The Minnesota Daily emailed questions to Dr. Mark R. Schleiss, faculty member of the University’s Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, who answered some of your questions and concerns about getting vaccinated.

Do you have a certain recommendation for which vaccine to get? How should Americans decide, if they have a choice, on which one is best for them?

My advice is to get the vaccine that you can get fastest! In terms of protection, I do not believe there are meaningful or practical differences in their ability to protect against COVID disease. We will see a short pause for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the days ahead, but I fully expect this vaccine to become available again very soon … The saddest, most poignant stories I read in the news are the accounts of people who acquired, and sometimes died of, COVID while they were hesitating in making a decision about vaccination.

What are the main reasons for halting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine distribution? Why might the U.S. decide to take this measure and what do you think would make them approve it again?

It is an appropriate and reasonable action to take. Now, having said that, it is urgently important to look at the data carefully and make sure we understand what is going on. A very small number of women (six to date) have developed blood clots after the [Johnson & Johnson] vaccine. To put it in perspective, this is out of over six million doses administered, so it is literally a one-in-a-million risk.

It is likely that we will see a recommendation to resume immunization, but with some cautionary information provided about the blood clot risk, in particular, information about how to manage these blood clots should they be identified by clinicians.

How long until we know the true long-term effects of the vaccine? So far, what are major concerns?

There have been millions of doses of vaccines administered globally for many months, and so far, there are no discernable long-term adverse side effects.

Now, with respect to short-term side effects, we need to continue to be mindful of these and counsel patients appropriately. Headache, low-grade fever, arm soreness and, less commonly, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, and nausea can occur.

What is the difference between a vaccine’s efficacy rate and its effectiveness?

What it means for a vaccine to have “efficacy” is that the vaccine demonstrates a defined percentage of reduction of disease in a vaccinated group of people compared to an unvaccinated group.

The important point here is that a higher “efficacy number” does not mean that it is a “better vaccine.” This is a common misperception.

What it means for a vaccine to be “effective” is gauged by what epidemiologists refer to as “observational studies” monitoring disease in a community. Unlike an efficacy trial, it is a “real world” observation because people in their everyday lives are not randomly assigned to a treatment versus a placebo group. Monitoring the community for infection and disease is a big part of this. If a vaccine is effective, the cases are more likely to be the unvaccinated individuals.

Vaccines do not always need to have an exceptionally high effectiveness to save lives. With respect to the flu question, in a typical year the influenza vaccine is 40-60% effective but we know it saves thousands of lives every year.

One of the greatest frustrations physicians, epidemiologists and scientists have is when the general public looks at an effectiveness number of 40-60% and concludes that the annual flu vaccine is not worth getting. That decision — to refuse the annual influenza vaccine — typically results in lost lives, which is unfortunate.

What do you have to say for Americans that are still skeptical about getting vaccinated?

I think that adults certainly have the right to refuse vaccines. I cannot imagine a nation where they would be forced to be immunized. But, vaccine refusers must accept as a fundamental component of their vaccine refusal that this “right” does not extend to a right to put others at risk.

There are rumors of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine having effects on women’s fertility, can you explain the science behind the creation of this vaccine in comparison to Pfizer and Moderna?

There is no plausibility to this. It is best characterized as a prevarication [a lie], put forth in many cases not even by people but by weaponized communications arising on social media sites. We should not have to even say that these vaccines do not cause infertility — it is preposterous.

What is the likelihood of “vaccine travel passports” going to be once most Americans are vaccinated? Will these be required for travel?

In my professional opinion, I do not think we will see “travel passports” issued or enforced. I think it is just a logistical nightmare and will be hard to enforce … I think health care workers should have to provide proof of vaccination before seeing patients in the workplace … I think students will have to provide proof of vaccination before being allowed to go to school, of course following age-specific guidelines (college students now, earlier grade levels in the future).

What does it mean for a virus to mutate? How have we seen mutations affect COVID-19? How do we adapt vaccines to counter these variants?

I prefer the word “evolve” over “mutate.” “Mutate” has pejorative, nefarious connotations. … It is an RNA virus so it changes all the time! It is just a part of its nature. And yes, we see variants. I prefer to call them variants, not mutants.

What does it mean for a community to have herd immunity? How long do you think it will be before we reach it? What does that mean for those that are vaccinated and for those that are not?

