Mpls. Letter Carriers Protest Saying Buildings Can Be Rebuilt, But Lives Cannot Be Brought Back
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A gathering lead by letter carriers in Minneapolis met outside the torched U.S. Post Office on East Lake Street Sunday morning.
Their purpose was to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protestors and march from the post office to 38th & Chicago, the intersection that's turned into the memorial for George Floyd.
These letter carriers are members of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) union and this protest was not officially affiliated with the U.S. Postal Service.
"I deliver just north of here on Franklin Ave.," said Tyler Vasseur, a letter carrier who organized the event.
Last Friday, the U.S. Post Office on Lake Street and two other Minneapolis post offices were some of the destructive results of riots. These letter carriers are standing together to show they care more about the people they serve than the loss of a building.
"I don't know if people targeted the postal service for any particular reason, other than it was right next to the police station," Vasseur said.
Once the group made their way to the George Floyd memorial site, they blended into the dense crowd, but their message still stood out.
"You can rebuild a post office, you cannot bring back the life of a man who was murdered by police," Vasseur said.
The damage from the riots did cause postal service to shut down for three days last week.
The letter carriers who are unable to work out of their damaged post offices were relocated to other nearby stations.
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