VIDEO: Dozens of apparent shots fired in vicinity of George Floyd Square on anniversary of namesake's death
Videos on Tuesday captured the moment that dozens of apparent shots were fired in the vicinity of George Floyd Square in Minneapolis on the anniversary of Floyd's death while in police custody.
Here's a clip from KARE-TV showing numerous people running for cover and a man yelling to "get down!":
Gunshots near George Floyd Square in Minneapolisyoutu.be
Here's another video from a different vantage point, showing AP reporter Philip Crowther speaking on camera when the apparent shots rang out — and he reported what he heard as he headed for safety.
Content warning: Language:
Gunshots heard near Floyd memorial squareyoutu.be
Crowther on Twitter reported that he saw "one broken window, apparently from one of the shots fired. Consensus among reporters here at George Floyd Square was that we heard anywhere between a dozen and two dozen shots fired."
He added a tweet saying that a "fellow reporter just had her phone smashed because she took photos of a storefront hit by a bullet."
The New York Times reported that the mood had been somber all morning as people placed flowers and bowed their heads in front of an outline where Floyd was killed — and the serene scene was over about 10:10 a.m. "with a series of loud noises that sounded like at least 10 gunshots. One girl screamed for her mother as she ran into a corner behind portable toilets. Organizers yelled for children to run to one side."
The paper said organizers returned to the square five minutes later to attend to those who appeared panicked by the incident. Here's a police statement via the Times:
On Tuesday morning at 10:09 a.m., the Minneapolis police department responded to the 3800 block of Elliott Avenue south on a report of the sound of shots fired.
Information received from callers was that a suspect vehicle was last seen leaving the area at a high rate of speed.
A short period of time later, an individual showed up at Abbott Northwestern Hospital suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim has been transported to Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment. It is believed that the injury is non-life-threatening.
Anything else?
The autonomous zone consisting of several barricaded blocks that the city has allowed to exist has been a recent source of controversy.
Video from March showed the area being controlled by thuggish, left-wing militants. Here's a reporter's encounter with two of them.
Content warning: Language:
The George Floyd memorial is an "autonomous zone" with several blocks controlled by activists. Police don't even go… https://t.co/tLHXtegToQ
— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) 1615338802.0
Last month video showed a sign posted at one of the barricaded entrances to George Floyd Square that included rules "for white people in particular."
Walking into George Floyd Square https://t.co/jIDzBNicVw
— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) 1619027576.0
And black-owned businesses near the square in late April were begging for financial help because they said increased crime in their neighborhood is driving their businesses into the ground.
Black-owned businesses in 'George Floyd Square' plea for help, say skyrocketing crime is killing business
Black-owned businesses near the intersection where George Floyd was killed last year — now known as "George Floyd Square" — are begging for financial help because they say increased crime in their neighborhood is driving their businesses into the ground.
According to the New York Post, "Black merchants near the once-thriving corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue said police have abandoned the blocked-off intersection, creating a dangerous autonomous zone that has seen crime spike and business evaporate."
George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The business owners have been forced to resort to GoFundMe to plea for help and ask for assistance to overcome revenue losses of over 75%.
The GoFundMe page explains just how dire the crime situation has become around George Floyd Square:
Another unintended consequence of the occupation of 38th and Chicago is the rise in crime that has had a profound effect on these businesses. 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 neighborhood and throughout the city.
"The city left me in danger," an impacted restaurant owner told the Post. "They locked us up on here and left us behind. ... They left me with no food, no water, nothing to eat. The police, fire trucks, can't come in here."
"Business is bad," one employee of another impacted business told the Post. "No one absolutely knows who runs this. It's like a union. One person is selected as a leader one week and if they're not fit they get thrown out."
Anything else?
George Floyd Square, a so-called "autonomous zone" that is now controlled by left-wing militants, reportedly had a sign posted outside of the memorial area this week that included rules white people had to follow while inside the "sacred space."
