George Floyd | Hopes and Dreams

George Floyd
1974 - 2020

Murdered By Police - Memorial Day - May 25, 2020

“I Can't Breathe”

Shock -- Outrage ☮ planning ahead ☮ community action ☮ Black Lives Matter ☮ police vandalism ☮ racial inequities ☮ police brutality ☮ qualified immunity ☮ stop police ☮ police hearing

After the Trial of Derek Chauvin
What's Next?
April 22, 2021

The Derek Chauvin guilty verdicts have delivered a brief sigh of relief for the people of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Chauvin is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25th at 1:30pm CT. The murder of George Floyd was a group effort, and the other three former Minneapolis 3rd Precinct officers are scheduled to stand trial March 7, 2022. Before then, there will be a Federal civil rights trial of Derek Chauvin. Then there's the trial of former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota police officer Kim Potter who killed Daunte Wright. And then there's the next Minnesota police murder that hasn't happened yet but will.

People should be prepared to be the next Darnella Frazier. She used a smartphone to upload video directly to Facebook. Another option is ACLU’s Mobile Justice app. Send your video directly to them while witnessing police misconduct, discrimination, or voting rights violations. Being a witness makes a difference. People with an iPhone can tell Siri, “Siri, I’m getting pulled over,” and it automatically starts a video recording using your front-facing camera.

Pretextual traffic stops must end. Issues like air fresheners hanging from rearview mirrors should either be addressed through traffic camera mailings or not addressed at all.

The University of Minnesota Department of Computer Science is using buggy code to attack the Linux Kernel. How does that help, you ask? I'm asking the same thing.

Music Association: Paul McCartney - Another Day

Minnesota attacks Linux operating system

Guilty - Derek Chauvin is convicted of all 3 charges against him in George Floyd's death

The George Floyd Murder
The Trial Of Derek Chauvin
April 20, 2021

The jury found Derek Chauvin guilty on all three counts for the murder of George Floyd today at 4:07pm ct.

The racism of policing, the judicial system, and American society must end.

Darnella Frazier is my hero.

From the GoFundMe page for the Peace and Healing of Darnella:

“Darnella Frazier, the brave young woman who filmed the murder of George Floyd, deserves peace and healing. In addition to the trauma of watching a black man be murdered by police, she has had to deal with trolls, bullies and ignorant people harassing her online. It took unbelievable courage for her to stand there and bear witness to such an awful tragedy.”

Darnella Frazier filmed the murder of George Floyd by former officer Derek Chauvin, even while Chauvin stared her down, trying to intimidate her. Her video and still images from her video were instrumental in the trial, and she also testified against Chauvin at the trial.

Thank you, Darnella Frazier.

Music Association: Van Halen - Right Now

The George Floyd Murder
The Trial Of Derek Chauvin
April 19, 2021

The prosecution is making its closing arguments in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd.

The trial is about life and the right to live and the contempt of life by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Many businesses throughout the Twin Cities are boarded up to protect property. This is the first trial in Minnesota history to be televised, and the closing arguments are being covered live by all five local channels.

George Floyd's last words were, “Please, I can't breathe.”
"I can't breathe," said George Floyd with Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck

"I can't breathe," said George Floyd with Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck

Music Association: The Police - Every Breath You Take

Trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd

The Daunte Wright Murder
Policing the Police
April 12, 2021 Daunte Wright shot and killed by a Brooklyn Center police officer

What are we now — the Florida of the North?!?

“Oh Shit! I just shot him!”

Yes, officer, you did. That's what pulling the trigger at point-blank range does. And what was this all about? An air-freshener?!?

Yesterday, a Brooklyn Center, Minnesota police officer shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black father, during a traffic stop by confusing (?!?) a gun and a tazer. The police officer, a police union president and 26 year police veteran, supposedly mistook her gun for a tazer.

