© Provided by Washington Examiner MINNEAPOLIS - Bill Carlyon moved to the metropolitan area in 1980 to work as an electrical engineer after a brief stint in the Army. Back then, he says, Minneapolis was more inclusive than just about anywhere else in the country he ever visited.
"Almost everybody I know won't come downtown anymore for any reason. We used to come down to theater events and movies all the time. Now, there's gangs that just rove around and beat up old people," said Carlyon, 69, who prides himself on working with the black community for decades on anti-poverty initiatives. "When I moved here, it was diverse. [There were] mixed bars [and] mixed restaurants, [and] nobody thought anything of that. I don't know what happened since then."
JUDGE MUST RECONSIDER THIRD-DEGREE MURDER CHARGE IN DEREK CHAVUIN CASE, APPEALS COURT RULES
Two sets of barriers with barbed wire in the middle wrap the perimeter of the town hall and the courthouse, where the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin is scheduled to begin Monday. Chauvin was charged in connection to the death of George Floyd, a black man, on Memorial Day last year, which stirred a national reckoning on race and policing.
A black man who only went by "Frankie" said he had never seen anything like this in his entire adult life living in Minneapolis.
"It's just wild. I just can't believe it," he told the Washington Examiner. "I took the tram from my neighborhood just to get a look."
Starting just after sunrise, contractors continued their work hammering massive pieces of plywood over storefronts and various banks. Preemptive security measures like these, estimated to cost millions of dollars, offered a small comfort to construction businesses that have seen a plunge in development projects for Minneapolis's downtown area.
Everyone who spoke with the Washington Examiner on Saturday felt there is little doubt that Chauvin is guilty. The video footage of him resting his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes appeared excessive, and even self-identified conservatives such as Carlyon agreed.
Still, the veteran argued that calls to defund the police that thrived during the summer are misguided solutions offered by those who don't have to live with the consequences.
"I was a young adult in the 1960s, during the riots and all that. I remember thinking back then, you know, 'Don't trust anybody over the age of 30.' The times are changing again, I guess," he said. "The people who are calling for cutting the police, though, they don't live down here. They don't have to put up with the crime."
The response to Chauvin's conduct, from both the government and activists, has transformed life for many who live here in ways they say won't lead to normalcy any time soon.
City council members advocating to defund the police as crime skyrockets concerns new parents such as James Carpenter and only highlights the increasing divide between far-left childless 20-somethings and traditional Democratic-voting liberals just looking to start families in Minneapolis.
"I think a lot of things need to change, not only with the policing system but the system in general. But we're not moving away from needing the police altogether. I don't think we're ready for that as a society. With crime up so much, we're obviously going to call people to help [because] we're not ready to defend ourselves alone," said Carpenter, 32, who, like his wife, works in the service industry downtown when not caring for his toddler. "These [activists] think this is their civil rights movement. Yes, things need to be reformed, but to think this is the same as the era of Martin Luther King Jr.? Come on."
Violent crime in the city soared by 21% in 2020 compared to the previous year, with property crime growing by 10% as well. In the months following Floyd's death, the homicide rate spiked by 50%, with the overall murder solve rate at roughly 41%, lower than the national average.
Law enforcement officials blame a lack of manpower and point to the fact that the city police department had around 200 fewer officers on the force following record resignations and budgetary issues.
"Some in our community may find some of the environmental structures that they see, barricades, barriers, and fences, perhaps a little bit daunting," Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said at a press conference on Thursday. "But as we saw in the events of Jan. 6, that is that preventative tool that we have to consider, and we have to look at."
Residents should expect a heightened security presence until the conclusion of Chauvin's trial, Arradondo said. He also warned potential lawbreakers that following the jury's verdict, law enforcement will provide a "robust" response.
Three other officers involved in Floyd's fatal arrest, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao, who were fired from the police force and have been charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter, are set to be tried in August. Lane was said to have held Floyd's legs, Kueng allegedly held down his back, and Thao appeared on video warding off unruly bystanders.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Whether Minneapolis can properly heal after a summer that led to hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to government buildings and private businesses remains to be seen. Seeing Chauvin sent to prison could be a starter, some residents surmise.
"The city is developing a reputation. People just won't come out as much anymore," local bartender Derick Smith said. "The media coverage isn't helping, but it's just more dangerous around here than at any time I can remember."
Tags: News, Law, Minneapolis, Minnesota, George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, Law Enforcement, Crime, Race and Diversity
Original Author: Joseph Simonson
Original Location: Minneapolis increasingly unrecognizable for longtime residents as Chauvin trial looms