For weeks, the site of the Derek Chauvin trial, where the former police officer faces murder and manslaughter charges for the death of George Floyd, has been fortified.
The Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis is surrounded by concrete barriers, chain-link fencing, and barbed wire. Nearby buildings have boarded up their storefront windows. Members of the National Guard have been patrolling the area, and Minneapolis’s mayor and police chief said the law enforcement presence at the site of Floyd’s death as well as throughout the city will only increase as the trial continues.
Minnesota National Guard members patrol outside the Hennepin County Government Center during Derek Chauvin’s trial on March 29.
Yes 4 Minneapolis, a coalition of community organizations is launching a petition drive in support of replacing the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Safety .