Music Association: B.J. Thomas - Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song
Movie Association: Police Academy
Acronym Association: WTF

The George Floyd Murder
The Trial Of Policing
April 11, 2021

Two weeks have passed in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Witness and body cam videos provided front row seats to the murder of George Floyd. Witness testimonies have shown bystanders seeing Chauvin's suffocation of George Floyd and they spoke up but have felt guilty for not having done more to stop Chauvin.

Ranking police officers testified repeatedly that Chauvin was acting outside of police procedure, as if Chauvin was one bad apple in an orchard of sweet, unblemished fruit.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said there was nothing reasonable about Chauvin keeping his knee on the handcuffed suspect’s neck for 9½ minutes. “Once Mr. Floyd had stopped resisting, and certainly once he was in distress and trying to verbalize that, that should have stopped,” Arradondo said. Lt. Richard Zimmerman, who leads the Minneapolis Police Department's homicide unit, said Chauvin's use of force while George Floyd was already pinned down and handcuffed was “totally unnecessary.”

Los Angeles Police Sgt. Jody Stiger testified that Chauvin was inflicting pain on George Floyd, while he was handcuffed and pinned on the pavement. Stiger said officers' body-worn camera video showed Chauvin using “his right hand and appeared to use a pain compliance on Mr. Floyd's hand.” Chauvin appeared to be “squeezing fingers or bringing knuckles together, which can cause pain or pulling the hand into the cuff, which can cause pain as well.” Sgt. Stiger pointed out that “the handcuffs were not double-locked; they can continue to ratchet tighter as the person moved” while George Floyd was in the prone position and not resisting.

Many commentaries have said that the Police are not on trial here in Minneapolis. But it is. Black lives matter and should even to the police. Far too long, the blue wall of silence has gagged any decency and destroyed evidence of police misconduct. A compost heap of bad apples have been shielded behind police badges.

Maryland has just canceled its police bill of rights.

The police should have liability insurance, not their own bill of rights.

The trial continues tomorrow.

Music Association: The Osmond Brothers - One Bad Apple
Tv Association: “See that sign? It says, Apple sauce.”

The George Floyd Murder
The Trial Of Derek Chauvin
March 29, 2021

Opening statements began today in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd.

A bystander video was played by the prosecution. The defense tried to sell the idea that George Floyd happened to die of unrelated medical issues while Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck.

Music Association: Van Halen - Right Now

The George Floyd Murder
Jury Statistics
March 12, 2021

On Tuesday, three jurors were selected. On Wednesday, two jurors were selected. On Thursday, one juror was selected. Today is Friday.

If I were designing a bar chart, the X axis would be days of the week, the Y axis would be number of jurors, and the bars would be represented by jury chairs stacked on top of each other.

Jury selections continue today in Minneapolis for the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Music Association: Badfinger - Day After Day

Hopes and Dreams

The George Floyd Murder
Jury Selection
March 9, 2021

Jury selection began today in Minneapolis in the case of the George Floyd murder, the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

The voir dire of potential jurors has two fundamental problems: bias due to lack of diversity and a required ignorance about a case.

One of my favorite movies is 12 Angry Men, a 1957 jury room drama filmed in 19 days. It has everything: expert cinematography, dynamic characters, a study of arguments, rationale of emotion, actors wearing their own clothes, a knife fight -- it has everything, except diversity. The cast was quite white and male. The jury room has a men's room and a women's room off of it, not that they needed a women's room.

12 Angry Men (1957) with a Women's Room

The murder case before the 12 Angry Men didn't have video from multiple sources like the George Floyd murder. It didn't have national attention or (to a point) global attention. It didn't have a jury representational of Minneapolis.

The trial of Derek Chauvin, facing murder and manslaughter charges, has video and witnesses of him kneeling on George Floyd's neck for nine minutes. George Floyd and Derek Chauvin both worked event security for the El Nuevo Rodeo nightclub with Floyd working security from inside while Chauvin worked security outside. The videos include more than 18 minutes from Officer Alex Kueng's bodycam and 10 minutes from Officer Thomas Lane. They were the first two police officers to arrive on the scene after a complaint that Floyd had attempted to pass a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes at Cup Foods, a store in the Powderhorn Park section of Minneapolis.