I am not sure we will ever see herd immunity to COVID because it changes so rapidly. We do not see herd immunity to influenza, after all. I think we will need annual boosters for many years as the virus changes. Politicians who argue that we already have herd immunity do us a real disservice.

For those who have the vaccine, it means that they are doing what they can to protect their lives and the lives of their families, loved ones and communities. For those without the vaccine, it means that they are putting themselves and others at risk.

This interview has been edited for length, grammar and clarity.

Nearly 100 students gathered in front of Northrop Auditorium Thursday to celebrate Earth Day and bring attention to environmental racism in Minnesota and the Line 3 pipeline controversy.

UMN Students for Climate Justice and the Disabled Student Cultural Center, along with four other student groups, marched from Northrop to University Avenue Southeast and back. Speakers talked about their experiences with law enforcement during protests over the police killing of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center and their objection to the Line 3 pipeline.

Line 3 is a crude oil pipeline that the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has approved to run across northern Minnesota. Since its proposal, many University community members have strongly opposed it.

Environmentalists and Indigenous communities have voiced concerns about the possibility of oil spills that would cause adverse health effects for tribal reservations above or near the pipeline.

The company building the pipeline, Enbridge, was responsible for one million gallons of oil spilled into the Kalamazoo River in 2010, making it the largest inland oil spill in the country.

Students marched and chanted, “We can’t drink oil!”

Emma Hjelle, a second-year student and organizer for UMN Students for Climate Justice, said that people with disabilities and people of color are typically left out of Earth Day events due to ignorance surrounding the intersection of environmentalism, race and class.

“For poor and underserved communities, it isn’t an option to consume these more expensive, more sustainable products,” she said. “And that’s not actually going to stop climate change as we know it.”

Jane Newby, a first-year student who spoke to the crowd, said environmental racism has played a key role in further oppressing communities of color.

Newby said industrial plants are often located in urban areas with high populations of people of color, creating negative health impacts and disparities between neighborhoods.

Black Minnesotans are six times more likely to test positive for asthma than white Minnesotans, according to Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.

Maddie Miller, a third-year student studying political science, geography and environmental science, is the director of the Minnesota Student Association’s Environmental Accountability Committee and actively organizes against Line 3.

“It will destroy the environment, it harms Minnesota’s Indigenous communities, it exacerbates the epidemic,” Miller said.

Hjelle, the Students for Climate Justice organizer, said the responsibility to make a more sustainable world falls to large institutions like fossil fuel companies and organizations that support them, like the University of Minnesota.

“In a lot of ways, I think that Earth Day is a holiday that has been capitalized on and environmentalism and sustainability in general. There’s a lot of pressure on people to buy certain products and do certain things,” Hjelle said. “It’s so much greater than that.”

The jurors who will decide the verdict in the trial for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin have been chosen after more than two weeks and dozens of interviews.

On Monday, the trial will truly begin.

Former Hennepin County chief public defender Mary Moriarty and deputy director for community legal services at the Legal Rights Center Andrew Gordon helped break down jury selection and the start of the trial.

The $27 million civil settlement and questions of impartiality

The defense and the prosecution conducted two weeks of questioning aimed at finding fair and impartial jurors to serve on the case. However, Moriarty said that in such a high-profile case, it is difficult to find people that fit those criteria.

“Everyone wants to be fair and impartial,” she said. “It’s a tough issue when everybody’s heard about or seen some type of publicity about this case.”

The court ran into issues of potential jurors’ abilities to remain impartial after the city of Minneapolis announced its historic civil settlement of $27 million with the family of George Floyd. It was publicized widely on the fifth day of jury proceedings and unseated two of the jurors that had been chosen at that time.

Moriarty said she predicted the effect of the news on potential jurors’ impartiality would go one of two ways: it would either imply Chauvin’s guilt or make them think the payment was enough justice for the family.

She said that confusion about the effect of the civil settlement on the criminal trial had an impact on the general public’s knowledge of the trial, even though the two cases are separate and have no official effect on one another.

“Even if they are completely separate, there were some jurors who said, ‘Well, it certainly seems to send a message that you know about what the City Council thinks,’” she said.

Additionally, she said this raised the issue that when the jury attempts to reach a verdict, the settlement could be the tipping point for jurors struggling to make a decision.

“You don’t really know and you never really know if anybody can truly set that aside,” Moriarty said.

Jury makeup

The court received backlash from community members due to concerns of a potential lack of diversity on the jury.

