The Minneapolis Police Department tweeted on Saturday that they will not alter or remove the massive memorial for George Floyd that has been erected over the past few weeks.
“We respect the memory of him and will not distrust the meaningful artifacts that honor the importance of his life,” the department wrote.
The tribute is located on 38th Street and Chicago Avenue where Floyd was killed when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
The site has become a place of mourning, complete with murals and flowers. There is also a wooden structure of an upraised fist—the symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement. There is hope that the memorial will turn into a permanent shrine honoring Floyd and other victims of police violence.
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Minneapolis City Council voted earlier this month to replace their police department with a community-led model.
“The murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, by Minneapolis police officers is a tragedy that shows that no amount of reforms will prevent lethal violence and abuse by some members of the Police Department against members of our community, especially Black people and people of color,” they said in a statement.
The city has become the center of conversation around police reform. Last week, a dozen Minneapolis police officers wrote a letter condemning the actions of Chauvin and expressing their support for police reform.
Jacob Frey, the city’s mayor, has stated that he doesn’t support abolishing the police department, but instead supports “massive structural reform to revise a structurally racist system.”
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Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender told The Guardian, “Our commitment is to end policing as we know it and to recreate systems of public safety that actually keep us safe.”
The unanimous vote can not be overturned by veto.
“For years we’ve poured incredible amounts of money into the police department for reforms,” city council member Jeremiah Ellison wrote. “But what we’ve gotten in return is distrust, destruction, and death.”
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