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The city roils after the death of George Floyd as police confronted protesters and the mayor urged prosecutors to charge the officers involved.

Story Transcript

This is a rush transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.

Taya Graham: There’s anger in the streets of Minneapolis.

Speaker 2: I’m out here because the cop that killed Floyd was the same one he was involved with a police shooting at Little Earth, maybe a couple of years ago. And they’ve been criminalizing our youth for a long time. And that’s why we’re here.

Taya Graham: After the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, there was an outpouring of frustration and grief from the community. And anger over this video, showing Floyd, who was African American, begging for his life as Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin puts down forward pressure with his knee on Floyd’s neck.

Floyd was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, but the reaction to his death was swift and emotional. Wednesday night protests turned violent as police shot, rubber bullets and tear gas. An AutoZone store was engulfed in flames while a Target was picked clean. Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey pleaded for calm, but he also called for the arrest of Officer Chauvin.

Jacob Frey: Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail? If you had done it, or I had done it, we would be behind bars right now.

Taya Graham: Mayor Frey also asked the governor of Minnesota to deploy the National Guard, to quell the unrest in the community. Minneapolis police have said little about what led to Floyd’s arrest. Instead, they posted a statement shortly after Floyd died, citing a forgery in progress.

But meanwhile, questions about Chauvin’s record have surfaced, including 10 past complaints of excessive force. The FBI and the Minnesota Attorney General’s office have joined the investigation, but pleas from officials and calls for charges against the officers have done little to calm the city, as tensions rise over the death of yet another black man at the hands of police. This is Taya Graham, Stephen Janis, and Taylor Hebden reporting for The Real News Network.

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Taya Graham

Host & Producer
Taya Graham is an award-winning investigative reporter who has covered U.S. politics, local government, and the criminal justice system. She is the host of TRNN's "Police Accountability Report," and producer and co-creator of the award-winning podcast "Truth and Reconciliation" on Baltimore's NPR affiliate WYPR. She has written extensively for a variety of publications including the Afro American Newspaper, the oldest black-owned publication in the country, and was a frequent contributor to Morgan State Radio at a historic HBCU. She has also produced two documentaries, including the feature-length film "The Friendliest Town." Although her reporting focuses on the criminal justice system and government accountability, she has provided on the ground coverage of presidential primaries and elections as well as local and state campaigns. Follow her on Twitter.

Stephen Janis

Host & Producer
Stephen Janis is an award winning investigative reporter turned documentary filmmaker. His first feature film, The Friendliest Town was distributed by Gravitas Ventures and won an award of distinction from The Impact Doc Film Festival, and a humanitarian award from The Indie Film Fest. He is the co-host and creator of The Police Accountability Report on The Real News Network, which has received more than 10,000,000 views on YouTube. His work as a reporter has been featured on a variety of national shows including the Netflix reboot of Unsolved Mysteries, Dead of Night on Investigation Discovery Channel, Relentless on NBC, and Sins of the City on TV One.

He has co-authored several books on policing, corruption, and the root causes of violence including Why Do We Kill: The Pathology of Murder in Baltimore and You Can’t Stop Murder: Truths about Policing in Baltimore and Beyond. He is also the co-host of the true crime podcast Land of the Unsolved. Prior to joining The Real News, Janis won three Capital Emmys for investigative series working as an investigative producer for WBFF. Follow him on Twitter.