Residents in Minneapolis are feeling the impacts of the riots that are taking place in their community. While those who are taking part in the riots say they are doing it in protest of the death of George Floyd, the people who actually live and work in Minneapolis say otherwise.
Stephanie Wilford, a disabled woman that lives in a high-rise apartment complex near the 5th Precinct, told KSTP-TV that Friday night was "scary."
"I live in the high-rise right back here," the woman said, pointing to the building behind her. "And I seen them as they came down Lake Street but then they turned and started coming over here. And I'm sitting here looking out my window and they went straight to Office Max, [inaudible] the store and every other store around here that I go to."
"I have nowhere to go now. I have no way to get there now because the buses aren't running," Wilford said through tears. "These people did this for no reason. It's not going to bring George back here. George is in a better place than we are. And last night – I'm going to be honest – I wish I was where George was because this is ridiculous. These people are tearing up our livelihoods."
"This is the only place I could go to shop and now I don't have anywhere to go," she said. "I don't have anyway to get there."
The woman said that when the National Guard showed up the rioters attempted to flock into the high-rise apartment building she lives in.
"They couldn't get in because there was security there and I'm glad they were there," she said taking a deep breath. "Because there's no telling if they would have gotten in that building where they would have headed to stay safe and mess with us inside the building because we're handicapped."
Stephanie made it clear she didn't want people to feel sorry for her because she's handicap, but there are "certain things" she can't do.
"For them to do what they did was just stupid. It was ignorant," she explained. "Now what are you going to do? Where you going to shop at? Half the people probably don't live in Minnesota. They don't care."
People like Stephanie are going to suffer at the hands of people who are burning down businesses and killing people's livelihoods. We're in the middle of a pandemic and people are already struggling to make ends meet. These riots do nothing but compound the toll the coronavirus has taken on people.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member