dbo:abstract
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- The George Floyd Square occupied protest is centered at the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States and features several makeshift memorials and street art. The street intersection is where Derek Chauvin, a White police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, murdered George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old Black man, on May 25, 2020. The day after Floyd's murder, people began leaving memorials to him. The street intersection soon transitioned to a controversial occupation protest by people who had erected barricades to block vehicular traffic and transformed the space with amenities, social services, and public art of Floyd and that of other racial justice themes. The unofficial memorial and occupied protest zone was referred to as “autonomous”, "no-go", and "police-free", but local officials disputed such characterizations. Local unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul immediately after Floyd's murder was the second most destructive to property in United States history, after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, but peaceful protest gatherings at the street intersection in late May 2020 were free of property destruction, arson, and looting that characterized other local demonstrations. The intersection became a place of pilgrimage for many people protesting Floyd's murder and other forms of racial injustice. However, in the weeks and months after Floyd's murder, the neighborhood surrounding the square, which had previously held a reputation for gang activity, continued to have elevated levels of violent crime and regular gunfire incidents. By August 14, 2022, seven people had been killed by gun violence at the square since Floyd's murder, and one person had died there as the result of a drug overdose. The City of Minneapolis began long-term planning in late 2020 for preservation of public art installments at the square. By March 2021, debate about how to open the intersection persisted as the trial of Derek Chauvin commenced, with some residents expressing support for removing the barricades as others preferred that the occupation protest continued until community demands were met. After a guilty verdict was reached by a jury in the Chauvin trial on April 20, 2021, organizers of the occupation of the 38th and Chicago street intersection said they would continue to protest and hold the square until their demands were met, which included awaiting the trial outcome for the other three police officers at the scene of Floyd's murder. City crews removed barricades at the intersection on June 3, 2021, as part of a phased reopening process and vehicular traffic partially resumed several weeks later, on June 20, 2021. The protest movement at George Floyd Square persisted in 2022. (en)
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rdfs:comment
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- The George Floyd Square occupied protest is centered at the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States and features several makeshift memorials and street art. The street intersection is where Derek Chauvin, a White police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, murdered George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old Black man, on May 25, 2020. The day after Floyd's murder, people began leaving memorials to him. The street intersection soon transitioned to a controversial occupation protest by people who had erected barricades to block vehicular traffic and transformed the space with amenities, social services, and public art of Floyd and that of other racial justice themes. The unofficial memorial and occupied protest zone was referred to as (en)
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