George Floyd is lying on the road with Chauvin's knee pressed on his neck with Lane and Kueng helping to restrain Floyd.

He says he can't breathe over and over again and calls for his mother but his voice slowly gets weaker as his life drains away.

“Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead,” he says at one point.

Kueng is seen nonchalantly picking a pebble from the squad car tire with his right hand as he restrains Floyd's legs with his left.

As his knee presses the life out of Floyd, Chauvin, the most senior officer on the scene, asks rookies Lane and Kueng if they are okay. “My knee might be a little scratched but I will survive,” Lane answers. When Floyd continues to wail that he can’t breathe, Kueng is heard telling him. “You’re fine. You’re talking fine.’

Floyd replies: “I'll probably just die this way.”

“I'm through,' Floyd says. “I'm claustrophobic. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. I need some water or something, please.”

“Then stop talking. Stop yelling,” Chauvin replies. “It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.”

As Floyd stops moving Chauvin keeps his knee on his neck, despite complaints from a small crowd that has gathered.

“Check his pulse,” one man says repeatedly. “You call what you are doing okay?!?”

But the other officers do little to stop Chauvin. At one point Lane asks: “Should we roll him on his side?” But Chauvin replies. “No, he's staying where we've got him.”

“Okay,” Lane says. “I just worry about the excited delirium or whatever.”

“Well, that's why we got the ambulance coming,” Chauvin says.

By the time EMTs arrive, George Floyd is dead.

Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on George Floyd - Monday, May 25, 2020 (DarnellaFrazier)

Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on George Floyd - Monday, May 25, 2020 (DarnellaFrazier)

Music Association: The Police - Every Breath You Take
Transcript from Daily Mail

Black Lives Matter
The Back Rooms
July 26, 2020

The next steps for the George Floyd Movement are advanced lessons in civics barely covered in college courses.

Activism and attention are needed in the city councils. When the mayor and the city council talk about zoning, they are talking about black lives. When they talk about projects, they are talking about black lives. When they are talking about funding, they are talking about black lives. When they are talking about housing, they are talking about black lives. When they are talking about schools, they are talking about black lives. When they are talking about everything and anything, they are talking about black lives. And what they are not speaking to is helping black lives.

Each meeting of each sub-unit of the city or county or state must be participated with the same activism and attention.

When courts hear cases, without regard to skin color of those involved, they are talking about black lives. Because the key question in every case is whether the same set of standards are being applied. That question must be asked over and over, until justice finally is blind.

It has been two months since George Floyd was murdered by the police in Minneapolis. What has changed?

The Department of Homeland Security troops fighting Portland protesters have become a “white spectacle” in the words of Rev. E.D. Mondainé, the president of the Portland branch of the NAACP.

In an Op-Ed in the Washington Post on July 23rd, Mondainé said, “recent events might be a sign that our work in the streets should be coming to an end.” He is “proposing that we take the cause of Black Lives Matter into those places where tear gas and rubber bullets and federal agents cannot find us, and where there is less risk of spectacle distracting from our true aims. In boardrooms, in schools, in city councils, in the halls of justice, in the smoky back rooms of a duplicitous government — that is where we will finally dismantle the gears of the brutal, racist machine that has been terrorizing black Americans and hollowing out the moral character of this nation since its inception.”

Yes and vote. Get started now.

Expect trouble. Expect voter suppression. Expect your name to have been taken off the voting rolls.

If you are voting by mail, expect the mail to be slower than ever before because President Trump's new Postmaster General (Republican mega-donor and Trump ally Louis DeJoy) has canceled all post office overtime to (if you believe this) save money.

