The tension resulting from the death of George Floyd, following his arrest by the police, does not descend to the United States, where the night was still marked by demonstrations. Live news.
The essential
- Tuesday evening was again marked by a wave of protests denouncing the death of George Floyd, an African-American from Minneapolis asphyxiated by a police officer while he was being arrested. 60,000 people gathered in the evening in Houston, Texas. Rallies have also taken place in Los Angeles, or even in Washington, despite the curfews in force. These peaceful demonstrations have been organized daily for a week to condemn racism and police violence. Riots, violent outbursts and looting also took place in several cities, on the sidelines of demonstrations or after dark.
- Donald Trump recently hardened his tone and continues to claim that the protests are organized by “anarchists” and the far left. The President deployed “thousands of heavily armed soldiers” to Washington and called on the governors for more firmness. The head of state has warned that if necessary, he will send military forces to cities where riots continue.
- Autopsy performed by an independent laboratory on the body of George Floyd gave its results: it concludes in a death “by homicide”, because of “the pressure exerted on his neck”, which led to “cardiac arrest” , but the protesters and the family of the deceased claim that the three other police officers who participated in the arrest should also be prosecuted. The funeral of Georges Floyd will take place on June 9 in Houston, where this 46-year-old man grew up.
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17:52 – Biden criticizes Trump for handling the crisis
Joe Biden, candidate against Donald Trump in the next presidential election, was not tender with the current tenant of the White House, who according to him “transformed this country into a battlefield undermined by old grudges and new fears “. If elected in November, the Democrat has promised to “heal the racial wounds that have plagued our country for so long.”
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17:28 – The Pentagon opposes the deployment of the army
While Donald Trump said he was in favor of the use of the armed forces to maintain calm during the demonstrations, the Pentagon, the building housing the United States Department of Defense, said against this possibility. “I do not support the invocation of the law on insurgency,” allowing the US president to summon the army, said Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.
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5:01 pm – Huge success for the “Justice for George Floyd” petition
The online petition demanding “justice for George Floyd” is a huge success with more than 13 million signatories. This petition takes up the will of the family of this African-American killed by a police officer, namely the indictment of the two other officers who participated in his arrest.
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16:09 – Tony Yoka goes back on his words
Pulled violently from his reserve to denounce the death of George Floyd, boxer Tony Yoka had urged his fans in a message to “screw everything”. This Wednesday, he returned to this highly commented message in a new text. “My message made a lot of talk, both positive and negative. I wrote this message at 6am after spending the night watching these videos. I had rage, hatred. (…) But after these few days, I realized that my voice carried. I have always been and I will always be against any form of racism. Whatever the origins, color, religion, sexual orientation (etc) that we have, we are all equal and we must all accept each other, “he wrote in particular.
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15:00 – Boris Johnson talks about George Floyd
The Prime Minister spoke about the death of Georges Floyd on Wednesday. Boris Johnson spoke of an “outrageous” and “inexcusable” death from the House of Commons, calling for future protests to “take place in a lawful and reasonable manner”.
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2:00 pm – Joe Biden wants “real police reform”
Former Vice President and Presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke on the protests following the death of George Floyd. The Democrat called on the Congress to propose “this month” a “real police reform”. According to him, the time has come to “fight systemic racism and face the growing economic inequalities that exist” in the United States. Joe Biden urged Senator Mitch McConnell to pass a law that will address protesters’ concerns about police reform and the prohibition of strangulation.
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13:19 – A first investigation in favor of the demonstrators
An investigation along the lines of the demonstrators demanding justice for George Floyd will be carried out in Minnesota. The aim will be to examine possible “systemic discriminatory practices” over the past ten years, as Governor Tim Walz said on Twitter.
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12:49 – Tony Yoka pinned by a rival for his remarks linked to the death of Floyd
The famous French boxer Tony Yoka had not hidden his anger following the death of George Floyd, even going so far as to encourage his fans to “screw everything” in a post on social networks. Raphaël Tronché, former world heavyweight champion and rival to Tony Yoka, attacked the latter in L’Equipe, reproaching him for his call to hate. “It’s scandalous! This guy is a megaphone thanks to his media notoriety, but he uses it to issue calls to hatred. By inciting young people to violence, he breaks all this background work of educators , volunteers and mediators. Who will put out the fires that Yoka incites to start? He will go to repair the shattered bus stops? He who will calm the youth of the neighborhoods? “lamented Raphaël Tronché.
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12:29 – Justin Trudeau’s long silence
Invited to speak on the situation in the United States and more specifically on the military deployment engaged by Donald Trump to control the demonstrators demanding justice for George Floyd, Justin Trudeau marked a silence which spoke volumes about his thought. The Canadian Prime Minister ended up affirming that, like everyone else, he noted with dismay and horror what is happening in the United States, but without really answering the question.
