Brutal Irony: Blue-State Businesses in Birthplace of 'Defund the Police' Movement Sue City Over Poor Policing
Is Minneapolis having second thoughts about its poor relationship with law enforcement?
A group of small-business owners are suing the progressive city’s government, taking exception to the city’s policing policies, The Associated Press reported this week.
However, the business owners aren’t claiming the Minneapolis Police Department is too strict.
The community members say they’ve been abandoned to an onslaught of crime and want the city to take more aggressive action around “George Floyd Square,” describing the area as a chaotic hub.
“The mayor, the city, the city council, and the Minneapolis Police Department collectively agreed to severely limit police response in the barricaded area surrounding plaintiffs’ businesses,” reads the lawsuit, which was filed in state court in mid-November.
The businesses — including “Cup Foods,” the store in which George Floyd allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit bill before his fatal encounter with police in May 2020 — say local cops only bother to show up for reports of the most serious crimes.
The plaintiffs also list Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other city officials as defendants.
The city was the birthplace of the “defund the police” rallying cry and the “Black Lives Matter” street terror movement in 2020, with rioters seizing a Minneapolis Police Department precinct and torching the building.
Pardon the language. Emotions very high. Raw footage next to police precinct. Several protestors chanting while the minneapolis police station burns to the ground.
Stop KILLING BLACK BODIES. CHARGE THESE COPS. INVEST IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY. #BlackLivesMatter #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/IkIj2JwhbJ
— Mike Griffin (@votegriffin) May 29, 2020
The square is heavily decorated in tributes to Floyd.
Fatal shooting at ‘George Floyd Square’
This is now the 55th homicide in Minneapolis this year. pic.twitter.com/xOSg2rVJRB
— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) August 7, 2022
“Criminals know the area lacks police protection, and they have now made the area so dangerous that it has become known as the ‘No Go Zone,'” the businesses allege in the lawsuit, according to WFTC-TV.
The businesses in the square are citing economic damages of $1.5 million, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
This isn’t the first time Minneapolis community members have implored their city leaders for more police protection.
Minneapolis City Council members urged the department to do more to protect the community in response to spiking violent crime rates by the fall of 2020.
The council originally sought to do away with the city’s police department entirely.
The city of Minneapolis hasn’t yet responded to the lawsuit.
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