Leesa Kelly, founder of Memorialize the Movement, said she came to the courthouse to urge the city, the Minneapolis Police Department and Chauvin to reflect on the damage done to the community. "We’re going to be out here until they remember, until we see justice," Kelly said. "It was heartbreaking, it was emotionally exhausting and draining. As a Black woman I felt broken."
Kelly’s organization has collected more than 750 plywood art murals created during the protests, many of which they displayed in front of the courthouse Monday. Kelly, operations manager at the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum, said the murals are a "symbol of our collective grief."
Athena Papagiannopoulos remembers feeling "shattered" when officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted after the fatal shooting of Philando Castile in 2016. She has been organizing protests since then, but said she feels like nothing has changed in Minneapolis. Papagiannopoulos said her organization is working with the Floyd family to plan more actions as the trial continues.
"I’m so angry, I’m so sad, it’s just so overwhelming," said Papagiannopoulos, founder of Visual Black Justice. "The city will just burn again just like last summer if something isn’t done."
The George Floyd Global Memorial will hold a gathering with faith leaders at George Floyd Square at 8 a.m. CST, ending in a candlelight vigil at 6 p.m., some of which will be livestreamed, according to the group's website. The square is at the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue where Floyd died.
On Saturday, dozens of people gathered in front of the Minnesota governor’s mansion in St. Paul to demand accountability for police officers. Many of the roughly 150 people who demonstrated were family members of others who died during police encounters. Similar protests were being organized in cities around the country in advance of the trial of Derek Chauvin.
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