After whittling down a large jury pool of hundreds of people, Gordon, from the Legal Rights Center, said he is surprised by the amount of racial diversity among those who were seated. The jury includes six white women, three white men, three Black men, two multiracial women and one Black woman. One of them will be excused and two will be alternates.

Potential juror 76 detailed his negative experiences with police officers and insensitive behavior by them following the death of a man in his neighborhood. Even though he said he experiences racism daily, he said it would not impact his impartiality on the case. He was struck after questioning.

Moriarty said that these proceedings have raised the issue of what it means to be “fair.”

“Why is somebody who lives in the suburbs, who has never met anybody who has been discriminated against, why are they more fair than a Black teacher who has seen things that MPD has done and still says he’s gonna do his very best to set that aside because he understands the specific issues in this case. Why is it fair that juror 76 got removed?”

Gordon struggled with the court’s goal of a fair and impartial juror, defined as someone who is lacking in a strong opinion about something that pertains to the case.

He cannot think of an argument for why the court would “end up picking a jury of individuals who, for some reason, haven’t really sat down to grapple with some of the major concerns of modern America.”

What lies ahead and what to look out for

In a historic move for a Minnesota court, Judge Peter Cahill is allowing the trial to be livestreamed across the world.

“It’s not often that anyone sees jury selection,” Moriarty said. “Some of the issues that have come up during jury selection have given the public great insight into some of the issues [lawyers] see every day.”

She said that because of the controversial nature of the cause of Floyd’s death, the medical examiner’s testimony is going to be “critical.”

“The defense is apparently going to argue that George Floyd died because of his heart, the ingestion of drugs and the fact that he was struggling against the police,” Moriarty said. “Yet, the medical examiners are going to testify that that was not the case.”

She also said that Minneapolis Police Department policies, whether or not Chauvin was following them, will play a key role in justifying for or against Chauvin’s conduct in the encounter with Floyd.

Moriarty said she anticipates the jury to struggle with the difference between a depraved mind, which could lead to third-degree murder, and culpable negligence, which would fit second-degree manslaughter.

For the depraved mind definition, the jury would have to find that Chauvin was lacking morality and was indifferent to human life. This is different from culpable negligence, which is when one acts recklessly without reason or caution, causing harm to others.

Cahill is aiming to limit expert witnesses’ interpretation of Floyd’s behavior during his May 2019 arrest. He ruled that the testimony of forensic psychiatrist Dr. Sarah Vinson can only be used to help interpret how Floyd died, not his mental state. Gordon said Cahill is attempting to avoid issues that could later be appealed.

“The issue is not whether [Floyd’s struggle with the police] happened before,” Moriarty said. “The issue is, what was the reaction of the police officers who encountered him exhibiting this kind of behavior?”

Gordon said the biggest thing for the public to understand is that the evidence shown to the jury is limited, and what they are shown will determine their deliberation.

“The general person who’s been paying attention, they actually may end up knowing more about what happened on 38th and Chicago that day than the jury,” he said.

Proceedings are expected to resume on Monday 9 a.m., starting with opening statements.

“It’s going to hold a place in history for a long time,” Gordon said. “The nation is watching, and I know Minneapolis is watching, and people have a lot invested in what’s going to happen in that courtroom.”

On Monday afternoon, the University of Minnesota’s College Republicans club tweeted — and quickly deleted — a statement saying that Black Lives Matter protesters “are anarchist terrorists.”

Tweet was deleted quickly pic.twitter.com/SYhoMkzzHE

— Ricardo Lopez (@rljourno) March 22, 2021

The tweet was screenshotted and shared by Ricardo Lopez, a reporter at the Minnesota Reformer, and garnered backlash from the community. In response to the criticism, the account posted an apology.

I would like to sincerely apologize for the previous tweet. The tweet in question was reprehensible, and was not an official position of our group. It does not reflect the views of our group or the Republican Party. CR’s stands for justice and meaningful police reform.

— College Republicans (@CRsatUMN) March 22, 2021

The student who posted the tweet has since been “heavily” disciplined and no longer has access to the group’s social media accounts, according to Chase Christopherson, president of the University of Minnesota’s College Republicans.

Christopherson, a fourth-year student said the student group does not support what the student said and “wholeheartedly condemn[s] it.”

“It’s just not right to say that, [to] make such broad generalizations,” Christopherson said. “We stand by people fighting for police reform, like common-sense police reform. We support the kid’s right to freedom of speech, but we’re not going to let them voice that on our account.”

