Residents express empathy, grief after second night of riots in Twin Cities

South Minneapolis residents expressed empathy, grief and anger Friday morning as smoke drifted through the air, sirens wailed and the state patrol surrounded the remnants of Third Precinct headquarters following the second night of riots in the Twin Cities.

Alisha Bruce and her siblings came out to survey the wreckage. Standing outside a husk of a building, they disagreed about whether the destruction could have been avoided.

“No. It’s long overdue,” Bruce said. “They keep killing us.”

Lulite, a resident who declined to give her last name, said she thinks some opportunists only interested in making a mess were involved in the chaos but that protesters’ anger is justified. Black Minnesotans have been denied justice for too long, she said.

“This is absolutely insane. I can’t really say. You just have to understand how we feel,” she said as a helicopter flew overhead and smoke from smoldering buildings plumed behind her.

Lulite (who declined to give her last name) grew up in this neighborhood. She didn’t attend any demonstrations but says this is justified. “You just have to understand how we feel.” pic.twitter.com/6ZaJttb9sq

— Max Nesterak (@maxnesterak) May 29, 2020

Ben, another resident who declined to give his last name, said he understands the protests but can’t comprehend the destruction to the community. 

“The sad thing to me is that we’re not focusing on the issue that really truly matters,” he said. “The big picture is, and has been for years, about police brutality — plain and simple. They kill white people, they kill Latino people, they kill Black people, and for the most part they get away with it. And that’s a problem.”

Peaceful demonstrations against police for the killing of George Floyd gave way to violent riots Thursday night. Thousands of individuals assembled in chaos, and the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct headquarters and a number of buildings across the Twin Cities burned.