As the trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd was under way, businesses in the area of the city where the latter was killed and is now named in his honour were appealing for assistance in the face of an escalating crime situation.
Police are said to have largely abandoned the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, now known as George Floyd Square. This has created a hazardous ‘autonomous zone’ in which gangs and political activists hold sway.
A GoFundMe campaign – ‘Support Black business owners at 38th & Chicago’ – said that one successful black business in the area had seen its revenue plunge by 75% since the killing.
‘These businesses feel they have been the sacrificial lamb of the movement and while everyone agrees that justice for George Floyd is the ultimate goal, it should not come at the cost of losing one’s livelihood especially for these Black families,’ the campaign said.
It added: ‘Following the killing of George Perry Floyd Jr. and the reduction of the Minneapolis Police Department, there has been uncontrollable crime in this city. Carjackings have nearly tripled and cars and catalytic converters are being stolen at high rates. Reports of bullets whizzing through the streets, businesses, innocent unintended residence homes, into cars and walls are plentiful. There is constant gunfire day and night, through all seasons despite the belief that winter would slow crime and gunfire. It has not! In fact these Black businesses have suffered a similar fate, having windows shot out from random gunfire, cars stolen, customers not patronizing businesses due to fear of violence in the neighbourhood and throughout the city.’
During the Black Lives Matter protests, which were sparked in large measure by the killing of Floyd, a highly controversial demand from some quarters was for the ‘defunding of police’. Minneapolis’ authorities voted to pursue a policy along these lines, although it has not been fully implemented.
[Image: Lorie Shaull]