XPost: alt.politics.democrats.d, or.politics, alt.politics.obama
XPost: alt.politics.radical-left
From: nigger-lovers@disney.com

MINNEAPOLIS — Black-owned businesses at the intersection where
George Floyd was killed by police last year — now known as
George Floyd Square — say they are in dire straits.

Black merchants near the once-thriving corner of 38th Street and
Chicago Avenue said police have abandoned the blocked-off
intersection, creating a dangerous autonomous zone that has seen
crime spike and business evaporate.

“The city left me in danger,” the owner of Smoke In The Pit
restaurant told The Post Thursday.

“They locked us up on here and left us behind,” said the
merchant, who asked to be identified only as Alexander W. for
fear of reprisals.

“They left me with no food, no water, nothing to eat,” he said.
“The police, fire trucks, can’t come in here.”

On Thursday the intersection was essentially abandoned — save
for the occasional gawker who posed for photos in front of a
mural outside Cup Foods, the convenience store where Floyd
allegedly passed a counterfeit $20 bill.

At least five stores along one block are shuttered. Owners and
workers at most of the stores that do remain open were too
afraid to comment to The Post.

“Look around, things are empty,” said Richard Roberts, who works
at the nearby Worldwide Outreach for Christ church. “What can we
do about it?”

“Sometimes it’s good and sometimes bad,” Roberts said. “It’s not
stopping violence.”

The black-owned businesses say they have lost 75-percent of
their business since the Floyd memorial sprouted up shortly
after his death — and have even launched a GoFundMe fundraising
page in a desperate bid to stay afloat.

The merchants “feel they have been the sacrificial lambs” in the
city’s response to Floyd’s death, according to the fundraising
page.

“In the fight for justice we must not forget the fight of
economic justice of (a) once-thriving community,” the page said.
“We business owners know that the fight for justice doesn’t just
include justice from the legal system, we must also include
justice for business impacted.”

The city barricaded the intersection to allow for the Floyd
memorial to be erected.

Phil Khalar, a member of the group that oversees the memorial,
said the merchants’ complaints are part of “a false narrative.”

“It’s not like we are telling delivery drivers or customers not
to come in,” he said. “This area has always been violent.”

Khalar said Bloods gang members “keep us safe in their own way.”

But residents and businesses complain that a new element of
lawlessness has seeped into the area recently — with left-wing
militants and gang members turning it into a “volatile”
autonomous zone.

Police said last month they would retake the intersection and
restore safety, but gave no timeline, the Star-Tribute reported
at the time.

And it has yet to happen — even after a jury on Tuesday
convicted ex-Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin of murder and
manslaughter charges in Floyd’s death.

“Business is bad,” an employee of Giant Express Laundromat said
of the Square.

“No one absolutely knows who runs this,” he said. “It’s like a
union. One person is selected as a leader one week and if
they’re not fit they get thrown out.”

“The black and white community now made this a hangout place to
come and grieve,” he added. “There should be a memorial, but
something has to be done.”

https://nypost.com/2021/04/22/black-owned-businesses-struggling- at-george-floyd-square/
 

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* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)