Witness to the fall

A review of Alpha News’ ‘The Fall of Minneapolis.’

Viewers familiar with the current appearance of George Floyd Square at 38th and Chicago Ave. may be interested in seeing how the corner looked before its transformation into the “autonomous zone” of the self-proclaimed “Free State of George Floyd.” Almost forgotten nearly four years later is the functioning gas station across the street from the former Cup Foods.

The video opens with the warning “viewer discretion is advised.” The footage shown isn’t particularly violent or graphic in depicting the death of George Floyd and the subsequent riots. What the discerning viewer needs to be prepared for is to have their faith shaken in the basic fairness of the American justice system, if not America itself.

“The Fall of Minneapolis” is a crowd-funded production of our friends at Alpha News, and is available for free viewing on Alpha’s website, Alphanews.org, and at the organization’s Twitter (X) account, @AlphaNewsMN. It was released on November 16, 2023.

I highly recommend its viewing. The facts presented in this 97-minute documentary are undisputed but, taken together, present a narrative 180 degrees opposite of the accepted story of George Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020, and its aftermath.

Despite millions of views, the video has received almost no attention from local Minnesota media.

The video was produced by Alpha News’ reporter Liz Collin, formerly with WCCO-TV news. Collin herself is married to retired Minneapolis police lieutenant and union leader Bob Kroll.

The documentary is based on Collin’s book They’re Lying: The Media, the Left and the Death of George Floyd published by Paper Birch Publishing in October 2022.

Collin conducts the interviews in the piece, most of which include individuals who were working as veteran Minneapolis police officers in May 2020, many of whom are now retired (early) from the force. She conducts the first-ever media interviews with Derek Chauvin and another police officer, both of whom were among the four Minneapolis police officers convicted in Floyd’s death. She also interviews family members of the convicted officers.

Segments in the video include the May 2020 arrest of Floyd, the abandonment by the city of the 3rd Precinct police headquarters, the burning of Minneapolis in the riots, Floyd’s original autopsy, Chauvin’s trial, and the aftermath of those events.

The facts presented, including police bodycam footage and documents from Floyd’s autopsy, were all known at the time of the incidents shown in the video, but received little media attention and were, in many instances, excluded from the trials of Chauvin and the other officers.

Police bodycam footage of Floyd’s arrest takes up nearly all of the first 17 minutes of the video, with the accompanying audio from the scene. The audience is invited to draw its own conclusions from viewing the raw footage.

The rest of the feature includes Collin’s interviews, and we hear from the prominent politicians involved: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Atty. Gen. Keith Ellison, Gov. Tim Walz, and others, all in their own words taken from various press conferences, public appearances, and media interviews.

The principal political players — Frey, Ellison, Walz, and members of the Minneapolis city council — have all been re-elected since the events of May and June 2020, despite their gross dereliction of duty. The judge in the state trial is still on the bench hearing cases.

We see excerpts from Chauvin’s state trial, including what are suggested to be instances of perjury committed by key prosecution witnesses.

The most significant event to occur since the video’s release was the Nov. 24, 2023 stabbing of Chauvin in a federal prison in Tucson, Ariz. Chauvin’s assailant, who stabbed him 22 times, is reported to be an FBI informant and member of a Mexican gang. Chauvin continues to serve his prison sentence where he was attacked.

Back in Minneapolis, scars from the fires and the ruins of abandoned buildings could still be seen. The burned-out ruin of the 3rd Precinct police building sits abandoned on Lake Street surrounded by a tall fence, but otherwise untouched since the riots. “The Fall of Minneapolis” reminds us why.