George Floyd Square occupied protest facts for kids

Quick facts for kids George Floyd Square occupied protest
Part of George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul
George Floyd Square, June 2020
Date	May 26, 2020 – present
Location	Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States 44°56′03″N 93°15′45″W / 44.9343°N 93.2624°W / 44.9343; -93.2624
Caused by	Murder of George Floyd George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul
Goals	List of 24 demands
Methods	Protests and demonstrations Occupation protest Protest art Police-free zone
Status	From June 20, 2021, traffic is open to vehicles on the streets leading to the square
Parties to the civil conflict
Meet on the Streets City of Minneapolis
Casualties
Death(s)	6
Center of the protest zone in Minneapolis.

The George Floyd Square occupied protest is an area of demonstrator-installed memorials and street art centered at the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The street intersection is where Derek Chauvin, a White police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, murdered George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old Black man, by kneeling on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds after Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down outside the Cup Foods convenience store on May 25, 2020. The murder of George Floyd, which was captured on video by bystanders and circulated widely in the media, sparked a global protest movement about police violence and structural racism. Soon after Floyd's murder, people left memorials to him there. The street intersection was held for over a year in a controversial occupation protest by people who had erected barricades to block vehicular traffic and transformed the space with amenities, social services, and public art of Floyd and that of other racial justice themes. The unofficial memorial and occupied protest was referred to as an “autonomous”, "no-go", and "police-free" zone, but local officials disputed such characterizations.

Local unrest in Minneapolis–Saint Paul immediately after Floyd's murder was the second most destructive to property in United States history, after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, but peaceful protest gatherings at the intersection in late May 2020 were free of property destruction, arson, and looting that characterized other local demonstrations. The intersection became a place of pilgrimage for many people protesting Floyd's murder and other forms of racial injustice. However, in the weeks and months after Floyd's murder, the neighborhood surrounding the square, which had previously held a reputation for gang activity, continued to have elevated levels of violent crime and regular gunfire incidents. These were especially prominent at night, in contrast to what has been described as a "sacred space" during the day. Several people have been killed by gun violence at the square since Floyd's murder. On June 19, 2020, Dameon Chambers, was fatally shot at the square, on July 5, 2020, Leneesha Columbus was fatally shot a block away from the square and the child she was pregnant with was born but died four weeks later, on March 6, 2021, Imaz Wright was shot outside the Cup Foods store and died at a nearby hospital, and Kirk Lee was fatally shot inside his home near the square on March 26, 2022.

The City of Minneapolis began long-term planning in late 2020 for preservation of public art installments at the square. By March 2021, debate about how to open the intersection persisted as the trial of Derek Chauvin commenced, with some residents expressing support for removing the barricades as others preferred that the occupation protest continued until community demands were met. After a guilty verdict was reached by a jury in the Chauvin trial on April 20, 2021, organizers of the occupation of the 38th and Chicago street intersection said they would continue to protest and hold the square until their demands were met, which included awaiting the trial outcome for the other three police officers at the scene of Floyd's murder. City crews removed barricades at the intersection on June 3, 2021, as part of a phased reopening process and vehicular traffic partially resumed several weeks later, on June 20, 2021.

The protest movement at George Floyd Square persisted in 2022.