More than a year after his death, the ghost of George Floyd continues to haunt the city of Minneapolis, and for that matter, the entire nation. Tragic stories pour out of the city with alarming regularity.
On April 30th, 10 year old Ladavionne Garrett Jr. was shot in the head while riding in a car with his parents. A police spokesperson said the car was struck by “a massive number of rounds.” Ladavionne has been hospitalized for months in a coma, having undergone multiple surgeries. News reports in late August indicated that he was finally able to breath without a ventilator and could blink his eyes. His grandmother rejoiced that Ladavionne “squeezed my hand to command.” It would be a miracle if Ladavionne could make anything close to a full recovery.
On May 15th, an adorable 9 year old girl named Trinity Ottoson-Smith was struck in the head by a bullet while jumping on a trampoline during a friend’s birthday party in north Minneapolis. Police say the bullet came from a suspect driving down a nearby alley. Trinity was rushed to North Memorial Hospital in a police squad car. For 12 long days she fought for her life before succumbing to her injury. Her father Raishawn Smith soon posted an image of broken hearts along with a short message: “God got her now.”
On May 17th, 6 year old Aniya Allen was riding in a car with her Mom through north Minneapolis. They had spent the day at the lake and had picked up some food from McDonald’s on their way home. A bullet slammed into little Aniya’s head. Although her mother drove her straight to the hospital, Aniya perished 2 days later. Her anguished mother mourned, “My baby girl is gone right now. I watched her take her last breath.” Aniya’s grandfather and local peace activist K.G. Wilson said, “I’m hurt…I’ve never been hurt like this. My heart is broken behind this, into thousands of pieces.”
Since the death of George Floyd, a tidal wave of violent crime has inundated the city of Minneapolis. In 2019, the city counted 48 murders. Following the death of George Floyd, Minneapolis murders surged to 84 in 2020. And there is no sign of relief. As of late-September 2021, there were 70 killings, on pace to surpass last year’s grim total. Unfortunately, these murder totals represent only a small fraction of all gun violence. Hundreds more people have been wounded and maimed by gunshots. In 2020, Minneapolis Police logged a staggering 9,600 reports of gunfire in the city. One Minneapolis resident darkly quipped, “You hear gunfire, it’s like hearing birds chirping in the morning.”
Carjackings have become commonplace as well. Minneapolis police reported 405 carjackings in 2020, an astounding 301% (that is not a misprint) increase versus 2019. Many of these carjackings occur at gunpoint. Victims are often brutally assaulted if they offer any resistance – and even if they don’t. Drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, and meth are plentiful. Illegal drugs have flooded across our southern border and streamed into American cities, especially as border enforcement has collapsed under President Joe Biden.
A desperate group of north Minneapolis residents recently sent a letter to Democratic Governor Tim Walz: “North Minneapolis…is a war zone, with a child murdered, a man killed when a barbershop was shot-up in broad daylight, a school teacher executed by fully automatic gunfire, a drive by shooting across an elementary school playground with children at recess, a bus evacuated after being shot at. All this in little more than a week. For over a year now we have been left to twist in the winds of violence, with constant shots heard, constant carjackings, constant death.” These residents requested that the governor temporarily use the Minnesota State Patrol or the National Guard in order to stem the onslaught of violence. Governor Walz denied the request, saying,”State Patrol and MN National Guard are not a substitute for a qualified local police department.” In light of the Governor’s refusal, resident Deb Wagner seemed resigned to more violence. “I don’t know how they’re going to [get law and order back on the streets.] It’s going to take a long time for them to hire more cops to get us up to the numbers where our police force doesn’t feel overwhelmed.”
The rest of the United States has suffered as well. According to data recently released by the FBI, overall murders in the United States increased an astounding 30% from 2019 to 2020. This represents – by a wide margin – the largest year over year increase ever recorded. (FBI has kept such records for over 60 years.) Unsurprisingly, when crime flourishes, it’s minority communities which endure the most. In 2015, there were 6,237 black murder victims in the United States. By 2020, the number of black murder victims had soared to 9,941, an increase of 59% over 5 years.
The reason behind the deterioration in public safety is not difficult to grasp. The leftist media and Democratic politicians seized upon the death of George Floyd in order to portray the United States as an irredeemably racist nation. They endlessly pushed the narrative that ours is a country where innocent young black men are systematically hunted by white police officers. The Black Lives Matter movement and the political left have created an unrelenting atmosphere of enmity towards the police, primarily in large urban areas where Democratic power prevails.
