The history of policing is rooted in the protection of property, including slaves. In colonial America, “slave patrols” patrolled the country looking for Black people and escaped slaves, then forcibly returned them to bondage. These groups started out relatively informally, but slowly gained more power and control, using white supremacy and racism to their advantage to set curfews, steal property, and otherwise brutalize BIPOC. When Minneapolis was founded in 1867, a police force soon followed, and immediately proved itself to be corrupt at best.
In 1934, 50 fully armed police officers in 25 squad cars confronted coal workers who were on strike due to insufficient work. In total, 67 strikers on the picket line were shot and two were killed. The police initially tried to report they were “fighting for their lives,” but this claim was quickly discredited after it was revealed that the vast majority of gunshots were on the backs of the strikers. They had been shot in the back while trying to run away. No police were charged in the killings of the two men. This incident became known as Bloody Friday.
In 1963, the Minneapolis Police Department formed its first Civilian Review Board after a civil rights investigation revealed that “minority members generally lacked faith that their complaints would be dealt with properly.” The group was a step in the right direction but lacked any official status and fell apart after a lawyer found that members could be sued for defamation. In the late 1960s, MPD created the Internal Investigation Unit to investigate claims against its officer, but this unit rarely, if ever, finds fault with the officers.
These are just two small instances of Minneapolis’s long history of police violence against Black, brown, and Indigenous people, including numerous police killings. There are near-constant instances of police brutalizing and killing BIPOC around the Cities, including the 2015 murder of Jamar Clark, the 2016 murder of Philando Castile, and the 2020 murder of George Floyd. This happens despite the fact that the Minneapolis Police Department is often considered to be one of the most reformed police departments in the country. However, no system built on injustice, violence, white supremacy, or hatred can ever be reformed.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin in broad daylight at 38th St. and Chicago Ave. Bystander video shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck as he says, "I can't breathe," and begs for air. The murder of George Floyd (and subsequent trial of Derek Chauvin) sparked a summer of Uprisings in Minneapolis. Protests, direct actions, and change spread across the Twin Cities, the state, the country, and the planet.
Timeline Summer 2020
During the summer of 2020, elected officials and other departments in the City of Minneapolis made swift promises to defund and cut ties with the Minneapolis Police Departments. Many of these promises were broken or lacked follow-up, as was evident in the response to the protests sparked by the murder of Daunte Wright in April of this year.
May 25, 2020 — George Floyd was murdered by MPD
May 26, 2020 — Protests started, and the 4 officers involved in the murder of George Floyd were terminated
May 27, 2020 — The University of Minnesota promised to cut ties with MPD, but continued to fund the University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD)
UMPD worked with MPD during the coordinated police response to the protests following the murder of Daunte Wright (Operation Safety Net) in 2021
May 28, 2020 — The 3rd Precinct was burned by protesters
May 29, 2020 — Minneapolis put a curfew in place to attempt to quell protests
June 2, 2020 — Minneapolis Public Schools cut ties with MPD, which provided “school resource officers” (SROs)
Later MPS looked into hiring private security guards to replace SROs
June 3, 2020 — Minneapolis Parks and Recreation cut ties with MPD
Minneapolis Park Police are still funded
June 7, 2020 — The Minneapolis City Council announced they would defund MPD
The City Council has voted to increase the police budget several times since.
Floyd’s murder was not the first time police had killed a Black man, and it wouldn’t be the last — not to mention all the other BIPOC men, women, and children regularly brutalized and murdered by the police. Less than a year later, police would kill Daunte Wright during a traffic stop over expired tabs. However, the death of George Floyd and the trial of Derek Chauvin brought conversations many organizers have been having for years to the forefront—more than ever before, individuals were engaging in conversations about mutual aid, abolition, and a better future for everyone. The world was paying closer attention to police abolitionists than ever before.
Abolition is the idea of eliminating the police. Reform, as mentioned above, is not effective. A system rooted in white supremacy will always remain rooted in white supremacy. Instead, abolitionists advocate for the elimination of police in favor of community-led systems of public safety. Before police, communities and neighbors took care of each other; abolitionists propose a return to those practices. Who better to solve problems than the people who are involved, and who know the circumstances and context? Who better to address a neighborhood crisis than the neighbors themselves? Abolition is rooted in the idea that the “services” provided by police can be better offered by community members, and that true safety stems from community relationships.
The question of abolition is how best to achieve it. Many people are unaware of the fact that policing as an institution is relatively new, so they assume policing has always existed and must always exist. However, there are many local efforts being made, especially in Minneapolis, to advocate for abolition and create alternative systems of public safety. Of note is the Yes 4 Minneapolis campaign, a local ballot initiative campaign being run with a coalition of organizations. In Minneapolis, the City Charter requires a police department that is staffed with a certain number of officers. In order to achieve abolition, the charter must be changed. Yes 4 Minneapolis is working to get a charter amendment on the ballot in November, 2021 through petition signature collection. Enough signatures have been gathered that community members themselves will have the opportunity to vote on whether or not to replace the police. This is a vital first step in the movement toward abolition in Minneapolis.
This post was written as part of a collaboration between Minnesota Youth Collective and a University of Minnesota class, SW1501. This class, Introduction to Peace Studies, discusses how human conflicts can be resolved in ways that promote justice and peace. Students collaborated with MNYC staff to research and write posts about our issue areas of focus.