A Weekend of Protests in the Twin Cities

Racial Reckoning: The Arc of Justice

Protestors were out in force across the Twin Cities this weekend. Some protests were in solidarity with Asian Americans killed in Atlanta last week, while others were a continuation of the demand for justice for George Floyd and other lives taken by police.

Dolal Idd’s father, Bayle Gelle, stood in front of the Governor's mansion Sunday pleading for State officials to intervene in his son’s case. Dolal was killed by Minneapolis Police in December 2020 just one mile away from where George Floyd took his last breath.

“I don’t care how long it takes,” said Gelle. “I will never ever ever shut my mouth and I will never stop my struggle until I get justice for my son.”

Dolal Idd, 23, was Somali American. He was enrolled in classes at Normandale Community College at the time of his death. The police have released disturbing footage of their raid on Dolal Idd’s home after he was shot; his parents and siblings say they were terrorized. Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR Minnesota, said the case should be reassigned to a special prosecution team as was done for the George Floyd case.

“There’s a lot of people who think we are protesting aimlessly. No, we are protesting with a purpose. We have eight bills we are trying to pass in the house in the State of Minnesota.”

Meanwhile, jury selection for the Derek Chauvin trial continues. So far 13 people have been selected to serve on the jury. Judge Cahill stated Friday he now expects the court to select up to 16 jurors, with as many as four alternates.

And in case you missed it, two big rulings were made Friday. The judge denied a change of venue request and a motion to delay the trial. However he did rule to allow the defense to submit details of a previous arrest of George Floyd as evidence.

Georgia Fort for the Racial Reckoning project