MPR News PM Update
May 29, 2020

Picture-perfect weekend weather. This weekend is going to be that kind of weather you were longing for in the winter -- nice and warm air with clear, sunny skies! Both Saturday and Sunday will be sunny with highs in the 60s to the mid-70s across Minnesota.


Ex-cop who killed George Floyd charged with murder, manslaughter. Four days after the killing of George Floyd, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman today charged now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The criminal complaint says the officer had his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds total -- including 2 minutes and 53 seconds after Floyd was nonresponsive.

Target temporarily closes 32 stores in Minnesota, mostly in the Twin Cities, amid looting, burglaries. As looters continued to hit its stores in Minneapolis and St. Paul this week in the midst of protests over the killing of Floyd, the company announced it’s closing 32 stores, 30 of which are in the Twin Cities metro area, until further notice.

COVID-19 in Minnesota today: Death toll nears 1,000; ‘Wear masks’ health officials plead with protesters.  The number of Minnesotans currently in intensive care jumped to 259, and nearly 600 Minnesotans remain hospitalized. The total number of confirmed cases is 23,531 as of Friday. Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm reiterates her plea for people to wear masks and socially distance but acknowledged doing those things will be very difficult in the situation that’s playing out in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Are you an employee of Target, Cub Foods or any of the businesses that were torched or closed in recent days? Or do you live in a badly hit area and wonder how you'll now get food and medicine during the pandemic? Please share your story with reporter Jon Collins on Twitter @JonSCollins or via email jon.collins@mpr.org.

 — Jiwon Choi, MPR News

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Floyd protests: Mpls., St. Paul order 8 p.m. curfews to stem chaos
The orders come as city leaders hope to stop a repeat of the past few days where peaceful protests over the killing of George Floyd dissolved into mayhem and looting after sunset. St. Paul’s asked for 400 State Patrol and National Guard members to help patrol Friday night.

Photos from Thursday: Shifting images of peace, chaos in the Twin Cities
Wednesday:  Looting devastates Twin Cities
 
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Charged ex-Mpls. cop used 'overkill' tactics as nightclub guard
A white Minneapolis police officer and the black man he's charged with killing both worked as security guards at the same Latin nightclub as recently as last year, but its former owner says she’s not sure if they knew each other.
 
Obama on George Floyd's death and the 'maddening' normalcy of racism
Former President Barack Obama has responded to the Minneapolis death that has set off protests and drawn national attention, including President Trump's. Read his full statement.
 
Weary from looting and arson, south Minneapolis asks: Where are the police?
As looting and rioting spread to residential neighborhoods, outrage and heartbreak settle in. Residents and business owners say they feel abandoned by the city. Gov. Tim Walz is promising to restore order Friday and into the weekend.

Looted and smoldering: ‘Lake Street, the great street’ braces for more
 
Twitter adds 'glorifying violence' warning to Trump tweet
Twitter has added a warning to one of President Trump's tweets about protests in Minneapolis, saying it violated the platform's rules about "glorifying violence."
 
New Zealand now has just 1 active COVID-19 case
U.S. consumer spending plunged by a record-shattering 13.6 percent in April as the viral pandemic shuttered businesses, forced millions of layoffs and sent the economy into a deep recession.
 
Contact tracers key to slowing the spread of COVID-19. Meet one of them
Effective testing and contact tracing are considered critical components of managing the spread of COVID-19. The job of contact tracing can mean long hours and stressful conversations.  
 

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