Tensions on streets slowly ebb in wake of George Floyd’s death

Minnesota leaders hoped cautiously Monday for continued de-escalation of tensions in the aftermath of George Floyd’s deadly encounter with Minneapolis police, even as President Donald Trump threatened to mobilize the military to tamp down unrest elsewhere in the country.

Gov. Tim Walz talked of pulling back a portion of more than 7,000 National Guard members that had been called in to help quell violence in the metro area. Hours were reduced on a Twin Cities curfew first issued days earlier, and officials planned to leave freeways open, unlike previous nights.

The state was in “a much more stable position,” National Guard Maj. Gen. Jon Jensen said Monday, though he emphasized that the Guard’s presence in the Twin Cities would look the same as it had over the weekend. Other units, which had been waiting at armories to step in if needed, could return home if leaders deemed it OK, he said. Continue reading.