This week has seen unprecedented violence in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Some of that violence, unfortunately, was at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, but the other violence has been at the hands of those who seek to destroy our society.
Using the death of George Floyd, rioters and looters have taken advantage of a volatile situation and made it many times worse. The devastation is almost mind-boggling and the list of buildings destroyed and businesses ruined is seemingly endless. So many people will go without because of this; people have lost their livelihood and residents have lost a local place to buy their essentials. The situation has become both dire and heart-wrenching. Night after night fires raged and rioters continued to add more fuel to the fire, both figuratively and quite literally. The only thing that stands between the rioters causing more destruction and people losing their livelihoods and essentials, is the Minneapolis police officer.
For days on end, officers of the Minneapolis Police Department have been working tirelessly to protect their communities from those who wish to destroy it. The only thing stopping total chaos is these officers. They’re the ones trying to save the city and in no way represent murderous villains like Chauvin. If it weren’t for them, the rioters would have succeeded long ago in destroying this great city. The officers of the 3rd and 5th precinct are no exception to the hard work of saving the city. Imagine the officers’ surprise when they went to get much-needed food on Sunday, May 31st, 2020 before another long night of protecting local businesses from rioters and looters, only to be denied services from local businesses.
The Dominos Pizza and Chipotle in the 3rd and 5th precincts of Minneapolis both locked their doors and refused service to the hungry officers. We are investigating reports that other restaurants did the same. Most other businesses have either been burned or were otherwise closed, so the officers had no other options for food that day. It is hard to imagine that these businesses would take the ideological stance against the police when those very officers are the only reason that their businesses are still standing. If it weren’t for a Good Samaritan who went and bought them food, the officers likely wouldn’t have eaten that day.
Refusing officers food is part of the problem that ails this nation, not the cure. This week has seen so much beauty and kindness in the wake of such ugly violence. We’ve seen communities come together as one to try and recover from this disaster. We’ve seen thousands of people deliver food to impacted areas where there was otherwise no food available. This is the way things should be! Why exclude police officers who are working to protect these communities? This especially frustrating when Hollywood celebrities and other “elites” are creating go-fund-me campaigns to literally bail rioters out of jail. It makes no sense to punish those trying to save the community, but reward and enable those trying to destroy it.
We can do better, America.
Let’s not punish businesses like Dominos and Chipotle because of their bad decision, but instead let them know how much we disagree with it and create a dialogue of healing and understanding as we work together to rebuild our community.
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