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‘He was such a respectful, calm, loving man’

After spending three days last week working to provide meals for the homeless and less fortunate in Minneapolis, Albert Lea couple George and Jill Marin have had a firsthand experience in witnessing the protests and rioting that have happened in the wake of George Floyd’s death last Monday.

Working with Breakthrough Ministries, a Minneapolis-based group focused on serving and bringing faith into the lives of the homeless, the Marins have gone to the Twin Cities multiple times over the past week and have helped to serve as many as 2,000 meals a day.

After spending time volunteering for Breakthrough Ministries on May 27, George Marin said he drove and walked around the area of the Minneapolis Third Police Precinct where he spent more than five hours. 

“In five hours I interacted with about 500 people,” George Marin said. “I just drove and walked and talked with people. I prayed with people, people from all walks of life. I just drove and spoke with people, and I said, ‘Look at me. I want you to know that I love you, that this guy loves you and I’m here to stand with you for George, but this rioting, this looting, this destruction is not honoring to George.”

Marin said he had many conversations with people who were looking, rioting and graffitiing and many of them stopped what they were doing. However, while there was much destruction around the area, Marin said a majority of the people were there peacefully. 

“The majority of the people there were peaceful people,” Marin said. “The majority of people there were not involved with the rioting and looting. The majority of people were truly hurting and grieving. They were angry.”

As it turned out, the Marins knew Floyd from a day of work they had together a number of years back. The Marins were working at a winter clothing drive put on by Breakthrough Ministries and George Marin said he worked alongside Floyd the entire day as Floyd worked security detail.

According to George Marin, he gave Floyd his personal coat at the end of the day because he promised Floyd one of the coats in his size but the drive ran out before Floyd could take one. 

After a few refusals to accept Marin’s personal jacket, Floyd eventually took it and left. However,  a few minutes later, Floyd returned to bring back a sunglasses clip he found in the pocket. Marin said Floyd must have turned around and ran about four blocks in 30 degree below zero winter weather to return the clip. 

“He was such a respectful, calm, loving man,” George Marin said. “The man that we met, the man that we worked with, the man that would have never let any harm come to me or our team, he was a good man. The testimony that had come out of his life both in Houston and the Twin Cities are a testament to a good man.”

Having been a couple years since they worked together, George Marin said he didn’t recognize Floyd when he first watched the video of his arrest. It wasn’t until later in the day when he was working in the area that he learned it was Floyd.

Jill Marin also vividly remembers working with Floyd that day and the type of person he was. 

“We’ve seen in the news reports that his most recent job was also in security,” Jill Marin said. “So the George that we knew was always involved in protecting others and serving others by protecting them.”

George Marin said one of the first things he did after watching the video was call local law enforcement officers to thank them for their service and to say he doesn’t fear something like that happening in the Albert Lea community.

While some communities are experiencing turmoil in the midst of the tragedy, George Marin urged that this is a time when everyone needs to come together and listen to one another about changes that need to be made. 

“Our prayers are for our country,” said George Marin, who, together with his wife, leads Grace Christian Church in Albert Lea. “Our prayers are for our state and especially today our prayers are going up on behalf of our community. (Jill) and I are committed to peace, we’re committed to harmony and we’re committed to unity… Much has been lost, but not all has been lost. We’ve got a lot of hope and strength in us, and we want to be a catalyst in moving our community and state forward.”