Firstly, what actually happen?
Floyd was allegedly attempting to pay for cigarettes in a local shop with a counterfeit $20 bill. The owner of the shop asked him to return the cigarettes but Floyd, who was “awfully drunk” refused, so 911 was called.
Shortly after, 4 armed policemen arrived at the scene. The complaint said Floyd "actively resisted being handcuffed", but then became compliant. However, when CCTV footage from the shop was pulled up, no resistance from Floyd could be seen from when he was being taken into custody. As Floyd was being led to the police car, he "fell to the ground, and told the officers he was “claustrophobic'". After getting him into the vehicle, Derek Chauvin "pulled" Floyd "out of the passenger side of the squad car". Floyd "went to the ground face down and still handcuffed". Chauvin placed "his knee in the area of Mr Floyd's head and neck", the complaint said. Officer Kueng held Floyd's back and Lane held his legs.
=-[Floyd repeatedly told officers he couldn't breathe multiple times, saying "please" and "Mama". However, Chauvin's knee remained on Floyd's neck, and the other officers did not change positions. They told Floyd he was "talking fine" in response to his claims that he could not breathe. After 6 minutes, "the video appears to show Mr Floyd ceasing to breathe or speak". A police officer checked his pulse and said, "I couldn't find one". The officers remained in their positions. It was almost 3 minutes after this happened that Chauvin took his knee off Floyd's neck. The defendant had his knee on Mr Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total," the complaint said. "Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr Floyd was non-responsive. Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous.”
Two autopsy reports were released on Monday - one from the county officials and another from independent experts - both of which listed Floyd's death as a homicide. However, they differ in the cause. The independent report found Floyd died from "asphyxiation from sustained pressure", from Chauvin's knee and body weight being placed on Floyd's neck, with other officers kneeling on his back. The Hennepin County medical examiner's office lists Floyd's cause of death as "Cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression". Cardiopulmonary arrest means Floyd's heart failed. There was no mention of asphyxiation. The report's determination on Floyd's death "is not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process.”
Why did this cause such a widespread fury?
Initially, none of the police officers were charged and the only action taken was them getting fired. While the incident itself was enough to create an uproar, this added fuel to the fire. What was earlier seen by the public as an clear act of racism was now also looked at as police brutality and misuse of power. This was tipping edge that sparked the outrage.
About the protests!
The incident went viral, and footage which was shared through social media brought a lot of attention to this incident. That very night, demonstrators filled the streets close to where Floyd was killed to take part in a “peaceful rally”. However the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that demonstrations took a turn when police in riot gear fired tear gas and non-lethal bean-bag rounds into the crowds while some protesters threw water bottles. Local news footage showed some of the protestors vandalizing the outside of a police station and a squad car. While the violence was initiated by the police, under the federal laws of the country, they had every right to do so and weren’t punishable. The unrest spread to a second night, which saw scattered fires take hold and looting in the city. This caused a chain reaction, with country wide protests being held. This was the first time in the last 50 years where protests had taken place in every single state of the USA, marking it a powerful event. It didn’t take long for this to spread to other countries and protestors to start showing support from all over the world. Protests have taken place every single day henceforth and show no signs of stopping any time soon.
As well as protests, tributes for George Floyd have been held in various states, to show their respect and support. Charity funds aimed to help his family and fund his daughters education have also been set up. A collective action called “theBlackoutTuesday” took place on 2nd June. Influencers and celebrities joined by locals showed their support and spread awareness by posting a plain black picture on their social media platforms with “#BlackoutTuesday”.
The biggest question, has this brought any change?
Yes, in fact, the government of USA has implemented quite a few changes in attempts to help curb racism and try to ease out the startling difference in treatment of police officers as compared to locals. Firstly, Minneapolis officials on Friday announced an agreement to immediately ban the use of chokeholds and strangleholds, in a move meant to bolster accountability within a Police Department that uses force against African-Americans far more often than against white residents. With protesters rallying officials to “defund the police” and “abolish the police,” a majority of Minneapolis city council members pledged to disband the city’s police department with a new community-led safety model, a step that would have seemed unthinkable before Floyd’s death. As well as that, cuts in the police budgets have been proposed by mayors of multiple cities including New York City, Boston and Los Angeles. Statues, monuments and buildings of U.S. historical leaders who carried out policies viewed as racist are being removed. Several universities and towns renamed buildings and roadways titled after leaders of the Confederate movement, which defended slavery. Federal lawmakers and state officials in much of the country have begun proposing what they describe as police reform legislation. Democrats in the U.S. Congress on June 8 proposed legislation to ban neck holds, require federal officers to wear body cameras, and increase independent oversight over departments. U.S. Representative Justin Amash, a Libertarian, and Democrats Ilhan Omar of Minneapolis and Ayanna Pressley of Boston, said they plan to back a separate bill allowing civil lawsuits against police. It would reverse a Supreme Court “qualified immunity” doctrine that has largely shielded police from legal liability even when courts find officers violate civil rights.
Finally...
After seeing the response and the public indignation, Chauvin was charged with second degree murder and Tou Minneapolis Thao, Thomas Lane and Alexander Keung were charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder and second degree manslaughter.
Writer: Palak Jain
15/06/2020
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