YOU ARE WATCHING
MINNESOTA'S MOST-WATCHED
STATION.
THIS IS WCCO 4 NEWS.
WE KNOW COLLECTIVELY
MINNESOTA AND THE COUNTRY GOING
THROUGH A TOUGH TIME RIGHT NOW,
AND TODAY WE ARE GOING TO HAVE
A CONVERSATION WITH THE TWIN
CITIES PASTOR ABOUT MOVING
FORWARD, ABOUT HEALING, ABOUT
EMOTIONS THAT ARE STILL RAW.
JOINING US NOW, PASTOR EDEN
WILLIAMS FROM CENTURY COVENANT
CHURCH. PASTOR, I NOTICED I SAY
MINNESOTA IS HAVING A TOUGH
TIME RIGHT NOW FOR BLACK
MINNESOTANS AND BLACK
MINNESOTANS HAVE HAD A TOUGH
TIME FOR 400 YEARS.
YEAH, YEAH.
JASON, THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
IT REALLY IS AN IMPORTANT POINT
ON PART OF A LARGER STORY, THIS
HAS BEEN A LONG JOURNEY I THINK
THE TWIN CITIES RIGHT NOW AND
AS I HEARD SOMEONE SAY A LITTLE
EARLIER, IT REALLY IS THE
EPICENTER OF THE STRUGGLE FOR
FREEDOM IN AMERICA.
SO I HOPE WE WON'T WASTE THIS
MOMENT.
YOU WILL BE AT THE MEMORIAL
SERVICE AND JUST ABOUT 40
MINUTES.
WHAT ARE YOUR REFLECTIONS ON
THIS MOMENT IN TIME, AND
SPECIFICALLY ABOUT GEORGE FLOYD
AND WHAT HAPPENED.
YEAH.
I FIRST THINK ABOUT, PERSONALLY,
A MOTHER AND FATHER HAVE LOST
THEIR SON, GEORGE HAS SOME
KIDS.
THEY HAVE LOST THEIR FATHER.
HE HAD FRIENDS.
HE HAD A COMMUNITY HERE IN THE
TWIN CITIES AS WELL AS IN
HOUSTON, TEXAS WHO LOVED HIM
AND KNEW HIM WELL.
AND ALL OF THAT WAS SNATCHED
AWAY FROM THEM LAST MONDAY.
IN A VERY PUBLIC AND INHUMANE
WAY, AND YOU HAVE TO START
THERE.
A REAL MAN, AND IMAGE BEARER OF
GOD AND AS WE WOULD SAY AT
CENTURY COVENANT CHURCH, HAS
LOST HIS LIFE.
THAT HAS TO BE KEPT AT THE
FOREFRONT.
YES, WE WILL NEED TO TALK ABOUT
THE LOOTING AND OTHER THINGS,
BUT LET'S NOT FORGET WHAT
BROUGHT US TO THIS PLACE.
THAT IS THAT A MAN LOST HIS
LIFE IN A VERY INHUMANE WAY.
AND THEN YOU SORT OF PAN OUT A
LITTLE BIT AND WONDER, WHAT
WILL IT TAKE FOR THIS TO STOP?
WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR POLICE TO
DO A BETTER JOB OF POLICING US
IN A WAY WHERE THE COMMUNITY
CAN SEE THE POLICE ON OUR SIDE?
OUR BELIEFS ABLE TO MAKE THAT
TRANSITION?
IF NOT, WHAT ELSE ARE OUR
OPTIONS, IF THEY CAN'T?
YEAH, IT'S SOMETHING YOU AND
I WERE TALKING ABOUT.
YOU HAVE MANY OUR OFFICE AS WE
HAVE MINNEAPOLIS'S FIRST POLICE
CHIEF.
HERE WE ARE.
THIS IS BIGGER THAN JUST
PERSONAL FEELINGS AND IT'S
BIGGER THAN WHETHER YOU AND I
GET ALONG AS INDIVIDUALS.
