An alt-news documentary on George Floyd's death and its aftermath is out now: The Fall of Minneapolis. It blows the mainstream narrative right out of the water.
Many of the places in it are recognizable. Fortunately--or Providentially--we moved out of the Third Precinct before 2020 hit. The government center where Chauvin's trial was, was where I had had jury duty years earlier. I've been to the bookstore where Keith Ellison found the Antifa handbook.
The documentary is missing some important context: most importantly, a disclosure that the producer and host, Liz Collin, is married to Bob Kroll, who was head of the Minneapolis police union in 2020. The protest led by John Thompson that is shown was outside their house. [Edit: Thompson's son Derek crashed into and killed a carload of Somali young women earlier this year.]
The portrayal of the police is very positive, but you can see that there is long-standing antagonism between the police and multiple segments of the city's population.
Also there is no city surveillance video from across the street, which was visible in real time to the 911 dispatcher; the camera was at the gas station I guess. That business with Floyd being kneeled on for 7 minutes 46 seconds, then 8 minutes 46 seconds, and then 9 minutes 29 seconds, was caused by the City of Minneapolis sitting on that video good and hard until Chauvin's trial the following year, and it has never been released to the public.
Later on, after that gas station was closed down, a kidnapped guy was held there for a night or two, in between being driven around to ATMs to withdraw cash. I'm not sure how to correlate that against the protest/occupation activity in that area. There's a Minneapolis teacher who has been very dedicated to being right there and being seen and heard. [Edit: Marcia Howard]
Darnella Frazier, the black teenager standing on the sidewalk taking the video of Floyd, received a special Pulitzer prize for it. Later on, her uncle got killed in someone else's police chase while sitting in his car. As far as I know, that was an accident.
George Floyd's girlfriend worked at the school Daunte Wright attended, and she was back in the media after he was accidentally shot and killed by police.
George Floyd's family, including his mother Larcenia and brother Philonise, received a $27 million settlement from the City of Minneapolis, but for some reason Floyd's roommates were saying months later that his family never came over to get his Bible or other belongings. [Edit: I believe Floyd's aunt lives or lived in the Twin Cities metro area.]
Chauvin's mother Carolyn Pawlenty is a cousin-in-law of former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. Chauvin's now ex-wife Kelly was a Mrs. Minnesota beauty pageant winner. [Edit: a little more about that here, including death of Tou Ger Xiong] Chauvin and Floyd used to work security at the same club, which burned down in the riots.
John Thompson's son was recently in big trouble for fleeing police at high speeds in a rented car and T-boning a car full of Somali young women, killing them all.
Liz Collin was interviewed by Candace Owen after being fired from the local CBS station, I think that was later in 2020.
Umbrella Man, who kicked off the window-smashing at the Autozone (more-or-less kitty-corner from the 3rd Precinct police station) was at one point identified as a white supremacist who had previously been in a group harassing a Muslim convert in nearby tourist destination Stillwater, but I haven't heard that he was ever arrested.
Donald Williams, visible among the bystanders on the sidewalk with the boxing club hoodie, was caught on video hitting a police car with a shopping cart, I think it was, during the rioting at the St. Paul Midway Target store. He's been in legal trouble a couple of times since then: alleged domestic violence against his girlfriend near the Minnesota State Fair, and recently a disturbance at a suburban school when they wouldn't let him come inside to pick up his kid.
