George Floyd Square, the area in Minneapolis where the 46-year-old was choked to death by a police officer in May 2020, has become a flashpoint for the city as the trial of former officer Derek Chauvin begins this week.  

After Floyd's death, the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue became a memorial to his life and to others who have been killed by police in the past. The street is now filled with candles, murals and other art, transforming into a place of pilgrimage for many people devoted to social justice, USA Today reported. 

The city and protesters set up barricades around the Square, making it difficult for cars to pass through, according to The New York Times. But concern has begun to grow locally that the area needs to be reopened in order for Black residents and businesses to move forward. 

There is now a minor standoff between Black churches as well as businesses in the area and protest groups occupying the grounds. Some want the memorials and protest groups to stay, while others want the barriers removed and for life to return to the way it was in some form. 

Chauvin's trial officially began on Monday, reigniting interest in the city and bringing the focus back to Floyd and what happened at the intersection. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced plans to reopen the street after the trial, but activist groups have released a list of demands they want to be met before any barricades are removed.

“The truth is the situation at hand is not sustainable. We are united in this understanding,” Frey said, according to CBS Minneapolis.

Local residents have said they hope the city finds a way to address the concerns of both the activists and local businesses. While many acknowledge the need for the area to be preserved as a site for social justice, others have taken issue with protest groups that have effectively taken over and unilaterally decide who is allowed in and out.

Black business owners have also complained that the barricades and protest groups are destroying their work while also allowing violent crime to flourish in the area, according to The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

“They can do two things and keep everybody happy I think, because there are other business around other and they need to have a chance too,” resident Rodney Lewis told CBS Minneapolis. 

A Facebook group called 38th & Chicago – "George Floyd Square," disputed the idea that the protest groups or the barricades were the cause of the recent violence. 

"The barricades don’t cause crime. Though the city loves a scapegoats and easy answers. Broken windows policing is a fallacy. The system that refuses to deal with the systemic racism, the system that chooses brutalization and incarceration under the guise of 'corrections' is the one responsible for the conditions that lead to crime in this city," the group wrote on Facebook. 


"If we all had access to housing, generational wealth, education, healthcare, crisis assistance that sought to protect with courage and serve with compassion, families unbroken by incarceration, and justice that heals our communities instead of tearing us apart, THEN maybe then, would our city heal. If the conditions are largely unchanged, why would violence suddenly disappear from the streets?" the statement added. 

Here are four things you should know about George Floyd Square.

1. How the Square Was Started

On May 26, 2020, just one day after Floyd was killed, residents began creating memorials to commemorate the violence that occurred, according to The New York Times.

By the end of the day, thousands of people showed up at the intersection to protest against the police.

Shrines were created and people began to spray paint Floyd's name on walls in the area. Police also violently broke up multiple protests that took place at the site during the weeks and months after the protest. 

"There will be something memorializing George Floyd's life. I don't know if I can make promises right now, but I will be working to make a memorial at that site. And it will be something that is substantial. It will be more than a plaque, I'll tell you that," Andrea Jenkins, Minneapolis City Council vice president, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. 

2. Controversy Over Erecting the Barricades

In an effort to protect visitors and pedestrians, residents of the area put up barricades to stop police cars and other vehicles from passing through the streets, allowing people to walk through the Square, admire the memorial and add to it if they liked.

The Minneapolis Public Works Department eventually put up its own barricades but pledged to remove them by the end of the summer.

That announcement was met with anger by local groups. 

“The George Floyd Memorial is first and foremost a place of protest, not commissioned by the City but by the people against the City,” residents wrote in a Meet on the Streets resolution, according to Minnesota Reformer. 

The Minneapolis Police Department later said it would not disturb the area in a statement on Twitter.

"The MPD will not be altering or decommissioning the memorial of George Floyd. We respect the memory of him and will not disrupt the meaningful artifacts that honor the importance of his life," the department wrote. 

But some local residents and business owners did not realize how long the area would be closed off. 

"Last year when it first started, it was all about George [Floyd]. People came from all over the world. We didn't know when it was closed that it would be closed this long…And when everybody in town found out that it was locked down like this…nobody wanted to come here and risk this stuff, and I don't blame them," store owner Willie Frazier told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

3. The Future of George Floyd Square

Although Frey said the barricades will be removed once Chauvin's trial is over, his announcement was met with demands.

"During the trial, we know that 38th and Chicago will be a very important gathering space for community. We don't want to take that away. Amid the darkness, the community came forward and they managed to shine a light on 38th and Chicago in a beautiful way to memorialize George Floyd," he said, according to The Minneapolis Star Tribune. 

"But the intervening months have been far less straightforward. Barricades that were originally placed at the intersection to protect both people as well as the public art are now in many senses used as a screen for illicit activity and have re-traumatized neighborhoods," he added. 

In August, local groups released a list of 24 demands that needed to be met before any discussion of removing the barricades could begin. 

"They want to shut down the square just to shut down protesters. They definitely want us gone before that miscarriage of justice happens," local leader Marcia Howard told USA Today. 