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11:58 – Melania Trump calls for respect for curfew
Put in place in several cities in the United States, the curfew is struggling to be respected, including by political representatives of the country. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, for example, was seen last night on the streets of Washington to seek justice for George Floyd. This prompted Melania Trump, wife of President Donald Trump, to come out of her reserve. “I encourage all citizens to obey curfews, clear the streets and stay at home to spend time with their loved ones. All cities, communities and citizens deserve to be kept safe, which cannot be done that if we work together for healing and peace, “the First Lady tweeted.
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11:01 – Pope Francis reacts
This Wednesday, Pope Francis took up the subject related to the death of George Floyd, denouncing “any form of racism”. “We can neither tolerate nor condone any form of racism or exclusion, and pretend to defend the sanctity of all human life,” he said at his hearing.
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10:49 – Elizabeth Warren participated in the demonstration in Washington
This Tuesday evening in Washington, the demonstration demanding justice for George Floyd was marked by the presence of Elizabeth Warren. The Democratic senator, like all the demonstrators, defied the curfew installed in the American capital.
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10:38 – The situation in New York
In New York, despite the curfew, 500 people were arrested for mulching and vandalism. On Tuesday evening, the curfew started at 8 p.m. but once again, demonstrators defied the ban and gathered, without any violence being reported.
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And also
The protests, peaceful by day, hardened at night with gestures of violence, for almost a week:
Clashes between demonstrators and police shook several big cities in the United States last night, under curfew #AFP pic.twitter.com/vLESwk2ff5
– Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) May 31, 2020
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The blacklivesmatter movement, which has become a hashtag widely relayed on social networks since the death of Georges Floyd, was not actually born with this sad event. It is a movement, which can be translated into French as “the life of blacks counts”, having emerged in 2013 to denounce any form of racism, including state, suffered by African Americans in United States. Police violence, highlighted by the George Floyd affair, is regularly denounced by those who claim to be BLM. The very first time that the hashtag #blacklivesmatter appeared when George Zimmerman was acquitted in July 2013. This Latin American, responsible for the surveillance of a residence in Florida, was accused of having caused the death of Trayvon Martin, Afro -American, 17, after shooting him. After 16 hours of hearing at the trial, Zimmerman had been found not guilty by the judges, which had caused a wave of indignation in the United States.
The video of the arrest of George Floyd is clear: we see this African-American put on the ground by a police officer, who supports his knee against the head of the victim. We also distinctly hear George Floyd complain about this violent treatment. “My stomach hurts, my neck hurts. I hurt everywhere,” he said, begging the policeman and his colleague to give him water. “I can’t breathe anymore. They’ll kill me,” said George Floyd, who died a few moments later.
George Floyd, 46, died on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following a police arrest, which was filmed and broadcast on social media. The images show a very brutal arrest made by 4 police officers. One of them, Derek Chauvin, appears kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, while he is pressed on the ground, for several minutes. Law enforcement officials said they acted on a call to report intoxicated George Floyd and stated in their report that George Floyd had resisted strongly, which is contradicted by the images taken by a witness and by a video surveillance camera. On the ground, George Floyd made it clear that he could no longer breathe. An investigation by the police and an FBI investigation led to the arrest of Derek Chauvin.
Derek Chauvin was charged Friday, May 29 with “manslaughter” and “cruel and dangerous act causing death”, following the first investigation into the conditions of arrest of George Floyd. The man has been the subject of several reports in the American media since the events of May 25. CNN reporters revealed that Derek Chauvin has been the subject of 18 complaints in the past for his behavior, which led, in a nutshell, to two letters of reprimand. The former Minneapolis police officer was also awarded a medal after being shot in an intervention for domestic violence in 2008. He was also involved in two other shootings: one of them , in 2006, led to the death of a 42-year-old man, shot dead by the police, who said in an official report that he had acted in self-defense.
The American president first announced on Saturday June 30 that he had called the family of George Floyd to offer their condolences. “.I stand on the side of all Americans in search of justice and peace,” he said during a press point, before commenting on the demonstrations in these terms: “I also stand before you in strongly oppose anyone who exploits this tragedy to loot, steal, attack and threaten. […] I understand the pain people feel. We support the right of peaceful demonstrators and we listen to their appeals. But what we see on the streets of our cities has nothing to do with justice or peace. The memory of George Floyd is dishonored by rioters, looters and anarchists. Violence and vandalism are the work of the “Antifa” and other radical left groups who terrorize the innocent, destroy jobs, damage businesses and burn down buildings, “said Donald Trump. was more direct, targeting political opponents on Twitter and condemning rallies, calling on elected officials and democratic governors to “be firmer” against the rioters. “These people are anarchists. Call our national guard now. The world is watching you and laughing at the sleeping Joe (Joe Biden, editor’s note). Does America want? No! “On Tuesday, June 2, Donald Trump called on the governors to be firm to” control their streets “and that he was ready to deploy the army to” quickly resolve the problem for them “.
As MappingPoliceViolence reports, police violence mainly affects black populations in the United States: they are 3 times more represented than white people in the number of people killed by the police between 2013 and 2019. Another striking figure: over the year 2019, there are only 27 days in which there have been no deaths due to police fire. The map below shows the extent of the phenomenon, MappingPoliceViolence making a point on each person killed by the police in 2019:
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