MINNEAPOLIS — Four years after the murder of George Floyd, the close-knit South Minneapolis neighborhood that saw protests and provocative chants of “Defund the police” has mellowed −but certainly not forgotten − the death that triggered a national debate about social justice and police reform.

As local leaders and residents explore long-term options for the corridor globally known as “George Floyd Square,” many question whether there has been any consequential progress on policing reform in the city since the tragedy.

“I can’t say nothing has changed, but we need more support to fully realize that change,” said Muhammad Abdul-Ahad, executive director of T.O.U.C.H Outreach, a Minneapolis violence prevention nonprofit. “People see things through different lenses.”

The quick push to defund

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on a defenseless Floyd’s neck in broad daylight for more than nine minutes. The horrific series of events was captured on cell phone video by Darnella Frazier, who was 17 years old at the time, and sparked a national movement.

For decades, local communities of color demanded action to their claims of police injustices, which were validated by a 2023 Department of Justice investigation. Cries to defund the police from protesters were augmented as local politicians tagged onto the demand.

In December 2020, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a budget that shifted $8 million from the police department toward violence prevention and other services based on city performance recommendations.

However, by 2021, many council members who wanted to disband the police began walking back their declarations. Some said defunding was not meant to be taken literally and some said it was up for interpretation. Only two members who called for defunding police still sit on the council, a number of those members gone did not seek re-election or were defeated in the polls.

“When it was asked to me, they were very clear it was getting rid of the police,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said recently to USA TODAY. “So, clearly, it meant many different things to many different people.”

Frey, who received intense backlash for rejecting calls to defund the department, was booed out of a demonstration by protestors when he said just as much.

Despite scant demands for Frey’s resignation, voters largely rejected the 2021 measure to replace the police and Frey handily won reelection. Meanwhile, Minneapolis police’s budget has grown − from $181 million in 2019 to $210 million in 2023 − as homicides, burglaries, and thefts are comparable to last year.

“My position hasn’t changed from the very beginning,” the mayor continued. “I said very clearly, ‘We need deep reform, we need a culture shift, but no, I don’t support defunding the police.’”

Part of that culture shift also includes having non-violence initiatives as police try to regain community trust, Abdul-Ahad said.

“There’s an unbelievable amount of hurt and pain that people still have,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told USA TODAY. “There’s no way of separating that trauma, whether it’s the people who live in the city and have lived through all of this, or the police officers from their experiences.”

The city will open two new community safety centers to provide social service agencies. The South Minneapolis center will also house the third precinct police station.

As city leaders praise measures that formed after Floyd’s death such as the Behavioral Crisis Response program, which sends out unarmed and trained staff specializing in intervention and mental distress, some council members express concerns about contracts of “violence interrupters.”

“We’re boots on the ground. We were there when the police weren’t, and we’re still here,” said Abdul-Ahad, whose organization does not currently have a city contract. “I hope the council understands the urgency to figure this out quickly. It’s getting warmer outside and that’s when crime heats up.”

Justice beyond conviction

After Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death, and the three other Minneapolis officers involved were convicted of violating his civil rights, Minnesota’s top prosecutor knew that the work towards justice wasn’t over.

“Justice implies, for me, some form of restoration, true change,” Attorney General Keith Ellison told USA TODAY. “I always felt that we had to win this case in order to get justice, but winning the case wasn’t going to be justice.”

After the 2022 death of Amir Locke at the hands of another Minneapolis police officer, the state legislature passed restrictions on “no-knock” warrants. A Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension report found that Hennepin County requested and executed the most in 2022.

O’Hara took over Minneapolis Police in 2022 and said a big area of reform he wanted to work on was culture and interacting with communities by auditing bodycam footage and taking corrective action.

The Minneapolis Police Officer Standards and Training Board couldn’t revoke Chauvin’s license without a criminal conviction for the murder. In 2023, the standards changed, and the board can now revoke licenses for conduct violations and use of excessive or unreasonable force.

O’Hara oversaw the Newark Police Department’s consent decree, similar to Minneapolis’, to hold its department accountable for reform.

“Our people are tremendous, they truly are. They’re just working in a broken system,” O’Hara said.

But Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty, who has singled out Minneapolis Police for not working closer with her office, has a different take. “We need all hands on deck here to support actual deep reform and we don’t have that here right now,” Moriarty said.

“There was a lot of optimism”

Four years ago, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, was hopeful the trauma her district and the Black community endured would start a transformation.

“There was a lot of optimism about what that moment could bring,” Omar recently told USA TODAY.

Omar once championed the call to defund the police, but now, she said, instead of draining the force, she favors some resources put towards racial equity and community safety programs.

“[It] was an aspirational call, an outcry,” she said. “It’s something a lot of people hold onto and what is possible, the desire for there to be an allocation.”

She added congressional inaction on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the Amir Locke End Deadly No-Knock Warrants Act stalled hopes for federal legislation. “The lack of transformative change has been heartbreaking,” Omar said.

Abdul-Ahad said while many would like to move on from Floyd’s death, collective action and results will help make that happen.

“We’re not just trying to rebuild the city’s infrastructure, we’re trying to rebuild its character, the trust, the communities. Even love.”

Sam Woodward can be reached at swoodward@gannett.com. Terry Collins can be reached at tcollins@gannett.com.

(Minneapolis, MN)  —  A Minneapolis nonprofit is holding a series of weekend events to remember George Floyd.  

Win Back will hold a “Day of Remembrance” today that focuses on community unity and an end to police violence.  

Today’s events include an interfaith prayer gathering, a remembrance brunch, a teen summit and a community gathering.  

More information is available on the Win Back Instagram page.  

Tomorrow will mark the fourth anniversary of Floyd’s death.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The man accused of hitting a pedestrian in the parking lot of a Minneapolis mosque had a history of violent attacks at the center, according to court records.

Hennepin County prosecutors charged 37-year-old James Evan Suttles of Minneapolis on Friday with second-degree assault for allegedly hitting a pedestrian with a minivan in the parking lot of Alhikma Islamic Center Mosque in Minneapolis. 

The criminal complaint alleges that Suttles was known to harass and intimidate people who came to the mosque and had been trespassed from the property just a week before the incident on Wednesday.

According to court records, police responded to the mosque on May 22 for the reported hit-and-run. At the scene, officers spoke with the victim who said he was unloading his car in the parking lot when the driver of a silver minivan, registered to Suttles, entered the lot and proceeded to speed up and hit him.

The man told police he tried to move out of the way, but the driver swerved into him. Charges said the victim ended up on the hood of the minivan before falling to the ground. The man told law enforcement he hit his head and officers noted he had injuries to his knee, left arm and hip. 

Eyewitnesses confirmed the victim’s account to police and said it appeared the driver “intentionally” hit him. 

The minivan driver left the scene, and around 9:30 p.m., law enforcement went to the address on Suttles’s driver’s license and found him sitting out front in a silver minivan. Charges allege Suttles attempted to start the van as officers approached, but he was arrested.

According to the complaint, the leader of the mosque said people were concerned for their safety and scared of Suttles as his alleged attacks were against those who attended the mosque and not targeted against a specific person.

The center leader told police that Suttles was trespassed on May 15 after sitting in the parking lot and watching the mosque for an extended time. He added Suttles had previously attacked him in the mosque, charges allege.

Various allegations have been made against Suttles, including assaulting a person who came into the mosque, spraying pepper spray into the building, and slashing several tires in the parking lot. The criminal complaint did not say whether Suttles has been charged or arrested for any of these alleged attacks. 

“We are concerned for the safety and wellbeing of the members of the Alhikma Islamic Center Mosque where this occurred,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in a statement. “In light of Mr. Suttles intentionally hitting the victim with a minivan, as well as his prior violent incidents at this mosque, we are seeking high bail. This was a terrifying incident, and I am thankful the victim did not suffer more serious injuries. We are grateful to the Minneapolis Police Department for taking action quickly to investigate and arrest Mr. Suttles and we will continue to partner with their team to investigate the motive. If through further investigation we determine that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this incident was motivated by bias we will prosecute accordingly.” 

According to court records, Suttles has been civilly committed for mental health reasons at least four times since 2015. He remains in custody at the Hennepin County Jail and is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Tuesday afternoon.