He said that within the group, opinions on police reform vary; however, he said that as a group, they believe that police should be held accountable for their actions.

“We do support the police, but we also support the right for people to protest against the police,” Chrisptherson said. “When the police do wrong, and the police do wrong, we’re right next to the people protesting, until it turns violent.”

Though Christopherson said conservatives are generally not ones for political correctness, he apologized for the tweet.

“Obviously conservatives, generally, they don’t like to say, ‘Oh we don’t want to offend anybody,’ but if it actually hurts somebody, genuinely I’m sorry.”

The Tweet swiftly prompted condemnation from University community members and beyond.

“Your finger doesn’t just slip and accidentally type a long, violent, and racist statement,” wrote Brian Evans, communications director for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

Okay, so why did you tweet that?

Your finger doesn’t just slip and accidentally type a long, violent, and racist statement. Does someone in U of M College Republican leadership actually think that? Are you going to do anything about it? https://t.co/x18JUyQyLH pic.twitter.com/gbH7XHILLj

— Brian Evans (@BriInMN) March 22, 2021

Some did not find the student group’s apology satisfactory.

This is an insufficient response, given the nature of the now-deleted tweet.

Address why your organization feels it was important to verbally stomp on the constitutionally-protected rights of those who are part of and support BLM.

— GingerNorth (@GingerNorth11) March 22, 2021

This is a breaking news report. More information will be added as it becomes available.

Tom Anderson has spent most of his adult life in Ward 2 and has wholly devoted his post-grad life to public service.

He now wants to take that to the City Council, where he runs against incumbent Cam Gordon and challenger Robin Wonsley Worlobah for the Ward 2 seat this November.

Anderson hopes to prioritize public safety, invest in public housing and create green infrastructure in Minneapolis.

His work mostly focused on community organizing and education, and he is currently co-chair of the Longfellow Community Council’s (LCC) Neighborhood Development and Transportation Committee. He has been an LCC board member for nearly four years. He also serves on an equity advisory committee for Minneapolis Public Schools and is the outreach and inclusion officer for the Senate District 63 DFL.

After starting a family with his wife in Longfellow, Anderson shifted from nearly five years as a social studies teacher to student advocacy work. He currently works as the director of government relations for Students United, where he lobbies lawmakers on behalf of students in Minnesota State colleges. He also works to build student leadership skills among the board of students.

Anderson’s campaign is called “Reimagine Minneapolis,” and Lexi Byler, his coworker at Students United and his director of communications, said this embodies his message.

“It’s not just about Tom; it’s about the community,” Byler said.

A focus on working together

Nearly a year after the police killing of George Floyd and ensuing unrest, Anderson said the city has “very little to show for it.”

He said public safety issues are intersectional and connect to various other crucial problems for the city to address.

This process will involve eradicating the “racism that has permeated the Minneapolis Police Department,” he said, and seeking out root causes of crime, like food insecurity, to solve those issues.

He hopes to invest in assistance for people experiencing homelessness, rather than just arresting them. This would include creating mental health resources and integrating social workers within communities.

“We need to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to make sure … that we rebuild post-pandemic and post-civil unrest in a way that’s equitable and in a way that ensures that our businesses that have existed here can continue to exist here,” Anderson said.

During Anderson’s continued work in government relations, between his role at Students United or numerous campaigns he has worked for, he said he had seen division among local government officials as he would expect in federal politics.

“We’re so divided. Even though almost everyone in Minneapolis is left of center,” Anderson said. “We’re at a point where we’re unable to work together and unable to listen to each other.”

Anderson said he hopes to bring local government back to public service orientation rather than being distracted by political rivalries and outside interests.

“Our diverse opinions in our community and across our city are our strengths of our city,” he said. “We should be able to embrace that.”

From a teacher’s perspective

Anderson grew up in the small town of Pine River just north of Brainerd, Minnesota, and education has always been an important aspect of his life.

He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2011 with a degree in political science and communications. He later received his Master of Education degree in 2014 from the University. He followed in his mother’s footsteps by becoming a teacher.

After moving off-campus, Anderson has lived in the Longfellow neighborhood for the last seven years. He has continued to be heavily involved in the education system after leaving his teaching career in 2019.

Alexandra Holter said Anderson had strong relationships with the students in the Brooklyn Center school district, where they worked together. Besides teaching, he coached basketball, track and football and was the student council adviser. She said he brought groups together during contentious times.