Go to vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote and spend 30 seconds entering your name, address and date of birth, to find out instantly if your voter registration is current. If not, follow the instructions to register. Next, go to vote.org/absentee-ballot and sign up to receive an absentee ballot for the November election. It takes about two minutes. Have your friends and family do the same. If they’re technology-challenged, help them through it or give them the phone numbers for their states’ election offices, available at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. (This paragraph is on loan from another Washington Post Op-Ed.)

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/

https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot/

https://www.eac.gov/voters/election-day-contact-information

Music Association: Four Tops - I'll Be There

The Washington DC Racists
July 13, 2020

Washington DC NFL team drops name by listing the name 6 times

After 87 years of using an offensive slur as a football team name, team owner Dan Snyder announced today that they would be dropping the name, under the offensive mascot letterhead and by listing the name seven times.

It was time a long, long time ago.

Snyder only changed the name due to pressure from sponsors and stakeholders FedEx (stadium), Amazon, Nike, and others, who only now, in the wake of George Floyd's murder, realize their collaboration is systemic racism.

Congratulations are due to Ray Halbritter, the Representative of Oneida Nation who had started the Change the Mascot campaign to fight against the team’s name years ago. Also congratulations to David Glass, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and president of the National Coalition Against Racism In Sports and Media.

My suggestion for a replacement name is the Washington Filibusters, representing a dogged-devotion to avoiding progress by talking incessantly without meaning anything.

The Internet has been quick to point out that maybe Snyder only plans to change the “Washington” part of the name. (He's such an @$$.) Other suggestions include: the Washington Georges (in honor of George Floyd), the Washington Monuments, the DC Comics, the Washington Overnight Deliverers, the Baby Trumps, the Washington Humidity (try to sew up that mascot costume!), and the Washington Pigskins.

After attending a 2014 protest-rally-march at the University of Minnesota over the former NFL-DC name, I said, “The name will change. It's just a matter of time.”

NFL-DC protest-rally-march on a warm, sunny November 2, 2014

Music Associations: Enya - Only Time
& America - Horse With No Name

The George Floyd Murder Tou Thao, Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, & Thomas Lane on George Floyd

Tou Thao, Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, & Thomas Lane on George Floyd

First Hearing For Chauvin, Thao, Kueng, & Lane
June 30, 2020

Yesterday afternoon, Hennepin County District Court held the first hearing for the former Minneapolis police officers charged with killing George Floyd -- Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane.

District Judge Peter Cahill said that public commentary on the case has reached inappropriate levels; however he did not mention Hopes and Dreams specifically. The next hearing is scheduled for September 11, 2020, and the trial is scheduled for March 8, 2021.

The picture from Memorial Day has Tou Thao with Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane on George Floyd, pressing him into the pavement.

Music Association: Men At Work - Over Kill

Stop Police!
Police Escalation
June 29, 2020

Philadelphia police and mayor have apologized for using tear gas on protesters and have said they won't do it again unless absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, Mayor Ginther of Columbus, Ohio ordered the police to turn in their tear gas. The police wrote back a letter asking to talk it over.

Columbus police letter on tear gas June 19, 2020

Columbus police letter on tear gas June 19, 2020

Police brutality: NYC police cars run over protesters, LA cops bat protesters, Buffalo police stampede old man.

Police brutality in 2020 is not just tear gas and pepper spray. It's police cars running over protesters in New York, Los Angeles police batting protesters like they are baseballs, and a stampede of Buffalo police knocking over a 75 year old man.

The police escalate tension and escalate violence. They are impatient. They don't want to wait for a non-violent resolution. They want to get home to the suburbs. Only eight percent of Minneapolis police live in Minneapolis. They are not part of the Minneapolis community.

There are better answers.

    Calling the police often escalates situations, puts people at risk, and leads to violence. Anytime you seek help from the police, you’re inviting them into your community and putting people who may already be vulnerable into dangerous situations. Sometimes people feel that calling the police is the only way to deal with problems. But we can build trusted networks of mutual aid that allow us to better handle conflicts ourselves and move toward forms of transformative justice, while keeping police away from our neighborhoods.

