Minneapolis A Fortified City As It Anxiously Awaits Derek Chauvin Verdict

A verdict looms in the trial of Chauvin, the former police officer charged with murder in the death last year of George Floyd.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Just outside the entrance to Smile Orthodontics, in a Minneapolis neighborhood of craft breweries and trendy shops, two soldiers in jungle camouflage and body armor were on watch Monday, assault rifles slung over their backs. Snow flurries blew around them. A few steps away at the Iron Door Pub, three more National Guard soldiers and a Minneapolis police officer stood out front, watching the street. A handful of other soldiers were scattered nearby, along with four camouflaged Humvees and a couple police cars. Across the street was a boarded-up building spray-painted with big yellow letters: “BLACK LIVES MATTER ALL YEAR ROUND.” Adam Martinez was walking down the street when he briefly stopped to stare at the scene.