City crews on Thursday removed a large portion of the sprawling memorial at the south Minneapolis intersection where George Floyd was killed by police more than a year ago.

Municipal workers began the process about 4:30 a.m. at 38th and Chicago — dubbed George Floyd Square — with community representatives involved in coordinating the removal of flowers, artwork and variously sized barriers and shacks, said city spokeswoman Sarah McKenzie.

While the task was complete in less than four hours, protesters who have occupied the intersection weren't ready to yield. They set up a makeshift curb-to-curb barrier was stitched together a block to the north with a commercial dumpster as its anchor. At 38th and Chicago, a small group of protesters gathered and chanted "no justice, no peace." Vehicle traffic had yet to pass through the intersection as of 8:30 a.m.

McKenzie said that playing a key role in the transition was Agape, a peacekeeping force whose staff includes ex-gang members from the neighborhood, is on contract with the city to keep watch over the area.

What will stay put at George Floyd Square, she said, is the fist sculpture in the middle of the intersection that had been a major through-point for city buses and other traffic until the memorial swelled soon after Floyd's death on May 25, 2020.

"The fist sculpture is going to remain in the roundabout," she said, while the informal garden around it was being moved.

Another city official said that replacing the concrete barriers would be "bumpouts" around the fist sculpture, just feet from where Floyd was killed and where Imez Wright was fatally shot at the intersection in March.

As city workers and heavy machinery moved around the intersection, tension was high. Community members who had tended to the site were experiencing a mixture of shock, disbelief and anger. At least two news media photographers ran into resistance — one with a threat of physical harm — as they tried to document the moment.

Leon Lyons, of the security company Truth2Enlightenment, said he was disappointed by the city's actions.

"That could have been fine," Lyons said. "All they had to do was leave this memorial alone and leave the events that were playing here while we figure it out. But none of this is gonna be up by the end of the night, anything that the city brings in here will not stay by the end of the night, I guarantee you."

City leaders have come under increasing pressure to reopen the intersection, which has been closed to traffic for more than a year. What's now called George Floyd Square has become a memorial and protest site, but many neighbors and business owners say they feel besieged by criminals and gunfire.

Mayor Jacob Frey has said he favors a "phased reopening" of the square that would include a Floyd memorial. Frey and the two City Council members whose wards meet at the intersection, Andrea Jenkins and Alondra Cano, issued a statement Thursday saying, "We are collectively committed to establishing a permanent memorial at the intersection, preserving the artwork, and making the area an enduring space for racial healing."

"The City's three guiding principles for the reconnection of 38th and Chicago have been community safety, racial healing and economic stability and development for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and other communities of color," the statement said.

"Alongside City leadership, we have met on a regular basis with community members to discuss both the short-term path toward reconnecting this area and the long-term plan for the neighborhood with sustained investments to help restore and heal the community."

Activists have long presented to the city a list of 24 demands in return for yielding back the intersection where yard signs read "No Justice, No street." The list includes support for Agape's responsibilities at 38th and Chicago.

But the divisions over how to move forward were evident Thursday morning. One of the leaders of the protesters occupying the square, Jeanelle Austin, complained to Marquis Bowie, with Agape, that the city hadn't delivered on those demands.

"We've been here since the day it happened," Bowie responded. "You guys didn't go to the table to talk. They (the city) talked to us about it!"

Agape and city leaders will hold separate news media briefings later Thursday to explain how the decision was made to clear the intersection and what the future holds for it.

Police spokesman John Elder said officers are not involved in clearing the intersection, and Agape is "managing conflict and de-escalating when necessary." Teddy Tschann, Gov. Tim Walz's spokesman, said the state was not involved in the activities at George Floyd Square this morning.

Metro Transit buses had a regular and vital presence at 38th and Chicago until Floyd's death. The blocking of the intersection erased a stop there for D Line rapid transit connecting Brooklyn Center and Bloomington, which remains under construction.

"We're just not going to predict when we are going to resume service" in the area, agency spokeswoman Laura Baenen said.

George Floyd Square became the primary gathering place for grief and remembrance almost immediately after the 46-year-old man's death under ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's knee.

Family, civic leaders, prominent civil rights activists and everyday citizens visited the location at all hours of the day and night, either to better understand the setting where Floyd died or to honor the Black man whose restraint by a white officer ignited at-times violent civil unrest that spanned from the Twin Cities to other major metro areas around the country.

Chauvin was soon fired after Floyd's death, put on trial and convicted in April of second- and third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25. Three other fired officers, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, have been charged with aiding and abetting counts.

https://www.startribune.com/city-workers-clear-george-floyd-square-at-38th-and-chicago-in-south-minneapolis/600064121/