Death of George Floyd: Protests Across The United States Despite Police Charge
Death of George Floyd: protests across the United States despite police charge
The 46-year-old African American died after his arrest on Monday evening. He was tackled to the ground by a white policeman who kept his knee on his neck for long minutes.
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| Cars on fire in Minneapolis on May 29 in protest at the death of George Floyd. |
After several days of riots, demonstrations broke out in several major American cities Friday, May 29 in the evening after the death earlier this week of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American , despite the charge of manslaughter of the arrested policeman.
"The police officer involved, who was identified as Derek Chauvin, has been detained" by the criminal police, said Commissioner John Harrington of the Minnesota State Department of Civil Security earlier Friday. The Hennepin County prosecutor, where the city of Minneapolis is located, has announced that his services have charged him with a cruel and dangerous act causing death and manslaughter. Prosecution is expected against the other three police officers.
The family of George Floyd welcomed the arrest, a first step on "the road to justice" , even if they considered it "late" and insufficient. “We want a charge of intentional homicide with premeditation. And we want to see the other [implicated] agents arrested, «she said in a statement. US President Donald Trump, who spoke to her, said, "George's family has the right to justice. Minnesota residents have a right to safety. "
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| Demonstration against the death of George Floyd on May 29 in Las Vegas. |
George Floyd died Monday night, just after being arrested by police who suspected he had wanted to forge a counterfeit 20-dollar bill. During the intervention, he was tackled to the ground by an officer who kept his knee on his neck for long minutes. "I can no longer breathe," we hear him say: the scene, filmed by a witness, is hardly sustainable.
In the process, the four agents involved were dismissed and federal and local investigations were opened to establish their responsibility. But no arrests had yet taken place, which fueled all the frustration.
This new case notably recalls the death of Eric Garner , a black man who died in 2014 in New York after being asphyxiated during his arrest by white police officers. He too had said "I can't breathe", a sentence that has become a rallying cry of the Black Lives Matter movement ("The life of blacks counts")
· Minneapolis curfew ·
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| Fire at a Minneapolis police station on May 28 |
Five hundred soldiers from the National Guard of the State of Minnesota were deployed at the request of the governor, Friday morning (Minneapolis time), to restore calm on the spot and to support two hundred police officers of the state, as well as helicopters , which were also to be sent there.
During the night of Thursday to Friday, the demonstrations turned into a riot near the police station where the four men worked. Confronted with the advance of the demonstrators, the security forces had abandoned the premises around 10 p.m. Some demonstrators then managed to break through the security barriers, break the windows and set the building on fire.
Several shops in the surrounding area have suffered a similar fate and violence has also spread to certain districts of the neighboring town of Saint-Louis, with sporadic clashes between police officers and residents.
The protests had previously been mostly peaceful, with crowds contained by chains of men in uniform. The parade started at the end of the afternoon, with many demonstrators wearing a mask to protect themselves from the coronavirus. In the neighboring town of Sainte-Paule, the police reported damage and theft. “We know there is a lot of anger. We know there are a lot of injuries. But we cannot allow some people to use it as an opportunity to commit crimes, ” said city police chief Todd Axtell.
To ease the situation, Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, has declared a curfew for the whole city . From 8 p.m. local time (3 a.m. in Paris on Saturday) until 6 a.m. the next morning, the streets of the city were to be deserted, except for the police, firefighters and medical personnel. . But he was defied by demonstrators who were subjected to tear gas.
· Events across the country ·
Friday evening, hundreds of people demonstrated outside the White House in Washington to express their anger. In Detroit, a person was shot and killed after a man, driving his vehicle, shot at a group of protesters, according to the AP news agency. Police are not involved, according to local authorities. In Atlanta, police patrol vehicles were burned.
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| Demonstration in New York, May 28. |
Peaceful protests have also taken place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, or Portland, Oregon.
· Journalists targeted, CNN team arrested
A team from the American 24- hour news channel CNN was arrested by police on Friday morning while they were covering the rest of the events live. The scene was broadcast live, shortly after 5 a.m. local time (12 p.m. in Paris), according to the chain's banner. We see the journalist, Omar Jimenez, facing the police in riot gear. "We can back up wherever you want. We are live. Put us where you want, ” he said calmly behind his mask.
The camera continues to rotate when two police officers seize his microphone to handcuff him. "Why am I under arrest?" " Asks the journalist, who is Black, before his colleagues are arrested in their turn and capture camera.
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