At least seven officers from the Minneapolis police department have resigned since riots erupted in the wake of George Floyd’s murder on May 25. Floyd was killed by officers from the MPD while attempting to take him into custody for passing off counterfeit bills at a local restaurant.
More than half a dozen other officers are in the process of resigning according to the department.
The dissatisfaction stems from a decision by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, ordering officers to abandon the Third Precinct police station during one of the early nights of rioting. That precinct building was subsequently burned to the ground.
The officers saw that as surrender if not outright solidarity with rioters.
One officer, citing the language he was hearing from Democratic politicians in Minnesota to disband police departments altogether have crushed morale on the force. It is impossible to serve when “everybody hates the police,” he said.
“Why should I stay?” said Mylan Masson, a retired Minneapolis police officer and use-of-force expert, of what officers are thinking. “They don’t feel appreciated. Everybody hates the police right now. I mean everybody.”