Today marks the start of the Derek Chauvin trials, who is on trial for the murder of George Floyd. While Judge Peter Cahill postponed the jury selection process, the significance of this date and the visibility of Chauvin and Floyd’s murder serves as a reminder of the grief the people of Minneapolis and beyond are experiencing.
Governor Walz and city leaders spent the last few weeks militarizing our city, increasing police presence, and influencer propaganda campaigns — tactics that are a slap in the face to the community that is still grieving and recovering from the trauma of police violence and murder.
The issues of police violence, lack of accountability and absence of real safety existed before George Floyd was killed and persist today. Police violence has ended the lives of our Black, brown, Latinx, Asian, disabled communities and more. Our city has been through trials before where the “justice system” tried to hold itself accountable, to no success.
To heal and to grow, we know that justice is about getting down to the root of the problem. And ultimately that means transformation in public investments in the people, not the police, will stop this terror and bring about safety. We know that when the people show up for each other, when we care for another, that’s how we can transform the community we live in.
Today George Floyd Square stands as a guiding example of what is possible for a world beyond police violence, and that it will take all of us to get there. Join the community in the coming weeks to help hold down space by volunteering at welcome stations, sharing resources and amplifying their work.