George Floyd is honored in Minneapolis before trial

Minneapolis – Fence and concrete barriers encircle the county government center. Neighboring companies are set up. The intersection at 38th Street and Chicago Street, where George Floyd died, remains closed to traffic. But Reverend Billy J. Russell welcomed Minneapolis residents to his church on Sunday night. “We’re trying to get to the front end of everyone.” Russell, the pastor at the Great Missionary Missionary Baptist Church, said this is to prepare people’s minds and hearts for what is going to happen. “Everyone is on the brink now.” Ten months after George Floyd died in police custody, it is scheduled Opening statements to begin Monday in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.Local activists planned Sunday rallies and protests to honor Floyd’s life and to draw attention to the case, “What is justice?” In the case of Derek Chauvin, the exhausted city that wears George Floyd’s face awaits an answer from in Jury ?: The jury selected in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, more than a dozen local organizations were appointed to sponsor a gathering at the Minneapolis Government Center on Sunday afternoon. “We want to give people a space to meet and talk about what we were going through through the process. Jury selection, “said Chunnell Allen of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities.” And to let the system know we’re paying attention. ” We’re paying attention to detail, and we’re going to keep emerging. ”Russell has held a vigil at his church with members of the Floyd family, Reverend Al Sharpton and civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Russell said he has seen most of the jury selection over the past three weeks and plans to continue the trial. A few dozen supporters in the Great Evangelist of Friendship Sunday night to hear songs, prayers, and sermons during the vigil and rally led by the George Floyd family., Reverend Al Sharpton and Ben Cromb’s family attorney, the mood at the shelter was fun as Russell welcomed the crowd from behind the stage as Sharpton gave a eulogy. At Floyd’s funeral, he urged them to take care of the trial and protest peacefully. – Some cheering and banging drums and holding pictures of Floyd – demonstrated outside the courtroom for the 11 days of jury selection, which concluded last week. Some said they planned to protest for the remainder of the trial. Now is the time to make the effort to win. “The time has come for victory,” Russell said, and when he spoke, Sharpton noted that many of the cases never resulted in criminal charges against the officers involved, referring to previous incidents including the beating of Rodney King and the murder of Eric Garner. He said that Monday does not mark the beginning of Chauvin’s trial, but also represents an opportunity for the country to hold the police accountable. “The criminal justice system will be tried tomorrow,” Sharpton said. “Chauvin is in the courtroom, but America is on trial.” Crump, along with his legal team, echoed Sharpton’s sentiments, describing the trial as “a referendum on how far we have come in our quest for equality for all.” He led the crowd chanting, “This murder case isn’t difficult when you look at George Floyd’s torture video.” He also referred to the tension in the city, saying that he prays for peace and justice. “We need to make sure we watch everything unfold. All we need to do, we will do it in a peaceful spirit,” he said. . “Even with convictions, no amount of justice can restore Mr. Floyd’s life, but it can restore hope for a system that should include all citizens.” Floyd’s brothers, Filones and Terence, spoke at the vigil about the need to reform the criminal justice system. Terence Floyd remembers speaking at the spot where his brother was killed and thanking the protesters for continuing to demonstrate. He felt emotional when he spoke of the need for accountability. He said, “We demand justice from the regime, but this gathering that we are conducting now is what is needed.” “We will seek justice from God.” “We need justice now!” His other brother Felones Floyd spoke of the need to end qualifying immunity and increase police transparency. He described his brother’s death as “a murder in the modern era.” He said, “Give me conviction, give the world what it wants to see.” George Floyd joins the anthem album project Members of the Mother’s Love group, a community group working to stop the escalation of armed violence and cases of domestic violence in the city center. Every day jury-picked wear bright pink shirts and black jeans, they distribute leaflets offering emotional support and encouraging residents To demonstrate peacefully. “It’s about making sure people have a safe place,” said Don Easter Morris, director of the initiative and a resident of the Twin Cities. “Society continues to grieve the loss of the business that was there last summer. We are still rebuilding. ”“ There is a bit of a sense of heightened tension ”as the opening statements approach.“ The concern has grown over how the trial will proceed. ”Morris said she plans to attend the vigil at the Missionary Friendship Baptist Grand Church. “For prayers and peace throughout the city, no matter what.” Members of the Minnesota National Guard have been stationed outside the courtroom, but officials said last week that there were neither trial arrests nor reports of property damage. Police officials said they intend to increase Their presence begins with the opening statements, “It won’t be a significant increase,” John Harrington, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said at a news conference last week. “At this time, there is no information or intelligence that justifies a significant increase in our situation.” Floyd died. Black man, on May 25, 2020, after Derek Chauvin, who is white, pinned his knee to Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.Floyd, lying on a Minneapolis street under Chauvin, cried out, “I can’t breathe” more than 20 times The accident triggered a hundred Protests are coming all over the world. While the majority of the protests were peaceful, hundreds of companies were looted in Minneapolis, a police station was set on fire, and a jury selection process for the trial began in early March. The court faced some early setbacks after the city announced a $ 27 million settlement with the Floyd family. Two jurors who were members of the jury told the judge that they could no longer be impartial after seeing the news, and were removed from the jury. Defense and prosecution attorneys worked through over 100 potential jurors, and each asked them for their opinions. Case knowledge and opinions on a range of issues, including discrimination and censorship of communities of color and the Black Lives Matter movement, the court eventually selected 15 jurors. Twelve jurors will deliberate, two will act as substitutes, and one will be dismissed if all the others appear in the opening statements on Monday. The committee consists of nine white and six colored jurors, including three black men, a black woman, and two mixed-race women.