IT'S SOMETHING BIGGER AND
SYSTEMIC AT WORK HERE.
WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS SYSTEM.
TELL ME WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE
BEEN DOING RIGHT THERE ON THE
NORTH SIDE OF MINNEAPOLIS, TO
TRY TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR
NEIGHBORHOOD.
SANCTUARY COVENANT IS 17
YEARS OLD FOR THE ENTIRE
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, WE HAVE
HAD THIS POSTURE OF WHEN THE
COMMUNITY NEEDS US MOST, WE
WANT TO MOVE TOWARD THE
COMMUNITY AS OPPOSED TO PULLING
AWAY FROM THE COMMUNITY.
I THINK BACK TO 2011, WHEN THE
TORNADO HIT NORTH MINNEAPOLIS,
OUR CHURCH WAS IN THE STREETS,
SERVING FOOD, SERVING PEOPLE.
WHEN THIS INCIDENT HAPPENED
LAST MONDAY NIGHT, AND AS NEWS
SPREAD ON TUESDAY, WE REALLY
WANT TO GET OUT AND THE
COMMUNITY OURSELVES.
WE PULLED OUT THE GIRL, STARTED
GRILLING HOTDOGS, HANDING OUT
WATER.
JUST TALKING TO THE NEIGHBORS
WHO WERE OUT AND ABOUT IN NORTH
MINNEAPOLIS.
WE PUT OUT A ASK FOR SOME
DONATIONS TO JUST REPLENISH THE
FOOD THAT WE WERE BARBECUING
EACH DAY.
THAT WORD SPREAD SOMEHOW TO SAY
WE WERE TAKING ALL KINDS OF
DONATIONS AND THOUSANDS UPON
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE STARTED
COMING AND BRINGING ALL SORTS
OF THINGS. WE SHIFTED INTO A
FOOD SHELF OVERNIGHT ALMOST.
AND WE HAVE BEEN SERVING FOR
THE LAST WEEK, SERVING HUNDREDS
OF PEOPLE EACH DAY, PERHAPS
EVEN MORE.
AND IS GREAT IS THE NEED HAS
BEEN, THE GENEROSITY HAS
NOTCHED IT. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN
COMING FROM EVERY PART OF THE
TWIN CITIES, BRINGING ITEMS AND
IT HAS BEEN OFTEN.
IS THERE HOPE RIGHT NOW?
YOU KNOW, I THINK THE WORK
OF THE CHURCH IS HELP PEOPLE
HOLD ONTO THE HOPE.
WE HAVE OUR PERSONAL FAITH, OUR
FAITH IN JESUS.
WHETHER YOU ARE A BELIEVER OR
NOT, THERE IS SOMETHING HUMAN
ABOUT US THAT TOLD US THAT WE
HAVE TO LOOK TOWARDS THE HOPE.
WHERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF
THINGS GETTING BETTER?
AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE THAT
HOPE, IT REALLY IS HARD TO MAKE
IT IN THIS LIFE.
I WOULD SAY, YES.
THE PEOPLE OF NORTH
MINNEAPOLIS, THE PEOPLE OF
SOUTH MINNEAPOLIS ARE SOME OF
THE MOST RESILIENT PEOPLE I
HAVE EVER MET.
I THINK THERE IS GREAT HOPE
THAT WE WILL SEE THIS INCIDENT
PROGRESS THE WAY IT NEEDS TO,
WITH OFFICERS BEING HELD
ACCOUNTABLE FOR WHAT THEY HAVE
DONE.
EVEN IF THIS MOMENT DOESN'T GO
THE WAY WE WANTED TO, PEOPLE
ARE NOT GOING TO GIVE UP. THEY
ARE GOING TO KEEP FIGHTING,
STRUGGLING FOR FREEDOM.
AND I THINK OUR LEADERS HAVE A
REAL OPPORTUNITY HERE IN THE
TWIN CITIES, RIGHT NOW, TO DO
SOMETHING ABOUT WHAT THE PEOPLE
ARE CRYING OUT FOR IN THE
STREETS.