    1 Don’t feel obligated to defend property—especially corporate “private” property. Before confronting someone or contacting the police, ask yourself if anyone is being hurt or endangered by property “theft” or damage. If the answer is “no,” then let it be.

    2 If something of yours is stolen and you need to file a report for insurance or other purposes, consider going to the police station instead of bringing cops into your community. You may inadvertently be putting someone in your neighborhood at risk.

    3 If you observe someone exhibiting behavior that seems “odd” to you, don’t assume that they are publicly intoxicated. A traumatic brain injury or a similar medical episode may be occurring. Ask if they are OK, if they have a medical condition, and if they need assistance.

    4 If you see someone pulled over with car trouble, stop and ask if they need help or if you can call a tow truck for them. If the police are introduced to such a situation, they may give punitive and unnecessary tickets to people with car issues, target those without papers, or worse. [8 more]

Police alternatives in Minneapolis (www.mpd150.com)

Music Association: Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

The George Floyd Movement
Qualified Immunity
June 25, 2020

Stop me if you know this one. Fifteen priests enter a coffee shop at a bus station to have lunch. They were all arrested.

That's it.

That's all it took for the police to have a shield to protect them from having to know the law or obey the law.

1961 = no Cell Phones

The only complication of the story was that the 15 Episcopal priests included three black priests and the date was September 13, 1961. The date matters because 1961 was before cell phones. Cell phones would have enabled the two Jackson, Mississippi police officers to look up the law, specifically Title 42, Section 1983 of the 1871 Enforcement Act which should have protected the Freedom Rides priests from false arrest and imprisonment while exercising their civil rights. Cell phone cameras in the Trailways coffee shop also would have recorded that the only people breaching the peace were the two police officers, Nichols and Griffith.

The case of the 15 priests in the coffee shop, Pierson v. Ray, was decided in 1967 by the U.S. Supreme Court which dreamed up “Qualified Immunity.” The idea stems from sovereign immunity, the theory that kings and queens were above the law because they wrote the law. The reason the Supreme Court went so far out on a limb was that the lawyer for some of the priests sought damages from the police officers, the police captain, and Judge James Spencer, the local police judge. The Supreme Court in 1967 was defending judges (and the police) from liability, if the officials were acting “in good faith” and believed what they were doing was legal.

Over time, qualified immunity caused the police to act with impunity (see Police Brutality & Police Vandalism).

Just last week, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear eight qualified immunity cases, including seven involving police accused of excessive force or other misconduct. The SCOTUS ignored the fact that cell phones are around now. Legal information is at the fingertips, and cameras can tell the stories.

Colorado has ended qualified immunity. When will the rest of the country?

Music Association: Jewel - Who Will Save Your Soul?
#BlackLivesMatter

The George Floyd Movement
Police Brutality
June 24, 2020

police used tear gas in Minneapolis on May 30, 2020

police used tear gas in Raliegh on May 30, 2020

police used tear gas in Denver on May 30, 2020

A few weeks ago, police across the country were using tear gas on protesters. Chemical warfare used on American citizens, banned by the 1925 Geneva Protocol.

Here are some YouTube examples of police using Tear Gas and Pepper Spray on protesters (not a complete list).

May 27, 2020
Tear Gas in Minneapolis, MN (Reuters & Guardian)

May 29, 2020
Pepper Spray in Columbus, OH (Associated Press)

May 30, 2020
Tear Gas in Minneapolis, MN (MSNBC)

Tear Gas in Raleigh, NC (CBS17 & News&Observer)

Pepper Spray in Cleveland, OH (Cleveland.com)

Tear Gas in Dallas, TX (Dallas Morning News)

Tear Gas in Denver, CO (9news)

Tear Gas in Los Angeles, CA (ABC7)

Tear Gas in San Jose, CA (ABC7)

May 31, 2020
Tear Gas in Washington, DC (LA Times)

Tear Gas in Ft Lauderdale, FL (Miami Herald)

Tear Gas in Atlanta, GA (11Alive)

