NEPA native, journalist living in Minneapolis reflects on Floyd death

WILKES-BARRE — West Pittston native Chris Hine lives on the outskirts of downtown Minneapolis, not far away from where George Floyd died.

Where Hine lives is a few miles north from where Floyd was killed and from where the focal points of the protests, looting and fires have been.

Hine, son of Chet and Donna Hine of West Pittston, works for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, covering the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association.

Hine, 33, said his newspaper has catalogued businesses that have suffered damage — many are located along Lake Street and extend into the popular Uptown area of Minneapolis — Hine said it’s called Uptown even though it’s south of downtown.

”It’s sad to see that because included in this destruction has been a lot of minority-owned businesses along that corridor,” Hine said.

On Monday, May 25, Floyd, who was black, was killed in the Powderhorn community of Minneapolis.

While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white American Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, who is facing a charge of homicide.

“It was surreal to see how things escalated as quickly as they did,” Hine said. “Since the NBA season was postponed, I’ve spent most of the last 11 weeks in my apartment isolating myself (I live by myself) as much as I could. The way I helped myself cope with the isolation is by taking frequent bike rides and I ride my bike often in the areas where most of the damage has happened. I actually got the bike at the Target near the Third Police Precinct that was one of the first buildings looted.”

Hine said he was driving early last Tuesday evening and he was sitting at a red light.

“The first indication I had that things could get out of control was when I saw about 12 police SUVs all in a row go through the light in the opposite direction from me headed toward the area that would eventually be the initial focal point of the protests,” Hine said. “I had been thinking about visiting friends in the days and weeks before last week, just for my mental health, and after Wednesday night, as looting and rioting became more widespread, I decided to leave Minneapolis since I live downtown, not knowing if those among the crowds who sought destruction were going to target my neighborhood.

“Businesses all around me were boarding up and as I was getting ready to leave Thursday, people were everywhere downtown headed toward a protest that was centered there. My family back in West Pittston was relieved when I told them I was getting out of town.”

Hine said Minneapolis and St. Paul are known as progressive, forward-thinking places to live and it’s one of the reasons why he said he enjoys living there.

“But like everywhere in America, there is a contentious history between police and their black residents,” Hine said. “I’ve heard this comment from a lot of friends — ‘How could this happen in a place that’s so progressive?’”

A time for awakening

Hine said George Floyd’s death should awaken everyone that racism is prevalent anywhere in America, no matter how liberal or conservative a place is reputed to be.

“It’s also something I learned living eight years in Chicago,” Hine continued. “I interviewed one of the NBA players I cover on the Timberwolves, Josh Okogie, last week and he underscored this point: ‘It doesn’t matter where you are or what you do, you can always be a victim of racism.’ Racism knows no bounds, no job title or political ideology.”

Hine said people are seeing the release of all this pent-up pain and anxiety in the Twin Cities.

“There are people among the crowds who are mixing in, intentionally trying to do harm,” Hine said. “But in all this tragedy, I still see good from my new home in Minnesota.”

Hine said thanks in part to the news coverage in the Star Tribune, he has seen many more people who want to use their voices in a peaceful way to protest injustice.

“I see neighbors helping neighbors clean up the destruction, literally bringing their own brooms to sweep it away as best they can,” Hine said. “I see neighborhoods organizing food drives and distribution sites for communities who may have had food markets and grocery stores damaged in the riots. That’s important in cities where not everybody has a car and has easy access to food.”

And then Hine said, “I don’t know how this will all end, but I still hope good will eventually come of it.”

About Chris Hine

Chris Hine grew up in West Pittston, graduated from Bishop Hoban in 2005.

His dad, Chet Hine, coached Bishop Hoban’s boys basketball for 33 years and still teaches math at Holy Redeemer.

His mom, Donna, is the CFO of United Neighborhood Centers of Northeast Pennsylvania.

Chris graduated from Notre Dame University in 2009.

He worked at the Chicago Tribune from 2009-2018, covering college sports and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League.

Chris has worked at the Minneapolis Star Tribune 2018-present, covering analytics in sports initially, then moving to the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves beat beginning with the 2018-19 season.