Ramsey County Sheriff's Office via AP
- Minneapolis city council approved funding to hire social media influencers for Derek Chauvin’s trial, WCCO-TV reported.
- The influencers will be paid to provide the local community with information about the trial.
- Chauvin was charged in Floyd’s death, and his trial is set to begin on March 8.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The Minneapolis City Council greenlit funding to hire social media influencers to spread information to the public during the trial of Derek Chauvin, who knelt on George Floyd’s neck during an arrest last year.
WCCO-TV reported that the city council approved more than $1.1 million to invest in communications on Friday. Six influencers will be paid $2,000 to deliver information to the public, especially to “Black, Native American, Somali, Hmong, and Latinx communities,” the report said.
“The City is collaborating with social media partners to share public information with cultural communities and to help dispel potential misinformation during the upcoming trials of the former officers involved in the killing of George Floyd,” the Minneapolis City Council told WCCO-TV in a statement.
“The goal is to increase access to information to communities that do not typically follow mainstream news sources or City communications channels and/or who do not consume information in English. It’s also an opportunity to create more two-way communication between the City and communities.”
City officials did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
The concept of "city approved" messengers has raised concerns from local activists, WCCO-TV reported. "The keyword here is 'city-approved'," Toussaint Morrison, an activist, told the news station."What do you think the message is going to be? It's going to be pro-city, it's going to be anti-protest."
According to the report, the city council will continue to iron out more details and information about the social influencers to the public on Monday.
Floyd's death sparked a nationwide outcry and protests against police brutality in the United States. Chauvin was captured on video pinning his knee of Floyd's neck on May 25, 2020. The terminated officer is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, and jury selection for his trial will begin on March 8.
The trial for the other three officers involved is slated for August.