Tear Gas in Ferguson, MO (KSDK)

Tear Gas in San Antonio, TX (KSAT12)

June 1, 2020
Tear Gas in Washington DC (Reuters)

Tear Gas in Richmond, VA (Oscar Ruiz, VPM-PBS)

Tear Gas in Philadelphia, PA (New York Times, NBC, CBS)

Tear Gas in Bellevue, WA (ABC-KOMO)

June 2, 2020
Tear Gas at Washington, DC church for Trump photo-op (ABC)

Tear Gas in Atlanta, GA (11Alive)

Tear Gas in Kalamazoo, MI (Mlive)

Tear Gas in Kansas City, MO (Kansas City Star)

Tear Gas in Portland, OR (The Oregonian & KGW)

Tear Gas in Seattle, WA (ABC-KOMO & Telegraph)

June 3, 2020
Tear Gas in Huntsville, AL (Alabama Media)

Pepper Spray in Seattle, WA (ABC-KOMO)

June 4, 2020
Tear Gas in Charlotte NC (Associated Press)

Pepper Spray in New York, NY (NBC4) - Police pull down Andrew's mask, then pepper spray his face

Pepper Spray in Tampa, FL (ABC Action)

Here are the 100 U.S. Cities where protesters were tear-gassed.

Should police departments use chemical warfare?

Shouldn't they have some sort of connection to the people they police? And if they don't, shouldn't the local government have some connection to the people?!?

Resources
Here are way more incidents of 2020 Police Brutality by State. Plus, here's how to contact local officials about police brutality incidents (Report12 or posssibly FilePoliceReport). More information about 2020 police brutality:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/2020police

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/r2020policebrutality

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/r2020PoliceBrutality/

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/2020PoliceBrutality/ & badcopnodoughnut

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copwatch

App Website: https://2020policebrutality.netlify.app/

Github Repository: https://github.com/2020PB/police-brutality/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#How-to-Contribute-1

Music Association: Prince - When Doves Cry
#BlackLivesMatter

The George Floyd Movement
Changing Racial Inequities
June 21, 2020

George Floyd was killed while in police custody on Monday, May 25th by a Minneapolis police officer holding his knee to Mr. Floyd's neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds. The Minnesota Legislature's special session on police reform and Covid-19 ended yesterday in failure, due to the actions and inactions of a few state senators.

Minnesota state senate majority leaders Paul Gazelka and Warren Limmer blocked bills correcting racial inequities. “We’re not walking away from Minnesota here, but I think we could all benefit from a breather,” said Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, just before the Senate approved his motion to end the special session. A breather, he said.

Other jurisdictions across the country have taken initial actions to change racial inequities.

Chokeholds banned City of Dallas City of Denver City of Houston City of Minneapolis City of New York City of Seattle City of South Bend City of Washington DC California Connecticut New York	Qualified Immunity ended Colorado The U.S. Supreme Court introduced qualified immunity in 1967, originally with the rationale of protecting law enforcement officials from frivolous lawsuits and financial liability in cases where they acted in good faith in unclear legal situations. Around 2005, courts started applying the doctrine to cases of police using excessive or deadly force.	Defund the Police City of Camden, NJ (2013) City of Minneapolis Camden, NJ reformed its police in 2013, ending the police union, and requiring officers to reapply. Police were no longer evaluated by number of arrests or tickets. Their use of force guide is 18 pages. Excessive force complaints dropped (65 to 3). On May 30th, they went to a protest with an ice cream truck.
Tear Gas ban City of Seattle (30 day ban) City of Washington DC California The Chemical Weapon Convention of 1997 outlawed the use of riot control agents in warfare. The 1925 Geneva Protocol also prohibited the use of poisonous gases in war.	Military-equipment banned Connecticut	Body-Cam Video releases Colorado Connecticut

Music Association: Anna Nalick - Breathe

George Floyd Rally
Police Vandalism
June 10, 2020

police slash car tires in a parking lot on May 30th

The video above was taken in the K-Mart parking lot at Nicollet and Lake Street on May 30th. What the H-E- double batons is going on here?!?

