Minneapolis Uprising — 2022
A month-by-month index for 2022 within the Minneapolis Uprising documentation.
2022 in Minneapolis unfolded as the post-2020 protest movement shifted into a long phase of follow-through: courtrooms, policy fights, internal department turmoil, and continued street-level organizing. Protesters kept pressure on city leadership over police accountability and public safety policy, while community groups continued building alternatives and tracking what (and who) changed after the largest protests of 2020–2021.
The year was heavily shaped by federal and state investigations, civil-rights litigation, and public debates about how Minneapolis should police itself. Protest actions and gatherings often centered on transparency, oversight, and the consequences of misconduct cases, alongside recurring pushes to cut or reshape enforcement and expand non-police responses. The gap between reform language and on-the-ground experience remained a central theme in public organizing.
George Floyd Square remained a symbolic anchor through 2022—still a site of memorial activity, protest visibility, and community control—while the city continued to argue over its future. Across the year, Minneapolis moved deeper into the slow work of structural change: less defined by emergency response, more defined by sustained protest organizing, legal outcomes, and ongoing conflict over public safety and accountability.
- January 24, 2022 — The U.S. Department of Justice announces a pattern-or-practice investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department following calls for federal intervention.
- February–March 2022 — Ongoing protest gatherings and organizing continue as public debate intensifies over accountability, oversight, and public safety policy.
- April 20, 2022 — Former officer Derek Chauvin is sentenced in federal court; protesters and community groups mark the moment while emphasizing that accountability extends beyond one case.
- August 2022 — Federal cases involving former Minneapolis officers connected to 2020 events proceed, keeping protest focus on prosecution outcomes and systemic responsibility.
- Throughout 2022 — Continued memorial and protest presence at George Floyd Square alongside ongoing disputes over the site’s governance and long-term status.
- Late 2022 — Protest organizing continues amid continuing scrutiny of MPD practices, staffing, and the pace of promised reforms.