Eight businesses have sued the city of Minneapolis, alleging that city officials essentially abandoned a four-block, cordoned-off area that activists erected following the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, paving the way for crime and lost revenues.
In the days after police were filmed violently killing Floyd at the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, protesters began occupying the site, eventually closing off the surrounding area to car traffic and naming it George Floyd Square.
The site, which served as part-memorial, part-protest zone, wouldn’t re-open to car traffic for over a year.
In the meantime, the lawsuit alleges, criminals took advantage of the area, making it a de facto police “no-go zone.”
“The city’s decision to allow civilian occupiers to ‘guard’ the zone enhanced economic hardship on the surrounding businesses and caused deadly results, including the takeover of the intersection by gangs,” the suit, which seeks $49 million in damages, reads.
Multiple shootings, some fatal, have taken place near the square since 2020.
One business owner named in the suit, Edwin Reed, said a gang task force member told him the area was a “no-go” zone when he called about a shooting near his detailing shop. Another, a barber shop owner, said he had to drive himself to the hospital after being hit by a stray bullet because authorities didn’t respond.
A landlord in the suit alleges he called police when local criminals attempted to shake him down for protection money, only to be told to be brushed off.
The city has moved to dismiss the suit and denies allegations it stopped policing the area.
“As with all areas of the city, MPD provides 24/7 emergency response to the 38th and Chicago area,” the Minneapolis Police Department told KSTP of the suit. “Chief [Brian] O’Hara has assigned two officers to a dedicated beat in this area, focusing on community engagement, relationship-building, and collaborating with local businesses and residents.”
Residents of the area have long complained that police stopped responding to calls near the site beginning in 2020.
News outlets captured police scanner audio, including one instance of a 911 dispatcher allegedly telling a domestic assault victim to move further away from the area when seeking help, and another where an officer allegedly said they wouldn’t respond to a shooting in the area unless “we get a call of somebody down” because it was too close to the department’s “hot area.”
City leaders remain divided over the future of the George Floyd Square site.
Last month, the city council overrode a mayoral veto and voted to continue exploring a plan to turn the area into a pedestrian plaza.
