I’m in Minneapolis. First place I stop, most of the block is still boarded up. This grocery and tobacco store is owned by an Iranian, neighbor tells me. “They took everything.” Owner is deliberating whether to permanently close after the riots 
Just next door, a small Vietnamese music shop has been closed since the riots
Just down the street, a Malaysian restaurant is boarded up, but has resumed business. As has a Vietnamese sandwich shop, which just re-opened a few days ago. (I had a sandwich. Vegetarian duck? Was good)
This is just one tiny block -- and it just happened to be the first place I stopped, because I wanted to try the Vietnamese sandwich place. Rioters even smashed the hipster record store!
Nearby a Halal market is boarded up. Its next door neighbor, a child care center, has signs in the windows asking to be spared
Hadn’t realized that the entire area around where George Floyd was killed has been a walled-off memorial zone for the past month
Minneapolis activist Vine explains the current situation in what is now known as George Floyd Plaza
Presented without comment
Not sure what a “mindful preschool” is, but apparently it has something to do with saying the names of people killed by police
Target seems to have forgiven the rioters
One order of cheesy bread please
A polite request, given the circumstances
What remains of the Minneapolis Third Police Precinct building, looks like Bosnia or something
Healthy society
Healthy society update: doesn’t seem healthy for so many small business owners to have to declare their ethnic status
Man tells me George Floyd's death has sparked a worldwide Christian revival movement
Tour of Lake Street in Minneapolis, conducted by me
Small businesses in the area resort to putting up GoFundMe solicitations on their boarded up exteriors
Shuttered beauty supply store in Saint Paul declares itself to be “black owned.” I wonder how Jews feel about this new public ethnicity-identification practice?
Metro PCS store owner says it took him a month to get his windows replaced after trying to go through two different companies. They are still backlogged in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area
This used to be a sports apparel store and a tattoo parlor
Gas station owner put signs in the windows of the convenience store begging to be spared. Now the property is closed and up for sale
Goodwill in Saint Paul was boarded up only today, presumably due to backlog in the area. Wokers for construction contractor just hauled out the broken windows
Daycare center operated by Somali women was smashed
Entire inventory was stolen from this wig shop (owned by an Asian guy) which shares a lot with a former rental car place
This used to be an Ethiopian restaurant
Oromo Ethiopians gathering in Saint Paul for speeches and chants because, they say, famous singer Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was just killed by police in Ethiopia
Vanessa in Saint Paul gives her thoughts on the riots
Homeless/activist encampment at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis still in full force over a month after the George Floyd killing. The city Park & Recreation Board is voting tomorrow on a proposal that would effectively end the encampment, but residents say they will refuse to leave
This small Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis had to close for the first time in 25 years due to the riots. The owner tried to reason with the rioters but they wouldn’t listen. Place was closed for 22 days, and since they re-opened a week ago, business has been way down
Would still be curious to know who exactly burned down some of these places after they were looted. I have theories
This used to be an African hair salon and an Ecuadorian restaurant, among other things
Talked to the Somali owner of this small deli. He says his security fired shots to fend off the rioters. The ones who instigated the attack were primarily white, he says, while the blacks hung back. Note the “Anarchy” symbol scrawled on the plywood, popular among white leftists
The police eventually came, the deli owner tells me, but they were “scared.” (I still have not seen one police officer or patrol car in the entire five days that I’ve been in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area.) Here’s what his block currently looks like
Owner of Mexican convenience store across the street tells me whites also broke into his store and stole items/smashed things before armed security arrived. Here’s what he put on the exterior
Somali guy who lives in this building tells me he had to spray-paint pleas on the plywood for rioters not to burn it down. (They initially tried to burn the attached pawn shop.) Says on the first night of extreme rioting, they were mostly white. On subsequent nights, mostly black
Not entirely sure how I would answer this question
Leader of the homeless/activist encampment explains the situation at Powderhorn Park to me
