Chaos and violence divide Minneapolis protesters as unrest engulfs US
- ‘I sympathised completely but I don’t want to lose all my stuff,’ says a woman who lives above a barricaded shop and is scared it could be set on fire
- Minneapolis has become the epicentre of violence since George Floyd died there after an officer pinned him to the ground by kneeling on his neck
Flames light up the skyline and the smell of acrid smoke fills the streets in a Minneapolis neighbourhood rocked by protest, a few hundred meters from a besieged police station.
“The real reason we’re here is because the police keep killing black folk all around the United States,” says a young African-American man who declined to be named.
His face covered by a mask – whether because of the coronavirus or to protect against tear gas it’s not clear – he says he came to protest peacefully on Friday with friends, despite a curfew imposed after three nights of rioting.
“We’re in 2020 and we’re dealing with the same problem that we were dealing with in the 60s … it looks like Minneapolis finally reached that breaking point”
“George Floyd isn’t the first,” adds Jerry, 29, who is white. “What are you supposed to do, just sit back and take it?”