“One of the most appreciated qualities of Tom during that time was just his very calm, level-headed ability to listen to all sides because passions often run high when we’re talking about student needs,” Holter said. “He just kind of brought us all back to the purpose of what we’re doing, which was to serve the students.”

During his time as an educator, Anderson said he noticed that the students who struggled in his classes were the ones that were affected by means outside of their control, like food insecurity and homelessness.

“Our city is really held to address [these] issues,” Anderson said. “I think that would go a long way to helping close the achievement gap.”

Carlee Diggins, executive director of Students United, said Anderson takes his job as an advocate for students’ needs “very seriously” and has the edge and passion for doing whatever he can to do the right thing.

“He truly understands the importance of the student voice,” Diggins said.

With chaos amid Donald Trump’s final weeks in office, some University of Minnesota conservatives have cut their associations with the former president, while others have strengthened their resolve for Trumpism.

Following the inauguration of President Joe Biden, the College Republicans are taking on a new focus, with some students divided on their reactions to Trump and how the Republican party should move forward.

College Republicans and Trump’s division

Since they are no longer campaigning for Trump, the University’s College Republicans are focused on outreach.

The student group is working to expand its membership and recruit Latino students, said Jack Tschetter, a second-year student and vice president of the College Republicans.

Tschetter said that when Trump ran in 2016, he felt Trump was “the appropriate person to lead the country.”

As Trump’s rhetoric became more divisive, however, Tschetter’s optimism for the president waned. Although Trump lost both the electoral and popular votes in the 2020 general election, Tschetter was encouraged by the number of Latino voters who cast ballots for Republican candidates across the country.

“That kind of shows me that the Republican party has principles and ideas that are able to kind of transcend racial lines or class lines,” Tschetter said.

He said he wants to see more women in his party run for office and stronger regulations on “big tech.”

Tschetter is planning to invite more local politicians and guest speakers to network with College Republicans. They do not currently have any plans for advocacy or future campaigning, he said.

Tschetter also condemns the violence from the U.S. Capitol insurrection and hopes most Republicans stand by that same principle.

“I think that the Republican party means something. … It means freedom and democracy … that’s governed by things like the rule of law,” Tschetter said. “It’s unfortunate I think they are, what you see today has kind of shifted away from that.”

After the insurrection, Trump was impeached in the House, and Democrats have continued to push for Republicans to condemn Trump’s role in inciting the attack.

Kathryn Pearson, a professor of American politics at the University, said the impeachment trial, which is set to begin next month, would further divide Senate Republicans.

Pearson said that after Senate Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Trump’s role in inciting the riots, that “opened the door for some of the Republicans to criticize President Trump and his role and the violence … but whether or not that will extend to the representatives who were bigger fans of Trump, or who have more supporters in their districts, I think remains to be seen.”

Vitaly Brown, a second-year student who voted for Trump, said the rioting was not an effective means of protest; however, he said he does not believe that Trump incited the attack. He thinks that most of the protesters were from various “Democratic groups,” like Antifa, posing as Trump supporters.

“I just find it really hard to believe that peaceful, conservative protesters would storm the Capitol by force and, you know, start whipping out whatever firearms and such to incite violence,” Brown said. “I find it hard to believe.”

Multiple news stories have come out since the attack proving that dozens of the rioters were directly related to far-right extremist groups. The FBI has also concluded that no individuals associated with Antifa were involved in the insurrection, according to CNBC.

Brown is not worried about a Biden presidency. He said that because Biden is not a “political maverick,” Brown is not concerned about his impact on the country.

“I love this country,” Brown said. “I don’t want to see it fall into shambles by anybody’s presidency, and I don’t think it will.”

The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) student said he believes the Democratic party put Biden — a household name — on the ballot to eventually get Vice President Kamala Harris into the presidency.

“As we know … Biden’s pretty old,” Brown said. “If Kamala Harris would’ve ran by herself she would not have won … they are trying to phase him out, and essentially replace him as quickly as possible with Kamala Harris.”

Moving moderate

When Biden’s victory seemed likely, fourth-year University human resources and industrial relations student Emma DiPiazza hoped some of the more contentious states would hold a recount.

But as time passed and Trump could not prove claims of election fraud, DiPiazza said she became disappointed in many Republicans. “You’re just acting like a sore loser,” she said.

