It seemed wrong to live just 15 minutes from the 3rd Precinct and not drive down that way and see for myself what was happening.
A few observations to share:
(Pics linked below)
Not one officer to be found anywhere in the Minneapolis area. I assuming this is by design, their presence would only act as a catalyst to those looking for a reason to cause trouble.
As I drove thru Uptown I was amazed at how all of the building along Hennepin had been boarded up. Many had messages painted on them, one in particular struck me: “We live upstairs, please don’t burn!”
People were pulling over on the side of the bridge to take photos of the aftermath below - again, no cops to stop them.
I parked my car in the lot of the looted out Target. Everything was accessible As you can imagine, traffic was quite contested in the area - again, no cops to direct traffic so there were volunteers in yellow vests who took it up themselves to keep the traffic moving.
National Guard troops were out in force, their mission? Well from what I could see it was to take as many pictures as they could with the people around them. It was very cool to see the masses walk up and ask, “may we take our picture with you?”
I stopped and listened to a speaker at 1 of 2 different rallies I saw happening. He spoke of peaceful protest and not letting themselves get mixed in with those looking to loot or burn. He spoke of the National Guard and how he did not want to hear about anyone harassing them. " These men and women", he said, "are volunteers from our communities to protect and serve. They are here to protect us. They are the ones who come to our aid after a flood or terrible disaster, if you have a problem with the National Guard, I don’t want to know you. He then led them in a chant of “Thank you, guard!”
There were table after tabled filled with cold bottled water and snack-bars. (no charge). There was a dude driving around with 2 other’s in the back of a small pick up truck, they were tossing cold bottled water to whomever needed or asked for it.
The burned out buildings were not restricted, not guarded. I watched people walk thru the burned out Arby’s - It was….it was frustrating to see ‘tourists’ walking thru the now destroyed 3rd Precinct building.
The atmosphere was one of reverence. People walked and talked, they took pictures, they hugged, they listened, but nobody was loud. It was as if no one wanted to call attention to themselves. Instead, they just wanted to be part of the moment.
There was no ‘legit’ media to be found either. The speakers talked of how they had sent press releases and Facebook/Twitter invites - no one showed up to cover the ‘good’ that was happening today….I’m guessing they’ll be out in force tonight.
Pics from Today
