A group of armed black men who took over Minneapolis streets in the aftermath of George Floyd’s police-custody death is now being applauded by city officials for their efforts.
“It’s important to have men from the community step up for the community,” the city’s director of the Office of Violence Prevention, Sasha Cotton, told the Los Angeles Times of the group, which calls itself the Minnesota Freedom Fighters.
“It’s their right to be out on the streets and it’s commendable. There are black residents who in the early days of the unrest felt vulnerable … and still do.”
The Minnesota Freedom Fighters started patrolling small businesses in Minneapolis in late May and early June after the city’s NAACP chapter called for residents in a predominantly black neighborhood to protect storefronts amid widening civil unrest, the newspaper reported.
The group — which consists of about two dozen men and includes a veteran and a retired firefighter — has since protected grocery store parking lots while armed with Glock 23s and other licensed handguns. They also offer security for protesters.
They stay in contact with police precinct commanders and have also met with the city’s black police chief, Medaria Arradondo, Cotton told the Times.
The Minnesota Freedom Fighters consider themselves an added layer of security for the community and aren’t fearful of being targeted by police.
“Our objective is not to be the police, but the bridge to link the police and the community together,” its mission statement reads.
Romeal Taylor, 28, said he joined the group because he didn’t recognize the vandals who targeted the city days after Floyd was killed on May 25 while in Minneapolis police custody — and he wanted to answer the call to action for licensed gun owners.
“These weren’t black folks,” Taylor, a hotel security guard, told the newspaper. “These were outsiders truly intent on destroying this city.”
Taylor eventually met other local like-minded black men at the group’s headquarters, Sammy’s Avenue Eatery, the Times reports.
“It’s been a brotherhood ever since,” said member Randy Chrisman, who responded to the NAACP’s call on Facebook to meet at the café. “You just never know when something is going to happen. As a black man, I have the same rights as others to also carry a firearm and I do it.”
Some members of the group have also traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, to back protesters calling for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman who was fatally shot in her apartment in March by cops with a “no-knock” warrant. Cops were there to search for drugs thought to be stashed inside. No drugs were found.
A Minneapolis police spokesman declined several requests from the LA Times for comment on the group.