The curfew came into force Saturday evening to 20 hours to Minneapolis and in the twin city of St. Paul, on the other side of the Mississippi. On the radio stations and via cell phones, the State authorities have ordered all residents to leave the streets. “Stay in you. If you are at home, stay there, if you’re not, go there, ” said the message broadcast by the governor. In several streets, especially near the barracks of the fire brigade ready to respond, columns of Humvee from the national guard of the state were parked, and the soldiers in full battle dress stood ready to intervene.
read also : In the “chaos” of Minneapolis, the violence also divides protesters
governor Tim Walz had mobilized the army on Thursday and declared a state of emergency after a night of looting and fire during which the police and the rescue services were overwhelmed by the rioters. The protests, calling for justice for George Floyd, this black man of 46 years died Monday during his brutal arrest by the police, have in the course of the week degenerated into riots, especially at night. Since Wednesday, fires and looting have escalated in the neighborhoods surrounding Lake Street, thoroughfare that cuts east to west, this vast checkerboard of residential houses and commercial centres. A police station, several supermarkets and major supermarkets and dozens of shops were ransacked and torched.
Tim Walz, democratic governor, had said to “understand” the anger of the protesters, but was, however, condemned the violence and the thugs.
The announcement on Friday of the arrest of the police officer responsible for the death of George Floyd and his indictment for murder had not been enough to calm the spirits.
In the residential neighbourhoods of the south of the city, the inhabitants feared a new night of riots. Some had barricaded their street by parking cars at the ends, or put obstacles in the way of the floor.
The safety device has been significantly strengthened during the day on Saturday. A thousand soldiers have been deployed in the city, according to the National Guard. “We are in a position of strength compared to the previous day in Minneapolis and St. Paul,” said lieutenant-general Jon Jensen, who command the national Guard.
All afternoon, helicopters flew over the city. The highways leading to the centre of Minneapolis were dropped. The curfew and the reinforcements of the National Guard appear to have enabled the authorities to regain control of the situation.
a Few fires broke out, particularly in a shopping centre on the avenue Nicollet, but firefighters were able this time to intervene and turn it off in time.
groups of looters have been formed but the police and soldiers, equipped with tear gas grenades, the have scattered. A barricade built in front of the supermarket Kmart on Lake Street was quickly dismantled by the police. The police checkpoints have also helped to prevent the movement of groups of rioters.
To 22: 30, the governor Walz thanked the peaceful protesters to have evacuated the streets, leaving the police to take action against ” those who sow the seeds of chaos “.
But the damage of these last days are significant. In the day, thousands of volunteers, white and black, had converged on the neighborhood that surrounds the commissioner of the 3rd district, set ablaze by the rioters on the night of Thursday to Friday, at the same time as retail shops and supermarkets nearby. Equipped with shovels and brooms, they undertook to clear the streets of debris. The smoking ruins of the commissioner’s office had been surrounded by wire fences. People began to clear the sidewalks. The liquor store Minehaha, located on the other side of the street was nothing more than a blackened carcass, the roof and the ground reduced to a pile of joists charred. On the other side of the crossroads, the shop equipment automotive Autozone, is nothing more than a pile of laminations charred.
in Front of the hypermarket, Target, ransacked by looters, other volunteers take out products still intact, rays flooded by the fire hoses of the fire department. They line up jars, bags and cans along the wall. People come to take advantage of the deal, filling of carts or whole of the trunk of their car. On the parking lot, others filled garbage bags of debris, calcined and impregnated with water.
“I don’t live here, but I came to help restore this neighborhood,” says Shelly Lynne, a nursery nurse aged man. “My son worked at Auto Zone. He also asked me to come and see what it’s like to his store. I find it hard to believe that these are the people of the district who have done it : why would they set fire to their own shops ? “
This assumption of raiders from the neighbouring states had been mentioned by the governor Walz. However, the arrests made by the police, 80% of those arrested are residents of Minneapolis.
SujetsGeorge FloydMinneapolisEtats-Unisémeutes85 commentairesslimale 31/05/2020 11:16
This is the joy of the societies multicultural
The suspicion is widespread that turns into a confrontation general
christi3664le 31/05/2020 11:16
the culprits are the governments who want multicultural societies ……to make the coexistence of people culture and religion are very different, while wanting to ignore the problems that this will create……isn’t Mr Macron!!!!!….after me the deluge!!!
Edmond de MACARONle 31/05/2020 at 11:08 am
reasons for hope :
blacks and whites who exhibit together.
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