Violence and gunfire are raging in Minneapolis as officers leave the department at such a rate that residents are warned that 911 responses may soon cease.
The Washington Post reports:
Nearly six months after George Floyd’s death here sparked massive protests and left a wide swath of the city burned and destroyed, Minneapolis is grappling with dueling crises: an unprecedented wave of violence and droves of officer departures that the Minneapolis Police Department warns could soon leave the force unable to respond to emergencies.
The report notes that North Minneapolis is marked by gunfire, as “bullets zip through this predominantly Black neighborhood, hitting cars and homes and people.”
Minneapolis homicides have surged 50 percent this year, with almost 75 people killed.
Community activist Cathy Spann observed, “If you want to talk about pandemics, we’re dealing with a pandemic of violence. We’re under siege. You wake up and go to bed in fear, because you don’t know what’s going to happen next. … And our city has failed to protect us.”
On June 12, 2020, Breitbart News reported that the Minneapolis City Council responded to the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd by unanimously vowing to disband the police department. Months after making that pledge, the same council that approved abolishing the police stood in the rubble and asked where the police had gone.
On September 16, 2020, Breitbart News noted a Minnesota Public Radio report that quoted City Council President Lisa Bender suggesting police were intentionally not arresting people. She claimed, “This is not new, but it is very concerning in the current context.”
Ironically, Bender supported the June 2020 pledge to disband the police department, promising to “dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a transformative new model of public safety.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.