Businesses in uptown Minneapolis were looted and had their windows smashed during riots on May 27, 2020. (Emma Yanko/Submitted)

By CKOM News Staff

‘Like being in a movie’: Sask. woman in Minneapolis describes post-riot destruction

May 28, 2020 | 12:12 PM

As Emma Yanko drove just blocks from her home in Minneapolis, all she and her friend could see for almost two miles was shattered glass, stores that had been broken into, and fire.

“It’s insane,” she told 650 CKOM on Thursday morning.

The destruction was left in the aftermath of a riot sparked by protests over the death of George Floyd.

The African-American man died Tuesday after being arrested over a counterfeit bill, during which he was pinned to the ground by a cop kneeling on the back of his neck for more than seven minutes. As the cop continued to kneel, Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe before going limp and unresponsive.

Four police officers involved in the arrest were fired, and the FBI is investigating the death.

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Yanko, who moved from Saskatchewan to Minnesota for school five years ago, said she and her friend didn’t hear any of the protests or rioting while they were out for a walk on Wednesday night. Instead, they found out what was going on when they walked into a local convenience store.

The man who worked there knew them, and told them to get home.

“He was frantic. He said there was looting going on, he was very scared they were going to come and loot the convenience store,” Yanko said.

“So we just quickly walked home and went on the news and saw it was a huge deal.”

On Thursday morning Yanko and her friend went for a drive, and saw the totality of the destruction.

“I’d say about 90 per cent of the businesses, the windows are completely blown out,” she said, noting it still looked like people were running into the damaged stores to loot more items.

“The worst part is seeing the business owners coming out and boarding up their broken windows.”

Yanko added she never expected to see anything like this in Minneapolis.

“It’s like being in a movie,” she said. “Of course we’ve seen photos from Chicago and New York of instances like this, but it’s insane.”

—With files from 650 CKOM’s Sheena Roszell