On the eve of jury selection in the trial of Officer Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd death, NBC News sends a reporter to Minneapolis, where everybody is worried about more rioting. The reporter goes to what some people have designated the “Free State of George Floyd,” the neighborhood surrounding the site where Floyd died:

Between these two blocks, the usual faces who live here sporadically park their cars in the middle of the road, standing guard and on the lookout for unfamiliar faces.

Frey said the city has blocked vehicle traffic, allowing a space to which all are welcome to memorialize Floyd.

Walking the blocks, however, tell a different, somewhat unwelcoming story.

Marijuana smoke fills the cold, sunny air. Traffic signals are shut off. Sidewalks are eerily quiet. And the occupants of those parked cars roll down their windows to stare at and cross-examine strangers.

Black residents and a few white volunteers enforce this gritty neighborhood, taking it upon themselves to preserve and protect the monument and Floyd’s legacy.

“No outsiders allowed,” McDade-Davis said. “On one hand, residents stood up for themselves and banded together by blocking off access to a memorial dedicated to Floyd’s legacy. However, the neighborhood has become ripe for stickups.”

For better and worse, the neighborhood has spiraled in opposite directions, said McDade-Davis, who lives five blocks from where Floyd was killed.

The two blocks in part symbolize present-day Minneapolis — a tough and loving city nearing what could be “the most significant trial” it has ever seen.

In related news, The New York Times has a piece puzzling over why Latino men vote Republican. Excerpts:

For decades, Democratic candidates worked with the assumption that if Latinos voted in higher numbers, the party was more likely to win. But interviews with dozens of Hispanic men from across the country who voted Republican last year showed deep frustration with such presumptions, and rejected the idea that Latino men would instinctively support liberal candidates. These men challenged the notion that they were part of a minority ethnic group or demographic reliant on Democrats; many of them grew up in areas where Hispanics are the majority and are represented in government. And they said many Democrats did not understand how much Latino men identified with being a provider — earning enough money to support their families is central to the way they view both themselves and the political world.

And:

Last fall, Mr. Arellano campaigned for Mr. Trump in Arizona, and this year, he narrowly lost his bid for chairman of the state Republican Party. Still, he does not fit the Trumpian conservative mold, often urging politicians to soften their political rhetoric against immigrants.

“Trump is not the party, the party is what we make it — a pro-business, pro-family values,” he said. “People who understand we want to make it as something here.”

All of this sounds familiar to Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist who is deeply critical of the party under Mr. Trump, and who has worked for decades to push the party to do more to attract Hispanic voters.

“Paying rent is more important than fighting social injustice in their minds,” Mr. Madrid said. “The Democratic Party has always been proud to be a working-class party, but they do not have a working-class message. The central question is going to be, Who can convince these voters their concerns are being heard?”

But:

Some of the frustrations voiced by Hispanic Republican men are stoked by misinformation, including conspiracy theories claiming that the “deep state” took over during the Trump administration and a belief that Black Lives Matter protests caused widespread violence. [Emphasis mine — RD]

Check out the gaslighting at the paper of record! Un-freaking-believable. This shows you the mentality of our media, though. They will never, ever, ever deviate from the party line. Here’s a thought that will not occur to anyone in the NYT newsroom: Latino men want to be on the side of  the party of people who build cities, not the party of people who burn them down.