Gil Dobie wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:42 pmSounds so easy. To begin with it's one of the highest crime area's in Minneapolis. Defending the precinct lead to more violence.
In response, police made two controversial decisions:
They initially focused on defending the 3rd Precinct building, which critics say left the rest of the neighborhood largely unprotected against a few looters and arsonists among the protesters. Dozens of buildings were burned and damage has been estimated at least in the tens of millions of dollars.
And when protests were still largely peaceful in the first days following Floyd’s death, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd outside the precinct, an action that protesters and city leaders say escalated an already volatile situation.
As protests around the precinct became more violent, several City Council members urged the mayor and police chief to surrender the building, believing that the traditional police tactics — to hold the building at all costs — were further angering the public.
Well with that mindset, defending anything that rioters want to burn or destroy leads to more violence, so everything that rioters want to burn or destroy should be abandoned. Wrong mindset to have. Weakness in the face of violence, just invites more violence.Defending the precinct lead to more violence.
As far as being overwhelmed throughout the neighborhood, that all goes back to the 2 day delay in calling up the NG and other reinforcements.
In the days following I heard numerous former big city police chiefs criticize the abandoning of the police station. I'll take their word for it.
