George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of demonstrations that began in the wake of George Floyd's death on May 25, 2020, when a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, restrained him with his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest. Captured on video by bystanders, the incident sparked outrage and demands for justice, leading to protests that began in Minneapolis and rapidly spread across the United States and internationally. The protests highlighted issues of police brutality and systemic racism, with many participants advocating for the Black Lives Matter movement and calling for significant reforms in law enforcement practices.
While the majority of the demonstrations were peaceful, some incidents escalated into riots and looting, prompting curfews and the deployment of National Guard troops in various cities. Amidst the unrest, protestors faced police responses that included the use of tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful civilians. The movement led to broader discussions on police funding and reform, including the introduction of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act aimed at addressing these concerns. Ultimately, the protests were a pivotal moment in the ongoing fight for racial justice and accountability in policing, reflecting deep-seated societal issues and the urgent call for change.
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George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of nationwide demonstrations that erupted following the death of George Floyd, an African American man who died when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin attempted to arrest him on May 25, 2020. During the encounter, the officer tried to place Floyd in the squad car but Floyd apparently resisted and fell to the ground. Chauvin placed his knee onto Floyd’s back and neck to subdue him and remained in this position for nearly eight minutes while multiple police officers and bystanders looked on. Floyd repeatedly signaled he was in distress by stating he could not breathe, but Chauvin kept his knee in place until an ambulance arrived. Floyd was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The encounter was filmed by multiple observers and quickly uploaded to the Internet, and the video was eventually reported on by news outlets. Multiple local protests erupted throughout the Minneapolis area, and soon after sister protests spread across the nation, all in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most US demonstrations were spearheaded by the Black Lives Matter movement, while international protests broke out in more than sixty countries around the world. While the majority of the protests were peaceful, some descended into riots and looting. News outlets also began reporting on police brutality experienced by protesters, with videos showing police firing rubber bullets and tear gas at unarmed, peaceful civilians. Curfews were imposed in multiple cities across the nation in response to the chaos and dozens of states deployed National Guard troops to deal with protesters. The demonstrations were designed to raise awareness about police brutality and systemic racism within the United States; the movement also called for governments to revise funding of the public safety sector.
Background
On May 25, 2020, forty-six-year-old George Floyd was placed under arrest outside a grocery store in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood of Minneapolis for allegedly using a counterfeit bill to pay for cigarettes. The first police officers to arrive on the scene were Officer J. Alexander Kueng and Officer Thomas Kiernan Lane, who appeared at approximately 8:08 p.m. and found Floyd sitting in his parked car. Shortly after the police arrived, a person in the vehicle parked behind Floyd began recording the arrest. Floyd was pulled from his car and handcuffed, and the officers sat him on the sidewalk nearby. He was then placed under arrest, after which Keung and Lane began to walk Floyd to their squad car. As they approached the car, Floyd fell to the ground, and according to the arrest affidavit Floyd stated he was not resisting arrest but he was claustrophobic and did not wish to get in the back seat.
At 8:17 p.m., Officer Derek Michael Chauvin and Officer Tou Thao arrived to assist at the scene. Chauvin assumed control of the situation and again tried to place Floyd in the police vehicle, but Floyd continued to resist. While the officers were able to briefly get Floyd into the police car, a struggle ensued inside the vehicle, and security footage from the grocery store showed Chauvin pull Floyd out of the car, after which Floyd fell to the ground onto his chest. More witnesses at the scene began recording the event. By 8:20, Chauvin had his knee pressed against Floyd’s neck and Leung had his knee pressed against Floyd’s back as he lay on the pavement. Lane also used his body to subdue Floyd’s legs while Thao stood nearby. In recordings of the incident, Floyd can be heard pleading with the officers to let him up, saying “Please,” “I can’t breathe,” and “Mama” multiple times. Floyd clearly stated in one recording that the knee on his neck was preventing him from breathing. The officers ignored Floyd’s protests and at one point Chauvin told Floyd to “relax” in response to his pleas.
The officers called an ambulance to the scene at 8:22 p.m., and during the wait Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd’s neck. Floyd continued to beg the officer to release him, crying out for his mother and pleading with the officer not to kill him. Protests from onlookers can be heard in multiple recordings of the incident, some pleading with Chauvin to remove his knee from Floyd, others pointing out that Floyd’s nose was bleeding. Several minutes later, Floyd appears to lose consciousness and bystanders begin yelling at Chauvin to get off Floyd; Chauvin responds by taking out his mace to keep the observers away.
