MINNEAPOLIS – Bernard Miles has lived in the Powderhorn neighborhood for 30 years and at age 50 said he still fears harassment and aggression from …
MINNEAPOLIS – Bernard Miles has lived in the Powderhorn neighborhood for 30 years and at age 50 said he still fears harassment and aggression from the Police Department.
“If I had my knee on somebody’s neck, I’d already be in prison,” he said.
He was referring to the incident Monday, when Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck as the 46-year-old black man gasped for air and said he couldn’t breathe. Video of the encounter showed Floyd’s last moments and prompted the firing of Chauvin, who is white, and three other officers amid a national outcry.
In the neighborhood where Floyd was killed and in Minneapolis at large, residents and community leaders say a mistrust between police and the black community persists.
“You cannot talk to any African American young person, especially male, who will not have a story about their interactions with police,” said Pastor Hans Lee of Calvary Lutheran Church, a block south of the intersection where Floyd died.
In nearby Falcon Heights, Minnesota, Philando Castile was fatally shot by a police officer while being pulled over during a traffic stop in 2016. A jury acquitted St. Anthony, Minnesota, police officer Jeronimo Yanez in Castile’s killing.
The year before, the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark,24, by Minneapolis officers responding to a paramedic call led to a protest occupying the area around the department’s 4th Precinct.
