2021-05-01]]> 2020-12-20]]>
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2020-06-06]]>

Breonna Taylor (June 5, 1993 - March 13, 2020) was an EMT and aspiring nurse. The 26-year-old Black American woman from Louisville, Kentucky who was fatally shot in her apartment on March 13, 2020, by plainclothes Louisville Metro Police Officers. A grand jury did not indict the officers for her death.

Tamir Rice (June 15, 2002 - November 22, 2014) was a 12-year-old Black American boy from Cleveland, Ohio. On November 22, 2014, the child was playing with a replica toy gun at the Cudell Recreation Center in Cleveland when a caller reported his behavior to police dispatch. Upon their arrival, Cleveland Police Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback failed to deescalate the situation and panicked. Loehmann fired two shots almost immediately, one striking Rice in the torso. The child died from his injuries the following day, November 23, 2014. A grand jury declined to indict the officers for Rice’s murder, but a lawsuit brought against the city of Cleveland by Rice's family was settled for $6 million.

Philando Castile (July 16, 1983 - July 6, 2016) was a 32-year-old Black American man who was driving with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter on the night of July 6, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. At 9:00 p.m., Castile was pulled over by St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez, and advised the officer that there was a gun in the car that Castile was licensed to carry. The situation rapidly escalated, with Yanez panicking and firing seven close-range shots at Castile, hitting him five times. Reynolds posted a livestream video to Facebook immediately after the shooting, in which her young child attempts to comfort her in the background. Castile died of his wounds at 9:37 p.m. at Hennepin County Medical Center.

George Perry Floyd (October 14, 1973 - May 25, 2020) was a 46-year-old Black American man who was murdered by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin after Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes in the Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020. Floyd’s murder sparked an international movement for Black Lives Matter, the largest civil rights movement of the century. On March 12, 2021, the city of Minneapolis agreed to pay $27 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Floyd's family. On June 25, 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for his crimes.]]>
2020-06-07]]> posted on Instagram by @minneapolismurals]]>

Additional photos in this entry were produced on June 30th and appear to show the work being removed. An older piece that had been covered was then revealed.

According to City Pages article, this short-lived mural was perceived to be insensitive and was therefore controversial. It was removed on June 30: http://www.citypages.com/arts/most-hated-kmart-in-america-gets-most-hated-mural-in-town/571691981

A statement from the group that organized the work is here: https://sourcemn.org/lake-street-prayer-wall-statement/]]>
2020-06-26]]>