Updated: 3:37 PM PDT, April 02, 2021
A top Minneapolis detective lieutenant testified Friday that there was “no reason” for Derek Chauvin to kneel on George Floyd’s neck. “Pulling him down to the ground, face down and putting your knee on the neck for that amount of time. It’s just uncalled for,” Richard Zimmerman said at Chauvin’s ongoing murder trial.
As the trial continues, the neighborhood where Floyd died has become a no-cops zone called “The Free State of George Floyd.” The intersection is considered a sacred place of pilgrimage where visitors leave flowers and mementos. The community’s continuing grief is expressed everywhere in street art and billboards.
All of the streets leading to the intersection where Floyd died are blocked off with makeshift barricades. Only select vehicles are allowed on the other side. But some residents say they’ve seen an uptick in lawlessness at night.
A video from last month shows people cowering from gunfire behind a parked car last month, when a man was shot dead and another man was wounded.
Many community leaders believe it’s time for barricades to come down and the police to come back.
“The younger generation are now thinking, ‘Hey, there’s no more police,’ and so they walk around with guns, AK-47s, more shots and more shooting,” Ian Bethel said.
Andrea Jenkins, vice president of the Minneapolis City Council, told Inside Edition that a nursing home closed because the staff kept getting mugged.
“People who have lived here for 20, 30, 40 years are telling me, ‘I’m literally afraid to take out the garbage,’” Jenkins said.
Due to Good Friday, testimony wrapped up today at lunch time.
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