Originating from the beginning of the third week of May, racial tensions and protest assemblies have grown, since the death of George Floyd. 

Starting on Wednesday, May 27 and leading into Thursday, May 28, these peaceful protest assemblies during the day, shifted swiftly by nightfall into riot-like assemblies, leading into looting practices in Minneapolis on both E. Lake Street, Hiawatha Avenue, as well as several small businesses around the Twin Cities. 

As of the afternoon of May 28, Minn. Gov. Tim Walz has called on the National Guard to help aid the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) with controlling the increasingly volatile crowds. 

This has been confirmed by the National Guard itself, via Twitter. 

“We have activated more than 500 soldiers to St. Paul, Minneapolis and surrounding communities,” wrote the National Guard. “Our mission is to protect life, preserve property and the right to peacefully demonstrate.” 

Assemblies in both Minneapolis and St. Paul  worsened as the evening grew later, the protesters ignited the 3rd precinct MPD on fire and was quickly engulfed in flames. 

According to live footage of the protests and the flames, the Minneapolis police have seemed to vacate the premises of the precinct and the protests themselves, whereas St. Paul has taken a different approach with police out in the protests, actively warding back the crowds with words, rubber bullets and teargases. 

The demonstrators have been broadly categorized into three types of protesters: those of which who are mourning the death of Floyd, those who are looking to loot and cause disarray and those of which who are looking to demonstrate their disdain for the MPD. 

Floyd died in police custody, while a white police officer knelt on his neck, cutting off his air supply, leading to Floyd loosing consciousness. The video of the arrest went viral on various social media platforms, gaining not only national attention, but the attention of those around the world. 

Updates on the city of Minneapolis and the Floyd case related to these issues to follow.