The video appears to show law enforcement officers repeatedly slashing all four tires on several cars. Some theories are:

† They are emptying their knives

† They are cosplaying as military (they have the gear, but the uniforms are not uniform, the posture is slouched, the boots are unbloused... they are kids playing dress up)

† They are attacking the tires because the tires are black

† The cars belonged to a StarTribune reporter, a New Yorker reporter, Radio Canada, four with CNN and the police are sick of the media saying everything they do is wrong

† They are angry and not the sharpest knives in the drawer

† They are kettling -- keeping people from leaving the area when curfew happens

† They have connections to a local tire store

† Organized crime

Music Association: The Kinks - So Tired Of Waiting For You

Tanya - The Future Of The Defunded Police
June 9, 2020

911: “911, what's your emergency?”

Caller: “I have a problem with my neighbor.”

911: “Are they threatening you with physical harm?”

Caller: “No. It's just that they--”

911: “Please hold, I'll connect you.”

Tanya: “Mental health services, this is Tanya, can I help you?”

Caller: “Uh, there must be some mistake, I'm calling about a problem with a neighbor.”

Tanya: “Are they threatening you with physical harm?”

Caller: “No. It's just that they--”

Tanya: “How long have you been envious of your neighbors?”

Caller: “Who said anything about being envious of my neighbors?”

Tanya: “No one yet. I just thought I'd save us both some time. So tell me about your problem with your neighbor...”

Music Association: Paul McCartney - Listen To What The Man Said

The George Floyd 180° Reforms
Black Lives Matter
June 6, 2020

George Floyd 2016 image and the George Floyd 2020 mural

Image of George Floyd from 2016 and the George Floyd memorial mural (2020).

The police serve the community, not the other way around. They don't get that. The Minneapolis Police do not get that. A first step of reforms would require residency (police live in the same city they work).

Reform

• In addition to residency,
• prohibit chokeholds and neck restraints,
• restrict crowd control weapons (chemical agents, rubber bullets, flash-bangs, and marking rounds),
• hire more black people and other officers of color,
• limit police access to body and dash camera footage (while increasing legal access),
• require de-escalation training,
• end police testilying, and
• involve minorities in citizen review commissions.

The reforms should disarm, demilitarize, and end discrimination. The U.S. Supreme Court should end Qualified Immunity for the police (the Get Out Of Jail Free card).

Reform was tried in Minneapolis when Jamar Clark was shot by police in 2015. The police succeeded at causing reforms to fail (read more at MPD150, The Intercept, & The Marshall Project).

Defund

Since the Minneapolis Police Department refuses to reform, the only option is to defund the police.

✄ Several Minneapolis City Council members are talking about defunding the Minneapolis Police.

✄ Minneapolis Public Schools have cut ties with the Minneapolis Police.

✄ The Minneapolis Parks have cut ties with the Minneapolis Police.

✄ The University of Minnesota is limiting its relationship with the Minneapolis Police. They will no longer use Minneapolis Police during large events, like football games and concerts, or for specialized services.

✄ The Hennepin Theatres (Orpheum, State, Pantages) are discontinuing employing off-duty Minneapolis Police officers for part-time event security.

✄ The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Walker Arts have cut ties with the Minneapolis Police.

✄ First Avenue has cut ties with the Minneapolis Police.

✄ The Minnesota Orchestra has cut ties with the Minneapolis Police and calls for the resignation of Minneapolis police union president Lt. Bob Kroll.

✄ The Dorsey & Whitney law firm says it will no longer prosecute misdemeanor cases via the Minneapolis City Attorney's program.

✄ The Pizza Luce chain has ended discounts for police officers. And the comments went ballistic because... pizza discounts?!?

