Minneapolis Police Shooting Stirs Up Further Unrest

The world watches on as the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd enters its third week, with the prosecution expected to rest its case by Tuesday. Many consider the trial to be a landmark moment in the reckoning on racial injustice that has emerged as a defining theme in the United States’ political climate since 2020.

The death of the former sparked violent protest throughout the summer of 2020 across major US cities and around the world, resulting in upwards of USD $1 billion in damage to thousands of businesses and properties, and the deaths of nine demonstrators, in the United States alone.

While peaceful protests have carried on outside the heavily-fortified Hennepin County Courthouse throughout the Derek Chauvin trial, fears have been stoked of further civil unrest following the verdict, which could arrive by the end of the month—regardless of its outcome. 

Compounding the already profound sense of unease throughout the United States’ Twin Cities area amid the trial, yet another unarmed Black man was shot and killed by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb during a traffic stop on Sunday afternoon.

The fatal shooting of 20-year old Daunte Wright incited a gathering of violent protesters in the area, which clashed with anti-riot police into the early hours of Monday, and has placed racism and violence toward Black men at the hands of law enforcement back in the global spotlight.

Given the shockwaves prompted by the death of George Floyd, it should not be unexpected for protests to continue and proliferate throughout Minnesota and beyond in the wake of this recent incident and as the Derek Chauvin trial draws to a close in the coming weeks—with considerable security implications for American lives and livelihoods.