“I think people that are so far-right kind of have this mindset that tells them that they’re always right,” DiPiazza said. “I think that’s become specifically evident with ‘Trump-ism,’ I don’t even want to call it Republicanism.”

DiPiazza said she has always described herself as conservative. She grew up in a small, primarily-white suburb outside Milwaukee, where her father owns a small business. While she is hopeful for Biden’s presidency, she is worried that his presidency will hurt small businesses.

Still, the past election and moving to college made her rethink aspects of her conservative ideology. She has become more open-minded and identifies as a feminist who cares about Black and LGBTQ+ rights. DiPiazza said she is a fiscal conservative and social liberal.

“So, I think that based on the way [Trump has] acted toward human rights — and there was little respect that he’s had for people who are different than himself — was disgusting,” DiPiazza said. “I don’t ever want to say that I support him.”

Pearson, the American politics professor, believes that the GOP’s future looks uncertain.

“Many Trump supporters will move on, some will remain loyal to [him], some will move on and be interested in supporting new Republican candidates. I think it’s just unclear,” Pearson said.

DiPiazza is hopeful that Trump’s presidency will not permanently damage the reputation of the Republican party and that a younger generation of moderates emerges.

“Since we’ve experienced 9/11 and the pandemic, the financial crisis, we can really push forward and understand that it doesn’t take just one [party] or another, it’s so much bigger than that,” she said. “I’m hoping that this younger generation will have a little bit more common sense to them.”

Protesters gathered near South High School in Minneapolis on Inauguration Day to “demand a people’s agenda” as President Joe Biden’s administration enters the White House with promises of change.

Local Twin Cities activist groups, led by the Anti-War Committee and including multiple University of Minnesota groups, hosted the Inauguration protest. The groups marched down Lake Street to the ruins of the Minneapolis Police Department Third Precinct building with cars trailing behind, honking along to chants and waving Black Lives Matter flags.

Some protestors follow in cars, honking to chants as the marchers lead the way pic.twitter.com/s2wV28PuPB

— Sam Woodward (she/her) (@samjwoody379) January 21, 2021

Activists spoke about the right to protest, drawing a comparison between the charges against the 646 protesters who were arrested in November to the lenient handling of rioters during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Many said they remain disappointed in American leaders despite an administration led by Democrats.

Khalyma Robinson, a second-year University of Minnesota student, spoke at the event on behalf of UMN Climate Strike about the importance of dropping the charges against the 646 Twin Cities protesters.

“[The protests over the last nine months showed] that when the people are not predominantly white or when they’re fighting for justice and equality, they are usually brutalized or harassed and intimidated,” Robinson said.

Robinson added that UMN Climate Strike is invested in working with Indigenous leaders to stop work on the Line 3 oil pipeline, but they attended the event in support of a variety of social justice issues related to racial equity.

“It’s important that we are all standing together fighting in solidarity with each other still,” Robinson said.

Fernando Sanchez, an organizer with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), said he joined the protest to “remind Biden that he promised something to the Latino voters,” referring to Biden’s calls for immigration reform. As a Mexican immigrant, he hopes to see a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people and DACA recipients.

Sanchez said that if the divide between Americans becomes deeper, everyone will lose. He was happy to hear Biden emphasizing unity in his inauguration speech.

Fernando is here with MIRAC as a marshall for tonight.
“I’m here today to remind Biden that he made a promise to the Latino voters.” pic.twitter.com/QJO6cvkOwt

— Lydia Morrell (@lydia_morrell) January 20, 2021

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Minnesota (CAIR-MN), roused the crowd of nearly 200 before the march to demand accountability for police violence and unjust government treatment of immigrants.

“Today is a historic day in [the] American story, because Trump left office, but history of what he did can never be unwritten. That history is real, it’s part of America and it’s part of the failure,” Hussein said.

Jaylani Hussein, of CAIR, fired up the crowd: “it is time we demand justice by any means necessary.” pic.twitter.com/V0JD6tuUwL

— JD Duggan (@JDugganMN) January 21, 2021

Three educators from Minneapolis Public Schools attended to support defunding government agencies such as the military, ICE and the police, and want to see officials reallocate funds toward schools to support marginalized students.

Jae Yates, a recent University graduate and member of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCCJ4J), led the chants as the crowd trudged along East Lake Street. As the song “Fuck Donald Trump” played over the mobile speakers, protesters called back “Fuck Biden, too.”

Yates said that TCCJ4J has campaigned for community control of the police for years and would like to see tangible results from the new administration.

