On May 28, the Minneapolis Third Police Precinct was set on fire by rioters, following the death of George Floyd. Police officers inside thought they were going to die (video):
A month later, lesbian couple A’lexis Hamblin and Celina Berndt celebrated their wedding in front of the destroyed building. (See-it-to-believe-it pictures in link below.) Officiant Nadirah McGill proudly told the ultra-left City Pages:
“Just 30 days ago, we stood here and watched the Third Precinct go up in flames — a different but similar proclamation of love,” McGill said in their speech. “Both of these revolutionary acts are celebrated today, in the queerest, most last-minute, beautiful, and radical joining of A’lexis Hamblin and Celina Berndt in marriage in front of the BURNT DOWN THIRD PRECINCT!”
To help us better understand, one of the two brides added:
“The best way I can describe how I feel would be to say, I feel whole. I married the queer love of my life on the anniversary of Stonewall at the burnt-down Third Precinct,” Hamblin says. “It was such a wholesome feeling having everyone together to celebrate Black queer love and liberation. It felt like we were all healing together after such a traumatic month.”
“I think Celina and I — along with our friends, family, and community — needed something to celebrate,” Hamblin says. “The wedding was a form of activism.”
(wedding pics below)
To help promote the story, the major newspaper in Minneapolis–the Star Tribune–shared these quotes:
“We were actually just laying in bed one day and I was like, ‘Oh my god, why not get married in front of the burned down precinct,’ ” Lex said.
“Even though the police are extremely brutal, especially being Black and queer, I just felt like I did want to be in the polices’ face, like no matter what you do to me, I’m going to celebrate my love. It felt like liberation,” Lex said.
On the other side of this story, FOX 9 NEWS in Minneapolis reported that 150 police officers are filing for disability due to post-traumatic stress that has been building up over the years. According to attorney Ron Meuser, who represents the officers:
“. . . the stress and trauma reached a tipping point with the siege of the Third Police Precinct”, he said. “Fifty of the officers currently seeking disability, about one-third of the total, were present at the Third Precinct on Thursday, May 28.”
“They did not feel they were going to come home,” said Meuser. “Some officers were texting their families’ goodbye and others were saving a bullet in case they needed to take their own life, rather than being beaten to death”, he said.
Is this a ‘wholesome’ place to have a wedding? Please share your thoughts.
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