George Floyd protest updates
Protests and violence have emerged across the Twin Cities following the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died May 25, 2020, while in Minneapolis police custody.
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'This is not grieving': Fires, looting rock Mpls. in Floyd protests
In stunning terms typically heard in war zones, not the Twin Cities, Gov. Tim Walz vowed to hold ground, restore order and take back the streets of Minneapolis from what his public safety chief described as an “armed … entrenched group of rioters.”
During a 1:30 a.m. briefing Saturday, Walz conceded his administration had underestimated the size of the crowds they expected to face in Friday’s protests — as well as their level of aggression and tactics. Police were fired on.
Walz said he would call up another 1,000 Minnesota National Guard soldiers in response, putting more than 1,500 Guard members on the streets — the largest civilian deployment in Minnesota history.
Right now, he said, authorities don’t have the bodies to enforce the curfew. “We cannot arrest people when we’re trying to hold ground,” he said. “There’s simply more of them than us.”