Minneapolis, ground zero for the Defund the Police movement, is not the kind of place you park your car with confidence. Several years after George Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020, the city averages one car theft an hour.
The forsaken Minneapolis police station on Lake Street, abandoned by cops and ransacked by rioters in 2020, still sits vacant. High fencing and overgrown weeds surround the building. There are no plans to rebuild.
In May 2024, the Lake Street Minneapolis Police station that was destroyed by rioters in 2020 is still vacant.
Image CreditBeth Brelje
Colorful murals splashed on vacant businesses along Lake Street can’t hide the constant stink of dope in the air or prevent the rising crime rate. The homeless stand in line for free sandwiches some charity in a van distributes near Lake Street most days.
The police force is down in numbers and morale, as a “transformed” law enforcement system centered on “recognizing the humanity and civil rights of community members” and “addressing race-based policing” is being implemented through a consent decree between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
Despite years to rebuild, Minneapolis has not healed since the 2020 riots that burned the city. Destroyed businesses are vacant. Towns flattened by tornados have recovered faster.
A still-abandoned business on Lake Street in Minneapolis in May 2024, where riots erupted in 2020.
Image CreditBeth Brelje
As mobs of rioters hurled bricks through windows and Molotov
