Several businesses along Nicollet Mall were boarding up their storefronts Monday in anticipation of possible looting and rioting following Tuesday’s election.
Some of the stores have been boarded up since August when false rumors of an officer-involved shooting triggered a second wave of riots. But others were installing fresh plywood, with workers wheeling carts of protective boards up and down the mall.
Similar precautions were being taken in Uptown, though to a lesser extent. The John Fluevog shoe store inside the Uptown Theatre, for instance, placed boards over its windows Monday morning.
More than 30 local left-wing activist and labor groups are hosting a “protest for a people’s mandate” in Minneapolis the day after the election, regardless of the outcome.
“We want Trump out. But even if that happens, we cannot stop the fight. Our response on November 4 can set the tone for struggle for the next four years,” states an event description.
The protest is part of a nationwide effort orchestrated by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which put out a call for a national day of protests.
“Win or lose in the elections we are calling for mass protests the day after the election to highlight the fact that Trump’s scorched earth policies have left the political landscape almost as barren and bleak as COVID-19 and the police-state style racist repression used against tens of thousands of protesters, leaving thousands injured and jailed and some dead,” said the group, noting that a Joe Biden win would “create greater organizing space.”
A leaked document allegedly created by TakeAction Minnesota and circulated among its member organizations warns of “mass mobilization” and “unrest” in Minneapolis if President Donald Trump is reelected, or if the results of the election are contested, Alpha News reported.
Stores in San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Boston, Denver, Indianapolis and Beverly Hills are boarding up their windows as well, according to the New York Post. Police departments across the country, including in Minneapolis, are also preparing for possible violence.
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Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