Interesting perspective here from the Somali guy who had to fend off rioters as they tried to burn down his building. (By the way, anyone who makes crude, racially inflammatory generalizations about people you've never met can kindly F right off)
Man tells me he supported the riots/arson in Minneapolis, but cuts the interview short
Here’s a photo that a (black) Minneapolis resident sent me of the scene outside his apartment building during the riots. Rioters attempted to burn many buildings in the vicinity, including his, where kids also live. The kids were extremely frightened and crying. Police were AWOL
This Walgreens has been closed ever since it got looted, security guard tells me. They set up an “emergency mobile pharmacy” for prescriptions only. (I thought it might be a COVID testing site at first. It’s not)
This was formerly a Post Office. Meanwhile, a Postal Service bailout is currently being debated in Congress
Chinese restaurant worker says their next door neighbor used to be a Somali market. The market had been closed due to COVID and just reopened before the riots. Now it’s completely gone
This used to be a dentist’s office that provided care to underprivileged children and the uninsured
Guy who runs this grocery in North Minneapolis is an immigrant from Sierra Leone. During the riots he armed himself and guarded his store; the rioters did not mess with him. He says, “I grew up in a war zone, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
One block over, an Arab cafe owner was not so lucky. Here’s what remains of his establishment
Disabled man describes what he’s had to deal with since the riots in North Minneapolis, laments that black-owned businesses were burned down
Most of the workers at this pizza place are Hispanic so they were advised by an ad hoc community group to more visibly proclaim themselves “black owned” in order to protect the business. (Door was still smashed)
Across the street, a Lao community center which had already ceased operations due to COVID is boarded up
When I tweeted yesterday that much of Minneapolis was “in ruins,” a bunch of local activists tweeted back at me saying “Durrrrr no it’s not.” How many more buildings like this would I need to find to qualify as “ruins”? Notice the message spray-painted on the side: “Riots Work”
This autobody shop is completely burned out and closed since the riots; everything inside was destroyed. The owner, an Ethiopian immigrant, tells me he’s now out of work with nothing to do
Nothing “ruinous” about this intersection, I guess -- totally normal
Spotted at Hmong Village in Saint Paul
Hmong man has owned this clothing store in Saint Paul since 1991. He never once had to call the police, until the riots. But the police haven’t helped him. When he saw what happened to his store, he cried. He’s had no business over the past month; he says his customers are afraid
This man said the intruder who destroyed his security system was a white woman. Many of his most valuable possessions, kept in a safe, were stolen. He now sleeps in his store every night to protect it
Flo had a hair salon in Minneapolis for over 30 years. It was burned down days before she was going to re-open due to COVID. Over a month later, and she says she’s gotten no help from the government. The salon meant everything to her. She did not have insurance and is devastated
Flo's next door neighbor is a white lady with a "Black Lives Matter" sign in her window. Flo does not have such a sign. In this largely black neighborhood, there are relatively few "BLM" signs. Conversely, in the largely white Minneapolis neighborhoods, BLM signs are ubiquitous
Why did this take over a month? Perhaps someone sent Gov. Walz my Twitter thread?
Guy who participated in the Minneapolis riots tells me his story. This is a wild ride. Among the many takeaways, please note that he says EVERY SINGLE PERSON who launched an arson attack was a white activist
This fellow, who came from a Minneapolis suburb, had no real articulable political motive and got swept up in the moment. However, he did witness the ideologically-driven element of the white rioters conduct a concerted campaign of arson attacks, including on minority businesses
He also gives an account of Minneapolis Police ripping people out of their cars, breaking their windows, and slashing their tires during the height of the riots -- insane tactics which only inflamed the situation even further, and incited many non-rioters to become rioters
Just for kicks I checked to see whether mass gatherings were technically prohibited in Minnesota during the period of peak protests and riots. Yep. Of course. This executive order signed by Gov. Tim Walz is still currently in effect
9 times out of 10 the people with these mass-produced “BLM” signs in their yards all around the Minneapolis area are whites. Here’s what the producers of the signs advise for “strong white allies”
