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Dianne Binns, the former head of the St. Paul, Minnesota, branch of the NAACP, was furious when she showed up at a local Target store to get medication but found it blocked off due to a growing crowd upset over the death of George Floyd.
“This sh-t. St. Paul ain’t got sh-t to do with what happened… and these people don’t give a d*am about George Floyd,” she said, unloading on video, which you can watch below.
“Leave this sh*t alone. These mother f*ckers need to go home,” said Binns. Watch:
Ricardo Lopez, a journalist with MNReformer, wrote that Binns, 70, came to the Target “to get medication for her daughter.” He also noted: “Diane (sic) Binns was president of the NAACP St. Paul from 2016-2018. She was here for the north Minneapolis riots in the 60s,” he wrote. Heavy reached out to Binns for an interview. On her Facebook page and in another video, she expressed that she feels what she called “riots” have dishonored the memory of Floyd, whose death deeply upset her.
“I have marched with Spike, Tyrone, khaliq, and had the opportunity to watch Malcolm x and Dr. King marches and those were beautiful non violent marches. I love my people but can’t condone the looting and rioting which dishonest George Floyd,” Binns wrote on Facebook.
Other videos showed police were lined up protecting the Target store in St. Paul, Minnesota, as a crowd gathered outside of it. The tense situation came after a different Target store was ransacked on the evening of May 27, as unrest grew over the death of Floyd.
“St. Paul police have responded to a large groups of people running inside the Midway Target on Thursday, attempting to overtake the store. Video on social media shows other stores in the area being looted,” CBS Minnesota wrote on Twitter.
BREAKING: St. Paul police have responded to a large groups of people running inside the Midway Target on Thursday, attempting to overtake the store. Video on social media shows other stores in the area being looted. | t.co/RKstQxt30M
Squad cars were being targeted.
Unrest has escalated after a viral video emerged showing a Minneapolis police officer restraining Floyd with a knee and ignoring his pleas that he couldn’t breathe, along with pleas from the crowd to help him. Read about Floyd’s life and death here. Floyd later died, four officers were fired and a federal investigation is underway.
Here’s what you need to know:
Dianne Binns Also Unloaded on Her Facebook Page, Saying She Ended Up in a ‘Riot’ That She Believes Dishonored Floyd’s Memory
In another video, which you can watch above, Binns criticized the destruction of businesses that took place in Minneapolis the night before, saying, “The destruction they did to their own community … we don’t have many stores as it is. So why are we going to burn down the small business owners who are there for us?”
She also brought her message to her Facebook page.
“Listen don’t bring this looting and rioting to ST.PAUL. stay in Mpls with this bullsh*t,” Binns wrote on Facebook. She also wrote a lengthy post about her experiences in the midst of the unrest the night before:
Last night I left going to a rally of a murdered young man and instead ended up in a riot which to me was a dishonor to George Floyd. I first knew I was in the wrong place after Rev. McAfee gave the opening prayer than young people started disrespected elders who tried to speak. I got the feel that many came to release their penned up angry, hurt, fears, and trauma of being black in Minneapolis.
I was trying to leave when I was almost ran over by two males who were moving out of the way while others were trying to get to the white man who came to the rally with a pistol and three clips. These young men knocked me into a beautiful young lady and didn’t even say excuse me. The young sister helped me recover and walked this 70 year old woman three blocks to her car. I thought this was over until I attempted to go down Lake Street and it was a free for all with rioting and police shootings tear gas. It took me two hours to get home. This is not the kind of protests I am use to. I have marched with Spike, Tyrone, khaliq, and had the opportunity to watch Malcolm x and Dr. King marches and those were beautiful non violent marches. I love my people but can’t condone the looting and rioting which dishonest George Floyd. From all that we know about him he was a good father, brother and son. Please let’s not dishonor him. One activist opinion who has been fighting for her people for 40 years in criminal justice and civil rights. Now don’t flood my post with explanation for rioting and looting because there are none
Binns has made it clear that she is very upset about Floyd’s death. “Why would a trained cop put his knee on the neck of a handcuffed man lying face down almost under a police car unless he intended to KILL HIM. THE MAN CRIED I CAN’T BREATHE. DAMN COP DIDN’T CARE. WHITE SUPREMACISTS AT ITS BEST. BEEN KILLING BLACKS FOR 500 YEARS IN INCIDENTS LIKE THIS,” she wrote.
According to her Facebook page, Binns is a “Career Parole/Probation Officer at Hennepin County Community Corrections” and a mental health counselor. She is a former correctional officer for Minnesota Department of Corrections. She has a master’s degree in social work and is from Arkansas.
In 2017, when she was NAACP branch president in St. Paul, Binns spoke about the racism she had suffered growing up. “I’ve [grown] up in [racism] my whole life,” she said to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. “I remember having the colored bathrooms and water fountains that were dirty, walking five miles to school when there was one right up the road, because it was an all-White school.”
Police Wrote That People Were Throwing Bottles & Rocks at Officers at the Target
The St. Paul Police Department wrote, “Officers are having rocks, liquor bottles and bricks thrown at them in the area of the Target on University Avenue. We are working to peacefully get the crowd to disperse. Squad cars have been damaged by rocks, bricks, bottles and other items being thrown at officers. More dispersal orders being given by officers.”
Police also wrote, “Officers are giving dispersal orders to groups gathered in various areas of the city, damaging property and attempting to steal from businesses. Affected areas: near the 1400 block of University Ave, at an East Side business on the 1700 block of Suburban Ave. and more.”
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