No word yet from the Minnesota Vikings, the Minnesota Twins, or the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Minneapolis police officers use force against black people seven times more than they use it against white people, according to data collected by the city since 2015. (Mapping Police Violence, 2020 Police Brutality, Reddit - Police Brutality)

Music Association: Sheryl Crow - The First Cut Is The Deepest
Video Association: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (June 7, 2020)

George Floyd Rallies
Community Action
June 5, 2020

The police serve the community, not the other way around.

Serve & Protect statue in Salt Lake City, Utah

US Flag upside-down & Minnehaha-Lake Liqours

Everyone Must See... Somebody's Getting Away With Murder...

Music Association: The Police - Every Breath You Take

George Floyd Rally
Planning Ahead
June 3, 2020

Despite what you may hear from the short messages out there (Trump, Twitter, FoxNews, CNN), you can be for some things and against others and make your own choices, buffet-style.

You Can Be Here venn diagram of George Floyd protest issues

How to get to the necessary changes is difficult but not impossible.

civil rights - policing - actions: link to Toolkit for Change

The chart above is from the New Era of Public Safety: An Advocacy Toolkit for Fair, Safe, and Effective Community Policing, an initiative of the Policing Campaign at the Leadership Conference Education Fund, the education and research arm of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. This document should be handed out at the George Floyd protests to provide the toolkit for making change happen.

A simple, basic suggestion for change might be to have officers living and working in the same location. Many jurisdictions require police officers to be residents where they serve. For example, a Minneapolis police officer would live in Minneapolis. The police serve the community, not the other way around.

Music Association: John Waite - Change

George Floyd Rally
Tanker Truck On 35W Bridge With Protesters
May 31, 2020

The George Floyd Rally on the I-35W Bridge today

Thousands of peaceful protesters (5,000-6,000) on the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River were visited unexpectedly by a tanker truck, today at about 6pm.

The peaceful protest quickly became dangerous. The tanker truck driver was released without being charged. The road closure was haphazard.

[Edit: It was not an intentional act, according to officials. This Minnesota Department of Transportation (MN-DOT) video clears up how the highway could be closed and very not closed. ]

tanker drives past cars making U-turns on 35W

Music Association: Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

George Floyd Rally
Last Night's Rioters Were From Out-Of-State
Or they weren't.
May 30, 2020

Support Minnesota. Be strong Minnesota.

St. Paul followed the curfew last night. It was quiet. According to St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter this morning, there were not many arrests for breaking curfew, but all of those arrests were people from out-of-state. But then, the numbers said 12 of the arrests were from Minnesota and two were from North Dakota, one was from Wisconsin, and one was from Texas.

People who have been organizing protests to overcome police brutality and the murder of African-Americans, do not know these nightly rioters, arsonists, and looters.

Support Minnesota. Be strong Minnesota.

If there are outside agitators, they should go home!

Music Association: Jojo - Leave, Get Out

Derek Chauvin Arrested
May 29, 2020

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been arrested, taken into custody, and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

It is the correct next step toward justice.

That just happened this afternoon. This morning was different from most here in the Twin Cities. Some people were an odd mix of defiance and fear. Others were an even odder mix of fear and helpful. One was arrogant and aloof. A few vehicles were being driven like it was the end of the world.

There were businesses boarded up due to connections to businesses destroyed in the past few nights, as if rioters would travel ten miles to burn down another AutoZone or another tobacco shop.

And there were businesses not very near to the main rioting locations with broken glass doors boarded with plywood.

Minnesota is nowhere near a hurricane zone, even if Trump is drawing the map. Plywood covered businesses is not normal here.

Responsibility and accountability could become the new normal. That could lead us to a single, unified America.

Music Association: The Beatles - Norwegian Wood

Hopes and Dreams

The Two Americas
Shock. Condemnation. Outrage.
May 28, 2020

George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died while in Minneapolis police custody Monday. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt for nearly 9 minutes (8:46) on handcuffed Floyd’s neck as Floyd said repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe. A video was widely circulated on social media. All four officers at the scene were fired. All four officers should be arrested.