Protests in Minneapolis regarding the trial of Derek Chauvin

[2][3] Local government officials surrounded a downtown Minneapolis courthouse building that was the venue for Chauvin's judicial proceedings with a temporary security barrier in anticipation of civil disorder.[13] Minnesota government officials spent $25 million to mobilize 3,500 National Guard troops and amass hundreds of law enforcement officers in security efforts they referred to as Operation Safety Net.[18][19] On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an unarmed African American man, died while under the custody of Minneapolis Police Department officers Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao.[22] Hundreds rallied outside the Hennepin County Government Center building on September 11, 2020, during a pretrial hearing for the former Minneapolis police officers Chauvin, Lane, and Keung, and Thao, who were charged criminally for Floyd's death.On November 5, 2020, defense attorneys for the officers cited the exchange on September 11 and other safety concerns in their arguments in court to have a change of venue to another jurisdiction for the trial, but Peter Cahill, the presiding judge, rejected their motion.[2] Protests were held on October 15, 2020, at the Hennepin County Government Center building during a court appearance for the four officers facing criminal charges related to Floyd's death.[34] Approximately one thousand protesters gathered peacefully outside a downtown courthouse as Chauvin's trial commenced on March 8, 2021, to call for justice for Floyd and raise broader issues of racial injustice.At 38th and Chicago Avenue, the intersection where Floyd was murdered, a group of people who self-identified as "anarchists" and "anti-fascists" held a training workshop at the square on how to avoid arrest and keep calm if detained by police.[37] Groups of protesters also gathered outside Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis during the trial of Derek Chauvin and marched on the streets calling for justice over Floyd's murder.A few days after Wright's death, visiting U.S. Representative Maxine Waters' told demonstrators in Minnesota that they should "stay on the street" and "get more confrontational" if Chauvin's trial resulted in acquittal.[47][15][16] Officials with the Operation Safety Net reported three business burglaries in Minneapolis and that a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources vehicle deployed for potential unrest was broken into and had a firearm stolen from it.[48] In northeast Minneapolis, as the city was on edge awaiting the verdict announcement, a fire that began around 7 p.m. on April 19 destroyed the 100-year old Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Polish National Catholic Church.The cause of the fire was falsely blamed on Black Lives Matter and "Antifa" activists in a social media post to Instagram that were flagged as misinformation by the parent Facebook company.[52] After a several-months investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in September 2021 that the fire was the result of arson and they sought the public's held to identify a person of interest.People gathered outside the Hennepin County Government Center where the trial was held and at the 38th and Chicago Avenue street intersection in Minneapolis where Floyd was murdered, to await the verdict at approximately 4 p.m.[61][62] Officials surrounded the Hennepin County Government Center, a public building that included the court rooms were the Chauvin trial would take place, with a temporary concrete barrier, metal fencing, and barbed wire in anticipation of civil unrest.[62] Minneapolis officials spent approximately $1 million in contracts with seven community organizers to act as “positive outreach and support” during the protests and help deescalate potential tension between demonstrators and law enforcement.[17] Prior to the trial, federal authorities warned in classified briefings that extremists, such as white supremacist organizations and the Boogaloo movement could attempt to exploit peaceful protests to engage in violence.