Minneapolis - St. Paul Metro

O'Hara, Royce White, Liz Collin Badmouth Mpls in Sensationalist NY Post Story

We regret to inform you that the New York Post has written about the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's death, in the thoughtful and comprehensive manner that once led Chuck D to refer to the paper as "America's oldest continuously published daily piece of bullshit."

The Post's Dana Kennedy says she spent a week here (that's a whole seven days), long enough to gather scattered anecdotes from cherrypicked sources and depict Minneapolis as a failed city that is, according to her report, "still burning." (Fact check: It's not—look outside.) An argument between "an angry local black businessman" and George Floyd’s aunt Angela Harrelson is put forward as somehow emblematic of the city as a whole.

MPD Chief Brian O'Hara takes time out from his busy schedule of pretending his budget has been cut to shit talk the city to Kennedy, comparing us negatively to Newark, New Jersey. “Here it’s very, very ideological and a lot of times it’s like reality and facts can’t get through the filter," O'Hara says of the people who pay his salary. "It’s a very detached, bourgeois liberal mentality… It’s bizarre.”

Meanwhile, failed U.S. Senate candidate/moon landing skeptic Royce White is given an opportunity to opine that protesters were bused in and "deliberately positioned here." Reports White, the type of guy who posts horseshit like this: “They came from these liberal colleges that had some connection either with the nonprofits, the NGOs or with some corporate entity.” ("Not everyone agrees with that theory," Kennedy helpfully adds; here's some other White theorizing.)

And, of course, the Post turns to Alpha News host/attempted author Liz Collin to "[push] back against the established Floyd death narrative" and claim that Derek Chauvin, the man the world saw kneel on George Floyd's neck for nine minutes, did not have a fair trial. We're not saying a Trump pardon for Chauvin is imminent, but this is the just the sort of abysmal coverage that would be cited to back it up.

Checking In With George Floyd's Loved Ones, Five Years Later

Moving right along from the Post! Here's an essential story published Friday by a reputable outlet, the Houston Chronicle, about the continued struggle for police accountability following the police killing that sent shockwaves around the globe.

In "5 years after his murder, George Floyd's loved ones reckon with a movement trying to erase him," HC reporter Sarah Smith compares the tenor of 2020, when companies, governments, and police agencies vowed immediate change, with what we have today: unfulfilled promises, a right-wing assault on anything under the DEI umbrella, and attempts to vilify Floyd and pardon his murderer. "The status quo fought back," she writes.

“When the enemies of equality feel like things are getting too equal,” adds civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented members of the Floyd family, "there’s always an extreme reaction.”

Smith talks with various folks who knew and loved George Floyd: his Minneapolis girlfriend-turned-activist, Courteney Ross; his beloved cousin from Houston, Shareeduh McGee; and his good friend who's also from Houston, Tiffany Cofield. The story takes a dramatic turn when we learn Cofield was recently fired from her job and, when she objected, the police were called. After the cops arrived, they handcuffed Cofield and slammed her to the floor, she says. (Officers claim "she herself forced herself to the ground" in protest.) Cofield found herself in a terrifyingly similar position to her old friend.

"They're gonna kill me!" she cried before being uncuffed. "They're gonna kill me like they killed George Floyd! Ow! They're hurting me! You're hurting me!"

Concludes the Houston Chronicle: "[Cofield] would like the anniversary of the murder to wake people up."

'End of an Era': U Garden Will Close Later This Month

After more than 30 years in Minneapolis, family-run Chinese restaurant U Garden will close May 31. Co-owner Huy Ung tells Sahan Journal's Alfonzo Galvan that his phone hasn’t stopped ringing since they posted an announcement on Tuesday: “They message and call me directly asking why,” he says. A goshdarn U of M institution, the University Avenue restaurant has been a longtime go-to for U students and workers, and as an event center it has hosted hundreds of wedding dinners and other celebrations.

Ung explains that he's burnt out and wants to spend more time with his family—tough to argue with that! In the farewell he posted to social media earlier this week, he wrote that the restaurant was closing its doors "but not our hearts," and thanked customers for their support over the last 32 years. And it sounds like it isn't being sold to developers, either; Ung tells Sahan they're selling to folks who plan to open a Korean barbecue and hot pot restaurant.

In other Chinese institution news: Rainbow Chinese on Eat Street just announced it'll celebrate its 38th anniversary on June 10. You can find all the details here.

Who’s Naming Their Kid Maverick?

A lot of people! According to Social Security card applications, Maverick was the 22nd most popular name in Minnesota in 2024, with 136 boys christened with the moniker. Though Merriam-Webster defines "maverick" as an unbranded, motherless calf, it’s more likely that people were naming their kid after Tom Cruise’s Top Gun nickname… or perhaps after the massively popular Ford compact pickup truck?

The top names for Minnesota boys include Theodore (No. 3), Henry (No. 2), and Liam (No. 1). (Shout out to Jessica's dad, Ted!) Charlotte (No. 1), Evelyn (No. 2), and Olivia (No. 3) were the most popular names for girls. As for quirkier female names, we gained quite a few Athenas (No. 52), Paisleys (No. 64), and Novas (No. 67) last year. Click this Axios report to see some nice data visualization of our state's most popular baby names, including those that are most unique to Minnesota.