The death of George Floyd by a white police officer has unleashed the “pent-up pain of years,” the CEO of Target, Brian Cornell, said on Friday. He promised to send first-aid supplies to areas affected by subsequent riots and rebuild the controversially looted store in Minneapolis.
What We Know:
- Target shut down 24 stores around the Twin Cities in the wake of George Floyd’s death on Thursday. The previous day, protests at the MPD’s 3rd Precinct devolved into rioting, fires, and looting. Aside from the Target, other locations suffered protest damage.
- According to a CBS News affiliate in in Minneapolis, Cornell says team members impacted by store closures will be paid for up to 14 days of scheduled hours. Employees will also be able to work at other nearby Target locations.
- The site was one of many retail operations ransacked by demonstrators protesting Floyd’s death, which has since sparked upheaval across the country, and Minneapolis-based Target has closed several locations to protect employees and customers.
- “We are a community in pain,” CEO Brian Cornell wrote in a statement on the Target website. “That pain is not unique to the Twin Cities — it extends across America. The murder of George Floyd has unleashed the pent-up pain of years, as have the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.”
- Cornell said that the company had already started working on getting first aid supplies, medication and other necessities to the area’s most hit by the demonstrations and that the displaced employees would have full pay and benefits “in the coming weeks”.
He added that the destroyed store would be rebuilt. “In any of our other locations that are damaged or at risk, the safety and well-being of our team, guests, and the surrounding community will continue to be our paramount priority,” he said.
