Just days after a black man died by being pinned down by police, the University of Minnesota announced their relationship departure with the Minneapolis Police Department.
What We Know:
- School president, Joan Gabel, made the announcement on Wednesday night in a letter to students, faculty, and staff. He wrote that the university will no longer use local officers to assist in major events, including football games.
- “Our hearts are broken after watching the appalling video capturing the actions of Minneapolis Police Department officers against George Floyd leading to his tragic death,” Gabel said in her letter. “As a community, we are outraged and grief-stricken. I do not have the words to fully express my pain and anger and I know that many in our community share those feelings, but also fear for their own safety. This will not stand.”
- One day before Gabel’s announcement, the university’s undergraduate student body president, Jael Kerandi, issued a letter and a petition demanding that the school sever its ties with the Minneapolis police.
- “We no longer wish to have a meeting or come to an agreement, there is no middle ground,” Kerandi’s letter said. “The police are murdering black men with no meaningful repercussions. This is not a problem of some other place or some other time. This is happening right here in Minneapolis.”
- On Monday night, George Floyd died in the custody of Minneapolis police. A bystander’s video shows officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck even after he pleaded that he could not breathe. Two other officers held Floyd down while the fourth cop interacted with bystanders who were pleading with the officer to get off of Floyd.
All four officers involved in the incident were arrested Tuesday. On Wednesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey demanded criminal charges for the officers.