Eventually, Kueng checked Floyd’s pulse and found none, but the officers did not attempt to provide Floyd with medical assistance and Chauvin’s knee remained on Floyd’s neck. Although Floyd was motionless, Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd’s neck for about a minute after the ambulance arrived. In total, the officer had kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds, according to prosecutors. Floyd was then loaded into an ambulance and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. Medics attempted to resuscitate Floyd on the way to the hospital but found him unresponsive and pulseless. Floyd was pronounced dead at 9:25 p.m. at the Hennepin County Medical Center emergency room.
Overview
Video of the incident rapidly circulated across multiple media outlets and social media networks such as Twitter. Protests erupted in Minneapolis the day after Floyd’s death. Thousands of people flocked to the intersection where he had been pinned to the ground, and a memorial site was erected at East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue. Protesters chanted “I can’t breathe” as they marched through the streets, with organizers stressing that protests needed to remain peaceful. All four officers involved in the incident were fired by midday, but protesters called for charges to be brought against the officers for murder. Protesters later marched to the Minneapolis Police Department’s third precinct station, where the officers allegedly worked, and soon the demonstrations turned chaotic. Some individuals began vandalizing the precinct and the squad cars outside. Officers responded by firing tear gas and flash grenades, devices meant to disperse and disorient individuals, into the crowds. The protests in Minneapolis continued for several more days, with repeated clashes occurring between police and protesters. Riots erupted and some businesses in the area were set on fire.
In the days that followed Floyd’s death, people in other cities across the country began organizing demonstrations in solidarity. Groups marched in Los Angeles, Seattle, St. Louis, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, and many more major cities, demanding action against police brutality. Protests also took place internationally, in places such as London, England, and in New Zealand. In the United States, many protests remained peaceful. Other demonstrations involved clashes between police and civilians, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets into crowds to subdue the protests. Looting broke out in several cities.
The Minnesota National Guard was activated on May 28 to deal with vandalism, rioting, and looting. On May 29, four days after Floyd’s death, Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Protests persisted into the following week in more US cities, eventually occurring in every state. Many demonstrators carried Black Lives Matter signs, or signs with the words “I can’t breathe” written on them. Clashes between police and protesters continued to occur across the nation; police used pepper spray on many demonstrators and made a number of arrests as well. Eight individuals were reportedly killed at protests, while a number of news outlets reported the deaths of several police in cities where protests were taking place. In response to the chaos of the protests, some cities instituted city-wide curfews to curtail nighttime destruction. Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, advised people to abide by the curfew to ensure opportunists did not take advantage of the situation, stating that White supremacists, members of organized crime, out-of-state instigators, and possibly foreign actors were attempting to use the protests to sow discord and destabilize the city.
On June 1, two autopsies ruled Floyd’s death a homicide. The official autopsy indicated the cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest, while the outside expert who conducted an autopsy on behalf of Floyd’s family said he died of asphyxiation from sustained pressure. On the same day, President Donald Trump threatened to deploy the military to subdue violence and looting at some of the protests, and that evening had protesters driven from the park opposite the White House. On June 3, Chauvin’s charge was upgraded to add a second-degree murder charge. By this time, videos of police clashes with unarmed protesters were being heavily covered by news media. Two Buffalo, New York, police officers were charged with assault after a recording surfaced showing one officer pushing a seventy-five-year-old man to the ground and leaving him there as he bled from his head.
As the protests continued, many involved began advocating for one of the positions of the Black Lives Matter movement: police reform. The phrase “defund the police” refers to the reallocation of funds from the law enforcement to areas of underfunded community support such as social services, housing, and education. Organizers believed this funding shift would reduce the likelihood of police brutality by getting to the root of many social problems that lead to conflict between civilians and law enforcement. Protesters also called for specific reforms in police policy, such as a ban on chokeholds. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was introduced to the US House of Representatives in June 2020; the legislation proposed widespread police reforms.
The protests continued to evolve, and in some cities demonstrators turned their attention to statues. Some monuments to Confederate figures were toppled and defaced; in some cities, statues of other leaders and Christopher Columbus were targeted to bring attention to genocide and human rights violations linked to the figures. Some cities began removing Confederate statues on their own.
On March 29, 2021, Derek Chauvin's trial began. On April 20, after eleven days of testimony from dozens of bystanders, police officers, and paramedics, the jury pronounced Chauvin guilty on all three charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Following the verdict, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a wide-scale investigation by the US Justice Department into the use of police force in Minneapolis. President Joe Biden commented in support of the verdict, emphasizing the importance of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was passed by the House in June 2020 and was stalled in the Senate.
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