Minneapolis still broken, divided and suffering 5 years after George Floyd death: ‘Black Lives Matter was never here’
(Excerpts from the original published by the NY Post)
By Dana Kennedy. Published May 16, 2025, 12:43 p.m. ET
MINNEAPOLIS — Five years after the death of George Floyd, and the racial rioting that caused almost $500 million in damages, the wounds have not healed.
During a week in the Twin Cities, The Post observed high tensions in the middle of the George Floyd Square memorial between an angry local black businessman and Floyd’s aunt, Angela Harrelson, which set the tone for the rest of the visit.
In the ensuing years, other narratives about what happened on May 25, 2020, have sprung up, led in part by journalist Liz Collin’s scathing, controversial 2023 documentary, “The Fall of Minneapolis.”
The documentary claimed Chauvin was railroaded by ultra-liberal Minneapolis politicians and activists and his trial was marked by manipulated evidence and perjury.
Collin, who had been a reporter and anchor at the respected station WCCO-TV in Minneapolis for 12 years, claims she was demoted because she was married to the then-head of the police union and that she had been pushing back against the established Floyd death narrative.
Veteran WCCO-TV journalist Liz Collin was demoted and later left the station in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Collin has produced a documentary, “The Fall of Minneapolis,” and a book detailing what she claims are the lies and corruption behind the official narrative around Floyd’s death. Liz Collin / Facebook
Collin, who is married to the former head of the police union in Minneapolis. laid out a detailed argument as to how the George Floyd case was manipulated by leftists in her 2022 book, “They’re Lying: The Media, The Left and The Death of George Floyd.”
“More than anything, I’ve tried to get the truth out about this,” Collin, who also authored the 2022 book “They’re Lying: The Media, The Left and The Death of George Floyd,” told The Post.
“This isn’t about right or wrong, it’s about the truth. There was so little critical thinking in the days and weeks after Floyd’s death.”
Like a number of other people interviewed in Minneapolis, Collin cited police bodycam video showing Floyd’s arrest, where he resisted officers while repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe” as he was still standing, well before he was pinned to the ground. These videos were not released to the public until nearly three months after his death.
Collin points out that Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker first concluded Floyd’s death was from “cardiopulmonary arrest” (the heart suddenly stopping) and his body bore no signs of “traumatic asphyxia or strangulation” or other life-threatening injuries to his neck and throat.
Later, toxicology tests confirmed Floyd had high levels of fentanyl and methamphetamines in his system.