The Minneapolis Mayor’s Office has asked rioters and looters to observe social distancing as the Minnesota city is immersed in chaos following the police killing of a man during a botched arrest.
The twin cities are entering another day of rioting as several stores and buildings were looted, burned, and destroyed as hundreds of people descend upon Minneapolis to wreak havoc in protest of the death of George Floyd–a man who was killed during an unnecessarily brutal arrest where the arresting officer knelt on the prostrate man’s neck for an extended period of time as he complained over a lack of air.
The city issued a statement, according to Breitbart, advising participants of the riot to adhere to social distancing as the riots take place amid the global coronavirus pandemic. The municipal government even claimed to have handed out face masks for this end.
“The City encourages everyone to exercise caution to stay safe while participating in demonstrations, including wearing masks and physical distancing as much as possible to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Thursday’s statement read.
It went onto say: “The City has made hundreds of masks available to protesters this week.”
President Trump took aim at Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s (D) response to the rioting, calling out his political sympathies.
Frey made a tweet detailing his remarks. In the tweet, he wrote: “Being Black in America should not be a death sentence.
“For five minutes, we watched a white officer press his knee into a Black man’s neck. Five minutes.
“This officer failed in the most basic, human sense.”
Video of my full remarks from earlier this morning.
"Being Black in America should not be a death sentence.
For five minutes, we watched a white officer press his knee into a Black man’s neck. Five minutes.
This officer failed in the most basic, human sense." https://t.co/4cfPkSsf1A
— Jacob Frey (@Jacob_Frey) May 26, 2020
Breitbart went onto add Frey’s Thursday’s sympathetic words to the actions of the rioters over historical wrongs:
What we’ve seen over the last two days and the emotion-ridden conflict over last night is the result of so much built-up anger and sadness, anger and sadness that has been ingrained in our black community, not just because of five minutes of horror, but 400 years. If you’re feeling that sadness and that anger, it’s not only understandable, it’s right.
It’s a reflection of the truth that our black community has lived. While not from lived experience, that sadness must also be understood by our non-black communities. To ignore it, to toss it out, would be to ignore the values we all claim to have. That are all the more important during a time of crisis.
The riots appear to enter yet another night of destruction as the weekend winds down and reports of travelers making their way to Minneapolis to join in with the protesters emerge.
