd’s neck for approximately nine-and-a-half minutes – as Floyd lie handcuffed and face-down on the pavement and despite his repeated shouts that he could not breathe.
On Tuesday, a jury found Chauvin, 45, guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He faces decades behind bars at his sentencing, which is scheduled for approximately eight weeks from today.
George Floyd Square has been closed since late May, as the corner became a makeshift memorial to Floyd and a space for community healing. City leaders said in February that the intersection, which has been blocked by barricades since Floyd’s death, would reopen after Chauvin’s trial.
On Wednesday, community members behind a Twitter page identified as representing George Floyd Square shared a statement calling for the barricades to remain through the conclusion of the August trial for the three other Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd’s death.
"The current state of the intersection known as George Floyd Square is contributing to the peace and safety of the surrounding neighborhoods," the statement reads, in part. "Amid ongoing threats of White Supremacist violence, in the absence of justice, the barricades and community structures at 38th and Chicago should remain through the trial of all four officers. It’s problematic to misconstrue police brutality as progress toward racial healing."
In announcing the decision in February to re... (Read more)
Tweets mentioned:
https://twitter.com/user/status/1385202909395181568
https://twitter.com/user/status/1384961300166545409
Submitted 1100 days ago
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