The demands include removing a local prosecutor, firing the head of the state’s criminal investigative agency, funding local job programs and creating measures to end racism as well as houselessness.

The groups also want the barricades to stay there until all of the trials are over, including those of the three other officers who were with Chauvin when he killed Floyd. 

“The thing about it is that a lot of the different demands are asks from different people, and Black folks aren’t monolithic. So it’s really incumbent upon our city leadership to really look at the needs behind the asks, and really fulfilling those needs,” said local leader Jeanelle Austin in an interview with The Associated Press. 

The discussions over the barricade removal were kickstarted in part because local businesses said it was disrupting their ability to function. 

KARE 11 reported that multiple Black-owned businesses approached the city demanding something be done about the barricades. 

“It’s been a bit turmoil. Besides the mental health factor that’s a big deal to us, the streets are closed and it’s cut down 70% of revenue we’ve been able to bring in, and it’s been almost impossible to have people come because the aspect of violence. We felt like we were in the shadows of what was going on, we felt like the city was talking to people holding the barricades, but not the residents and business owners here,” Dragon Wok owner Rashad West said to KARE 11. 

“I’ve come to realize today, there aren’t funds directly allocated for businesses here. I have savings, but at this point we are trying to maintain, and we are almost in the danger zone. You fight off COVID-19, the tragedy of George Floyd, but when the street is closed and you can’t have people come out as they please, it’s impossible to market things. Of course, I want justice, but they have to understand they are hurting black business owners like myself,” he added. 

City Council Member Alondra Cano was far more candid in an interview with The Minneapolis Star Tribune, noting that the barricades were making some feel unsafe. 

"I get to hear from all the people no one wants to listen to. I get to hear from the Black elderly woman who has to sleep in her bathtub so she can avoid being shot at night. I get to hear from the other Black elderly woman who has chronic pain and can't access the bus and therefore can't go grocery shopping, and I get to hear from the residents who text me when there's bullets zinging by their faces in the middle of the day as they're gardening," Cano said.

Other business owners said local gangs were taking advantage of the area's significance.

"We just need these streets to open, we need police in this area. This is like Mexico in the United States. Thirty-seventh Street is the United States. You come out here, it's like Mexico. So a person can commit a crime on 37th Street, and if they run over here, the police are not going to come. They park stolen cars here," said Just Turkey owner Sam Willis Jr. to The Minneapolis Star Tribune. 

A GoFundMe has been created to help support some of the businesses that are struggling. 

4. Recent Violence at the Square

Part of what is sparking efforts to change the Square and remove the barricades is the violence that has occurred in recent months. 

“I can’t say when it started, but it was shortly after [Floyd’s death], we went months and months where we heard gunshots probably literally every night,” pastor T.J. Valtierra told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. 

Dameon Chambers was killed in the area in June 2020 and in July 2020, Leneesha Columbus, a pregnant 27-year old woman, was shot to death in a car at the Square, according to CBS Minneapolis. Her child later died at the hospital. 

The Minneapolis Star Tribune and other news outlets have also covered multiple shootings and attacks that have taken place in the Square over the last year. Imez Wright was shot to death earlier this month. 

“The neighbors deserve to have a level of comfort that does not include gunshots every night, and muggings and carjackings, and all the violent crimes we have been witnessing in this community,” City Council member Andrea Jenkins told The Associated Press. 

People and groups operating in the area have taken issue with how news outlets have covered and reported on the violence, noting that the area was violent long before Floyd's killing. 

"Police chiefs and press outlets need to stop blaming violence in our communities on those demanding restorative justice—it’s the city that keeps the barricades in place, it’s the city refuses to deliver justice, it’s the city who still has a well-funded police department," 38th & Chicago – "George Floyd Square," wrote on Facebook. 

Another group, the PPNA Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association, released a statement with the Corcoran Neighborhood Organization on Facebook condemning the violence but looking for ways to support local businesses.

"Our Community is full of people willing to give, connect, advocate, heal, and build in service of overall community health. The association also understands that there are some people who are currently willing to cause harm, chaos, or worse," the statement said. 

"This was true before the murder of Mr. Floyd. PPNA & CNO do not believe that the rise in violent crimes in our community is a result of the 38th & Chicago intersection being closed. Our associations believe that some community members, who were willing to cause harm before Mr. Floyd’s murder, actively look for ways to use George Floyd Square as a shield to further illegal and detrimental activity in our community," the groups added. 


"PPNA & CNO believe that community safety and livability will not occur simply as a result of the City’s decision to reopen the intersection but will require ongoing demands from our community for adequate, accessible, and sustainable resources that focus on building people up and tearing obstacles down," the statement read. 

"Our Work as best as we can individually and collectively manage, is to further equity, justice, and healing in all forms throughout our community. PPNA & CNO believe this requires accepting that there are multiple truths about how to navigate this season of harm. In honoring that everyone has the right to see this moment differently, our associations believe we create space to demonize problems and not people."

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