Walking into George Floyd Square https://t.co/jIDzBNicVw— Jorge Ventura Media (@Jorge Ventura Media)1619027576.0
Minneapolis police have vowed to retake control of George Floyd Square, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. Federal authorities are reportedly working with state and local officials to identify those wreaking havoc in the area.
Rules 'for white people' posted at barricaded entrance of George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, the 'sacred space' where he died
Remember George Floyd Square in Minneapolis? The "autonomous zone" of several barricaded blocks where Floyd died last May that the city has allowed to exist — and that's now controlled by thuggish, left-wing militants?
Well, if you're itching to pay a visit to George Floyd Square anytime soon — and you happen to be white — you'll need to pay heed to the rules governing the "sacred space for community, public grief, and protest."
What are the details?
Jorge Ventura, a field reporter for the Daily Caller, took video outside George Floyd Square and posted it Wednesday to Twitter. And besides the traffic barricades and other objects spread across the street, Ventura spotted a sign spelling out guidelines for the square:
It offers three general rules to everyone who enters as an "invited guest":
- "Enter with reverence, humility, and openness."
- "Care for each other by wearing a mask and ask others to wear a mask."
- "Honor the space as a place to connect and grieve as caring humans."
Fair enough.
But if you're white...
However, the longest and most detailed part of the sign is preceded by a heading that reads, "For White people in particular." And the rules are as follows:
- "Decenter yourself and come to listen, learn, mourn, and witness. Remember you are here to support, not to be supported."
- "Be mindful of whether your volume, pace, and movements are supporting or undermining your efforts to decenter yourself."
- "Seek to contribute to the energy of the space, rather than drain it. Bring your own processing to other white folks so that you will not harm [black, indigenous, and people of color]."
- "Consider if you want or need to take photos and post them. Do not take photos of other people without their consent."
- "If you witness white folks doing problematic things, speak up with compassion to take the burden [off of] Black folks and our siblings of color whenever appropriate. Seek to engage rather than escalate, so that it can be a learning moment rather than a disruption."
How did people react?
Some observers saw nothing wrong with the rules for whites, while others had more than a few problems with them:
- "I wonder how everyone would react if any sign.. anywhere.. for anything.. said, 'For black people in particular,'" one commenter wondered.
- "How about as a 'white' American I'll just do whatever the hell I want within the confines of the law in any public space?" another user noted. "No woke pandering here. The people that cave to this idiocy are worse than the ones who demand it."
- "The U.S. has truly lost it," another user declared. "It's incredible to watch."
- "The most f***ed up part of all of this is that so many white 'allies' submit to this garbage," another commenter asserted. "The tables have turned, and honestly it's like 2% of the population feeding us this garbage. Black, white, Asian, whatever, rational humans need to object to this."
Here's Ventura's clip of his moment at the George Floyd Square's barricade:
I spoke to business owners inside George Floyd Square who say they support a memorial site for Floyd but don't supp… https://t.co/V2Agq3kltE— Jorge Ventura Media (@Jorge Ventura Media)1619032619.0
Anything else?
TheBlaze in March took note of NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin's rather unsettling encounter with a pair of militants who showed up while he was on camera just outside the Floyd memorial and told him to leave in no uncertain terms.
"You're gonna be in a bad situation in a second," one of them told Entin.
After a short exchange that included Entin explaining that he's a media member, the militant shot back, "I don't give a f*** who you are." Entin took the hint and departed.
Content warning: Language:
The George Floyd memorial is an "autonomous zone" with several blocks controlled by activists. Police don't even go… https://t.co/tLHXtegToQ— Brian Entin (@Brian Entin)1615338802.0
According to NewsNation, Minneapolis leaders said they would reopen the barricaded autonomous zone after Derek Chauvin's murder trial, the former police officer accused of killing Floyd. Chauvin was found guilty on all counts of murder and manslaughter Tuesday.