George Floyd Death: Minnesota Youth Activists Express Outrage, Fear Over Police Brutality

Minnesota youth activist LaZya Smith said “our parents had to tell us, sadly, that you gotta be careful, don’t draw attention to yourself, don’t seem suspicious. But ‘suspicious’ could be just walking down the street, doing nothing.”

Protesters in Minneapolis on Tuesday evening filled the intersection in the street where a black man named George Floyd died, chanting and carrying banners that read, “I can’t breathe” and “Jail killer KKKops.”

The protesters eventually marched about 2 1/2 miles to a city police precinct, with some protesters damaging windows, a squad car and spraying graffiti on the building.

A line of police in riot gear eventually confronted the protesters, firing tear gas and projectiles. Some protesters kicked canisters back toward police. Some protesters stacked shopping carts to make a barricade at a Target store across the street from the station, and though steady rain diminished the crowd, tense skirmishes stretched late into the evening.

Floyd died in police custody on Monday. A bystander’s video showed an officer kneeling on his neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and stopped moving.

Four Minneapolis officers involved in the arrest were fired on Tuesday. Mayor Jacob Frey announced the firings on Twitter, saying “This is the right call.”

The man’s death Monday night was under investigation by the FBI and state law enforcement authorities.

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