Minneapolis Braces Itself For Unrest as Derek Chauvin Trial Concludes

Small business owners in Minneapolis are making preparations for the anarchy that may be coming after the conclusion of the Derek Chauvin trial.

Minneapolis braces itself for unrest as Derek Chauvin trial concludes

By Washington Examiner, April 19, 2021

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In the last several weeks, over 3,000 National Guard troops have been deployed into the city, with an additional 1,100 public safety officers. Authorities in the state call their mission Operation Safety Net.

On Sunday morning, two members of the National Guard were injured in a drive-by shooting. No serious injuries were reported, and Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Shawn Manke, who oversees the state’s National Guard, said the shooting “highlights the volatility and tension in our communities right now.”

Last week, Minneapolis public schools announced all learning would be virtual for the duration of the trial.

Much of the increased tension comes from the recent death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man who was mistakenly shot and killed by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb.

For days, riots have taken place in Brooklyn Center. City officials there recently implemented a 9 p.m. curfew in order to quell the violence that has resulted in looting and dozens of arrests.

The officer who killed Wright, a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department, Kim Potter, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin’s defense attempted to sequester the jury after Wright’s death, but Judge Peter Cahill denied the request.

However, most attention from residents in the area remains on the fate of Chauvin, who faces two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter.

For several weeks, prosecutors have argued that the former Minneapolis police officer broke protocol and acted with reckless disregard for George Floyd’s life during an arrest last May.

Several current and former police officers, including the city’s police chief, all testified that Chauvin’s restraint technique was unnecessary.

On Monday, both sides introduced their closing arguments.

In his remarks, prosecutor Steve Schleicher highlighted the video of Floyd’s death — by far one of the most dramatic pieces of evidence introduced during the trial.

Schleicher was careful in reminding jurors that Chauvin’s guilt has nothing to do with politics and that a guilty verdict is not an indictment of policing generally.

“This is not a prosecution of the police. This is a prosecution of the defendant,” he said.

He added: “What the defendant did was not policing. What the defendant did was an assault. … He did what he did on purpose, and it killed George Floyd. That force for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. That killed George Floyd.”

 

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