2020–2022 Minneapolis–Saint Paul racial unrest facts for kids

Quick facts for kids 2020–2023 Minneapolis–Saint Paul racial unrest
Part of 2020–2023 United States racial unrest
Protesters march in downtown Minneapolis on May 28, 2020, three days after the murder of George Floyd.
Date	May 26, 2020 – May 2, 2023 (2 years, 11 months, 1 week and 5 days)
Location	Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Caused by	Reaction to the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department Reaction to other law enforcement killings Institutional racism against African Americans Economic, racial and social inequality
Goals	Justice for George Floyd and others killed as a result of police brutality End to police brutality Address historic racial injustice
Methods	Protests, demonstrations, civil disobedience, civil resistance, riots

In the early 2020s, the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in U.S. state of Minnesota experienced a wave of civil unrest, comprising peaceful demonstrations and riots, against systemic racism towards black Americans, notably in the form of police violence. A number of events occurred beginning soon after the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020. National Public Radio characterized the events as cultural reckoning on topics of racial injustice.

Many specific protests over Floyd's murder were described as peaceful events, however, Minneapolis–Saint Paul experienced widespread rioting, looting, and property destruction over a three-night period in late May 2020 that resulted in $500 million in property damage—the second-most destructive period of local unrest in United States history, after the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Local protests sparked a global protest movement about police brutality and racial justice, and had an effect on state and local policies, local economic conditions, and the well-being of residents.

Unrest over Floyd's murder continued as protesters sought justice for Floyd and made broader calls to address structural racism in Minnesota and residents reacted to other incidents, with many protest events part of the larger Black Lives Matter movement. While some demonstrations were violent and generated controversy, protesters from varying backgrounds came rallied against what they perceived as the normalization of the killings of innocent black lives.