MINNEAPOLIS — Geno Crandall helped lead Gonzaga to an Elite Eight last year. Now, he's trying to lead a movement in his hometown.
"As chaotic as it’s been I think there’s kind of been some light shining through that as well," reflected Crandall on the events in Minneapolis the past few weeks.
Crandall says he has protested once, but that he's using his voice in other ways.
"I’ve more kind of just tried to focus on more of rebuilding efforts. I think there’s a place for everyone in trying to do the right thing and trying to bring justice and equality and all that," said Crandall. "My calling is more towards helping people who need help and trying to come up with a solution, speaking with people, trying to organize programs, trying to organize relief efforts, clean up efforts, funding for getting some of these businesses back on their feet when this is all over."
How this all started though had a significant impact on Geno, like nearly everyone else in the United States.
"I think shock for a second." said Geno of watching George Floyd's murder. "I think anytime you watch someone lose their life on camera you’re going to have a moment of just.. that’s hard to put into words, the exact feeling. There’s a moment where you realize the humanity in yourself and in everyone, how fragile life can be. That kind of quickly shifts from shock to a here we go again type of thing."
Just because Geno was shocked though, doesn’t mean he was surprised.
"There’s kind of been a long history of mistreatment and over-policing in certain communities. In other parts of Minneapolis you might have a much lower police presence, police that move a lot less militantly, that resort to violence as a last option," he said. "The south side neighborhood where George Floyd was unfortunately murdered at being one of those you see over-policing a lot, and you see aggression towards people of color. Those are the areas that get over-policed. For a lot of people it was just another day. It was example of what they endure, and we endure every day of our lives."
At the end of our interview, I asked Geno if he had anything to add. He did.
"My last thing just as a closing message is for anyone who disagrees with the way things have been handled or disagrees with the reasoning behind things is just to always consider if you were on the other side of the boot. If you were, instead of the one with the boot on, the one getting stepped on. Just try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Know that people aren’t going to be right all the time. People are trying and are trying for the right reasons. I can’t think of a better reason to want to fight for something than seeing an innocent man get killed," he said.