“A Biden presidency does not mean an end to systemic racism or police brutality,” Yates said. “And we have to make sure that people know that we have to keep fighting.”

Cherone Vestal’s short time bartending at Loring Bar & Restaurant has only partly translated into her new role as a barista in the same location.

On opening day for what is now Gray’s, Vestal tidied behind the counter of the coffee bar next to the beer taps.

The former Loring Bar & Restaurant opened its doors as Gray’s on Monday, offering a more casual dining experience with the addition of a coffee shop and hangout area for students. The Dinkytown staple has held onto its classic bohemian ambiance with red leather booths and scattered vintage vinyl records on tables — but now includes an espresso machine.

Vestal said that the opening day for Gray’s was slow following the departure of students after Thanksgiving break, but she said she is “just glad to be working.”

Jake Bruce, a longtime employee of Loring Bar & Restaurant and now operations manager of Gray’s, said the new shop is aiming at creating a balance between the classic dining experience Loring is known for and a study spot for local students.

Once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, the main floor can be used for mainly dinner service and live music, and the upper mezzanines will be suited for studying and hanging out while allowing for better social distancing.

“There was just really no kind of study space at a coffee shop around town,” Bruce said. “We want to utilize all of the space that we have in Loring and basically wanted to rebrand ourselves.”

Lyndsey Bramer came onto the marketing and business development team in July after the restaurant reopened following an initial COVID-19 shutdown that lasted four months.

Bramer said she thinks by creating a space where students can “grab a table, socially distance, plug in your laptop, hang out,” Gray’s will shift from a pricier, fancy dinner establishment to a more approachable, palatable dining option for students.

Principal owner Lynn Nyman, has been involved with Loring since before it first opened in 2001. She said that winter is a difficult time to pivot into a student-marketed hangout spot, especially since they are used to being a late-night, event-oriented establishment.

The menu still includes local brewery taps and classic Loring favorites like their artichoke dip and signature pasta during dinnertime, but it has been modified to add an extensive list of locally roasted coffee beverages, including a horchata cold brew and a “molten mocha,” among others.

The building occupying the corner of 14th Avenue Southeast and Fourth Street Southeast has a long history with many purposes over the course of more than a century.

In 1885, Minneapolis Street Railway Company’s “car barn” was located there at the original ending of the area’s first horse-drawn streetcar line. The site acted as storage for the streetcars that ran along what was then Fourth Street. In the following years, it would become Gray’s Drugstore, and Bob Dylan’s apartment was upstairs. It eventually became various iterations of Loring Pasta Bar.

When Loring Pasta Bar was sold in 2017, the restaurant reopened a few months later under new employee ownership. For a few years, the restaurant has functioned as a high-scale pasta bar and nightclub — until this week when the name Gray’s was resurrected.

In the wake of so many small businesses closing due to COVID-19, Bramer said she has seen an influx of big chains taking over places that were once Dinkytown landmarks.

In the past few years, at least two iconic coffee shops in Dinkytown have closed: Purple Onion Cafe and Catering and Espresso Royale. The Gray’s team hopes to fill that gap while giving a nod to the legacy of Dinkytown.

“Long term, we just want to be able to help preserve historic Dinkytown,” Bramer said.

The intersection at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue has become a place of remembrance since former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd in May. A giant fist points to the sky from the middle of the intersection, and a mural is painted on the wall around the corner from where Floyd was killed.

The space has been occupied for more than five months, and as snow accumulates, volunteers at George Floyd Square are working to maintain a safe space for visitors as they anticipate the coming winter. Teams have been formed for preservation, medical assistance and further winterization throughout the intersection.

Now the square is dotted with fire pits to keep visitors warm, and volunteers have shoveled repeatedly since snow first began to drop.

Negotiations about the fate of the intersection have been ongoing between the city and community, but there has been a “lack of movement” on the city’s part, said Andy Browne, Minneapolis resident and organizer at George Floyd Square.

“I think that they’re very aware that the way in which they engage the reopening of the streets and all those things is very important. … We’re keenly aware that at any point they can come in with bulldozers and knock us over,” Browne said.

Twenty-four demands are displayed around the intersection on boards on each entrance of the square, ranging from holding the trial in Minnesota for the four police officers involved in killing George Floyd to firing Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

“We’re playing this game with the city, and they’re playing the same game with us; at some point somebody’s gonna break,” Browne said. “And I can tell you right now it’s not gonna be us.”