Police in Minneapolis and across the nation have been both figuratively and literally under assault. During the riots which followed Mr. Floyd’s death, many police officers were targeted with rocks, bottles, bricks, fireworks, and makeshift explosives. Officers were vilified as white supremacists and bigots, even though many big city departments have substantial minority representation. Unsurprisingly, the Minneapolis police department lost hundreds of officers in the wake of Floyd’s death. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey recently announced that the police department has only about 600 active duty officers, down from around 870 at the time of George Floyd’s death. That’s an astonishing drop of over 30%. One Minneapolis cop who left the force observed bitterly, “There was more hatred than I’ve ever felt in all of the 37 years that I’ve been a police officer.” Dispirited officers have either retired, taken disability, or outright quit. Disability cases are most often due to post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the toxic environment police now face each and every day. Thankfully, those who have quit usually find law enforcement jobs in communities which support their efforts. Sadly, most urban police departments across the United States have experienced similar dynamics to those at play in Minneapolis.
Democrats across the nation have added to the carnage by implementing dreadful policies such as ending bail. As the result, when a suspect is arrested for a crime, they are immediately released back onto the streets rather than being held in confinement. These suspects often promptly return to criminal behavior, leaving behind them a trail of additional victims. Democrats have elected horribly misguided District Attorneys such as George Gascon in Los Angeles and Kim Foxx in Chicago. These District Attorneys have chosen not to prosecute many serious crimes – including murder – leaving dangerous predators free to wreak havoc on the streets. Our cities desperately need District Attorneys who will have the courage to prosecute criminals to the full extent of the law. In such an environment, criminals face swift and severe consequences for their actions. Serious and repeat offenders should face lengthy prison sentences, thereby removing them from the streets and protecting the neighborhoods which they terrorize.
The recipe for public safety is well known. It begins with well funded and well trained police forces. Police with appropriate resources (and neighborhood support) are able to solve more cases. Having a robust police presence in high crime areas is in itself a strong deterrent. But in order to be most effective in confronting criminals, mere police presence is not enough. Police officers need to be aggressive. They need to be making frequent traffic stops for drivers who may be transporting illegal guns or drugs. They need to be questioning individuals or groups exhibiting suspicious behavior. Successful, modern law enforcement is based on data whereby the police proactively focus their resources on those troubled neighborhoods where the most crime is occurring. And the simple fact is that most crime-plagued neighborhoods have high minority compositions. Good police work is dangerous and difficult in the best of circumstances. But it’s become impossible in cities like Minneapolis where the media and Democratic politicians have stoked animosity against the police.
Democrats and left wing activists continue to push the lie that huge numbers of blacks are dying at the hands of racist police officers. According to the Washington Post’s database of police shootings, a total of 60 unarmed suspects were killed by police in the United States in 2020. Of these 60, only 18 were black, whereas 26 were white. Even these deaths do not necessarily suggest police misconduct. The Washington Post’s definition of “unarmed” is extremely generous. Many of these technically “unarmed” suspects posed a serious threat by virtue of physically assaulting an officer or having a weapon within arm’s reach. The bottom line is that unjustified police killings are blessedly rare events, especially considering how difficult it is to police a nation of 330 million people.
The Minneapolis police are in full retreat. Their numbers have plummeted and so has their morale. Instead of proactive policing, they can’t even keep up with the 911 calls now pouring in. Rightly fearing that they will be the target of the left wing media and Democratic politicians, police have made far fewer traffic stops and are much less likely to confront suspicious behavior. The predictable result: a massive surge in lawlessness.
Meanwhile, movements to defund the police continue apace. In November, Minneapolis voters will render their decision regarding a proposed amendment to the city constitution which would substantially reallocate police funding to social services. Perhaps sensing a change in the political winds, Democratic politicians like Governor Tim Walz, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Mayor Jacob Frey have voiced their opposition to the amendment. These politicians have articulated some tepid support for law enforcement. However, the Minneapolis PD can be forgiven for putting no faith in such empty words. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that Walz and company were fanning the flames of anti-police vitriol.
The brutal truth is that the actions of the political left following the death of George Floyd have done tremendous harm. In a bitter twist of irony, the Black Lives Matter movement has failed to benefit blacks at all. Rather, BLM has made a substantial contribution to the devaluing of black lives. The demonization of the police by BLM and other leftist organizations has resulted in the death and disability of thousands of people – especially African Americans.
Following the death of George Floyd and the riots which followed, many churches made attempts to address issues of justice in our nation. It would be interesting to know how many of these churches have chosen to devote just as much energy to address the far, far greater injustice, violence, carnage and grief now afflicting our country. The cynic could be forgiven for wondering why we’re so eager to protest the death of one man at the hands of police, but are utterly silent while thousands perish in a hail of gunfire.
The specter of George Floyd has haunted our nation for too long. The citizens of our nation need to make radical changes in their thinking, their action, and their voting patterns. Until those changes occur, Mr. Floyd’s apparition will be our dreadful companion for years to come.
