The New Yorker:

The city where George Floyd was murdered finds itself again at the epicenter of a national crisis.

By E. Tammy Kim

Five years ago, a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, killed a man named George Floyd. The Twin Cities, then the rest of the country, exploded in Black Lives Matter protests: daily marches, traffic blockades, calls to defund the police, and public destruction that matched the turmoil so many Americans were experiencing. In response to the burning of a police precinct, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, called up more than seven thousand National Guard troops and airmen to enforce a curfew. For protesters, there was a blurring of the local and federal; all officers inspired fear.

One arm of the federal government, though, was later welcomed. In 2021, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice—the standard-bearer in anti-discrimination enforcement—opened a “pattern and practice” investigation into the use of force by the Minneapolis Police Department. Before Floyd, there had been other victims whose names weren’t shouted in the streets..

The Justice Department found that the M.P.D. had used excessive force, especially against protesters, Black people, Native Americans, and people with disabilities. Minneapolis has since banned choke holds and no-knock warrants. The current police chief, Brian O’Hara, has a reputation for fair-mindedness. Problems with local law enforcement persisted, but officers knew that they were being watched—by the people and by the federal government.

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