As time has passed and volunteers have continued to occupy 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, protests have evolved into community work dedicated to rebuilding and healing.

Originally, the city told neighbors that the barricades around the area would be removed during the week of Aug. 17, the Minnesota Reformer reported. When that date came and went, nothing happened.

“Stepping up to the plate”

More than 100 volunteers care for the space where thousands of visitors have come to pay their respects.

Volunteers describe the square as the place where visitors come to remember lives lost to police brutality and reflect on the community building and social justice work to be done in Minneapolis.

“It’s sad that it takes such a horrific incident to humble a lot of souls,” said Kia Bible, a co-founder of the square’s medical team, 612-MASH. “But at the same time, it’s just beautiful to watch it all come together.”

Medical volunteers organized during the protests, which led to the formation of 612-MASH. Many have stuck around throughout the following months to offer free medical support at George Floyd Square.

“It was the community pulling itself together and stepping up to the plate,” Bible said.

Bible said 612-MASH started with a focus on emergency room-like activities, like tending to wounds and trauma inflicted during the confrontations over the summer. Today, volunteers’ duties have shifted toward helping those without insurance and mental health care. The medical team does not turn anyone away.

More homeless people have come around the square as the city has evicted nearby encampments. Bible said the “med shed” has provided them with kits that include blankets and hand warmers to face the harsh winter months.

“We’re taking more of a nontraditional approach to making sure that we’re ‘boots on the ground’ and building a relationship within the community so that they trust what we’re saying and what we’re doing.”

When the 612-MASH medical tent burned down last month, the team lost all of its supplies. The cause of the fire is unknown. Within a week and a half, volunteers built a shed in place of the tent and restocked the supplies with the help of local hospitals and volunteer medics.

Preserving a moment

Jeanelle Austin, a Minneapolis native who grew up two blocks away from George Floyd Square, flew home from Texas after hearing news of Floyd’s death and the beginning of the protests in her very backyard.

She began protesting in the streets, and when the protests calmed down, she cleaned up trash and leftover signs. For weeks in the early morning hours, she saw many other people in the square doing the same.

“The machine keeps going,” Austin said.

She pulled together a team of nearly 25 people to collect things that have been laid in the square — everything from art, protest signs and burnt wreckage from fires. Before the group was organized, the goods were overflowing in an abandoned bus station in the intersection.

“The smallest scrap of paper or the smallest Post-It note written in crayon has been saved,” said Browne, the organizer. “Those things that were saved are all going to be a part of that story.”

As the cold has set in, Pillsbury House and Theatre has offered classrooms for safe storage, and many people have offered their garages. About 2,500 items have been salvaged so far.

Each day, the preservation team comes to the square and evaluates what is needed, like shoveling, tending to the plants or placing offerings in storage.

They show up every day of the week in rain, sleet or snow.

“It’s not looking at the winter as an adversary to the protests but a part of the protests,” Austin said. “The environment is very much so a part of this. The ground bore witness to the death of George Floyd.”

Community members, led by Browne, erected a greenhouse to preserve the more than 350 potted plants that have been laid at the memorial. The group is exploring how to strengthen the greenhouse to withstand the winter.

“You walk inside of there, and it was above freezing, and it smelt like spring. … It was this really big juxtaposition between reality and, like, not reality,” Browne said. “In some sense, the desolateness of winter and the hope of spring all, like, happening at once.”

Austin has worked closely with the Floyd family to create the George Floyd Global Memorial (GFGM) to continue telling Floyd’s story and bringing the community together and to establish educational resources for future generations.

Austin received an email from Mayor Jacob Frey that expressed the City of Minneapolis’ desire to be co-creators of the GFGM. She said it is for the community to decide how they will remember Floyd and not the city that employed the person who killed him.

She said this memorial will represent the pain, grief and hope of the people.

“You can’t be the supervillain and the superhero,” Austin said. “The people get to decide what the memorial is.”

Several suspects shoved a victim to the ground before robbing them near Seventh Street and 15th Avenue Southeast at around 5:20 p.m., according to a SAFE-U alert.

Initial police reports say that both suspects were male, between the ages of 15 to 20.

The alert indicated that the victim’s phone was stolen by the suspects before leaving westbound on Seventh Street Southeast in a white BMW SUV.

This is a Minneapolis Police Department case. Community and campus members are advised to use caution in the area.

This is a breaking news report. More information may be added as it becomes available.