MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Of all the people who have reason to reflect on the murder of George Floyd and the events that followed, Medaria Arradondo is surely among them. He was in his third year serving as police chief in Minneapolis and the first Black chief as well when one of his officers killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. The killing set off a wave of protests all over the country in many parts of the world, some of which caused hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage in the Twin Cities alone. He's just published a book titled "Chief Rondo," as he's still known, with his take on the events of five years ago.
(SOUNDBITE OF RAIN)
MARTIN: So on a cold, rainy morning this week, we rode over to the neighborhood near what was Minneapolis' third police precinct, and we asked him to come along.
MEDARIA ARRADONDO: We are right now in south Minneapolis. We are on Lake Street. And this has always been, historically, dating back a hundred years, Lake Street has really been our thriving commercial quarter. So everything from our Latino small businesses, East African small businesses, Southeast Asian small businesses. Even as a child growing up in south Minneapolis, you know, Lake Street was the place that we went to shop and socialize.
MARTIN: So where was this in the events of May of 2020?
ARRADONDO: It factored in significantly, Michel, because where we're at right now, we are right in front of the Hennepin County Library, but a block just to the west of us is the third precinct. This was the precinct that the four officers that were involved in Mr. Floyd's murder, that's where they were based out of...
MARTIN: OK.
ARRADONDO: ...Out of the third precinct.
MARTIN: So let's go over there. Seat belts.
ARRADONDO: Yes. And you'll just take a left.
MARTIN: You know, I still see some boarded up buildings. And I still see some evidence of burning. Is that from 2020, from May of 2020?
ARRADONDO: Yeah, that is from 2020. And when you see these opened, fenced-in lots with either grass or asphalt, that's where buildings used to stand, but they were all destroyed with the fires. The third precinct is obviously right to the left at the light right there. That is the...
MARTIN: That's where the third precinct was?
ARRADONDO: That is the third precent here. This is the site where thousands of people amassed during that week, commencing May 25, 2020.
MARTIN: There was a pivotal moment...
ARRADONDO: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...In the book and in your life...
ARRADONDO: Yes.
MARTIN: ...That took place here. And this is where you made the decision - where you basically told the mayor that you had made the decision to withdraw.
ARRADONDO: Yes.
MARTIN: Can you take us back to that and tell us what went into that decision?
ARRADONDO: Yes. So by Wednesday, for sure, this place - the third precinct - became the focal point for both peaceful demonstrations and people who were, quite frankly, they were angry. And I knew that we were facing something that we had never faced before. The crowds are just becoming massive, in the thousands. Along Lake Street here, the Target to the right, that was looted, and employees were barricading themselves in there. The AutoZone, which has been rebuilt, that went up in flames. There was a Minnehaha Liquors store right across from the front of the precinct. That was looted and folks were standing on top of the building there throwing Molotov cocktails. And we had a small contingency of officers inside, and I'm hearing their radio - intermittent radio transmissions, Michel. And over the radio, they're breaching, they're breaching - they're coming in. When you're in a crisis...
MARTIN: You were just in a squad car?
ARRADONDO: I was in my unmarked SUV watching, yeah.
MARTIN: So the point came when you had to call the mayor and say, I can't.
ARRADONDO: I can no longer - as your chief, I can no longer keep our city safe. And that wasn't the only place where things were occurring. It's happening all over the city. And so I made the call to the mayor, and I said, I can no longer, as your chief, keep this city safe. We need the National Guard in here ASAP, and if you could reach back out to Governor Walz to get them to deploy.
MARTIN: I think some people look back on this now and think the police shouldn't have withdrawn, that they allowed sort of chaos to rein. What are they missing, from your perspective?
ARRADONDO: Well, the first thing I will tell you is that there is a bronze plaque in the office lobby in downtown City Hall in the chief's office. And that bronze plaque has about 48 names on that plaque, and those are all officers that have been killed in the line of duty since the inception of this department. I was fortunate, Michel, that I did not have to ever add a name to that. And I will tell you, if those officers would've been directed to hold that precinct at all costs, there would've been funerals. There would've been officers' funerals, and there would've been civilian funerals.
MARTIN: So from your perspective, yes, property was lost, but lives were saved.
ARRADONDO: Absolutely.
MARTIN: And that's your North Star.
ARRADONDO: That's my North Star. And that became my No. 1 goal. There was no playbook, Michel, for this in the country. When you're leading in crisis and you have to literally make life-or-death decisions, I will always lean towards life.
MARTIN: How do you feel about that moment now, five years later?
ARRADONDO: Five years later, to get those officers out of this building?
MARTIN: Yeah.
ARRADONDO: Yeah, it was the right decision.
MARTIN: And how do you feel about what transpired? Because now you see - we still see there are vacant lots. We see a lot of businesses that were destroyed that never came back.
ARRADONDO: Yeah.
MARTIN: People's livelihoods were destroyed, a lot of people's personal effects. How do you feel about it now?
ARRADONDO: So one, when I look back on it, I don't believe all of that pain and anger was just about Mr. Floyd's murder. I believe it was generations of people who had either dealt with trauma, who had experienced bad things by Minneapolis police or policing in general in our country. And so I think it ignited that flame. And it's going to take a while for this city to get back, but the worst thing we can do is dismiss this as some sort of anomaly. That is the worst thing we can do, and so I hope we learn from this.
MARTIN: Your book is very interesting. You end it in a really interesting way. You end it with a letter...
ARRADONDO: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...To George Floyd's daughter.
ARRADONDO: Yeah.
MARTIN: I wanted to ask about that.
ARRADONDO: Yeah.
MARTIN: Why did you end it this way?
ARRADONDO: I ended the story because I don't think that I can tell that story without acknowledging Gianna. Although I've never had an opportunity, Michel, to meet her to tell her I'm sorry, I needed to let her know that while I wasn't there at the scene when her dad was taken from her, I heard him. And I want her to know that there is hope in the world.
MARTIN: Do you want to read a little bit of it for me?
ARRADONDO: Sure. (Reading) Gianna, I believe adults everywhere have an obligation to all our children to never remain silent when we witness harm against humanity. To remain silent means we are complicit, so we must act. Gianna, I promise you that I will do all I can during the time I'm given to make this world a better place for you. With love and a promise, Chief Rondo.
MARTIN: Chief, thanks for talking to us.
ARRADONDO: Thank you so very much.
MARTIN: It's very great to meet you.
That was the former chief of the Minneapolis police, Medaria Arradondo. His new book is titled "Chief Rondo: Securing Justice For The Murder Of George Floyd."
(SOUNDBITE OF NATHAN GASS' "RAIN IN JUNE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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