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02-06-2020
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
WASHINGTON/ SAINT PAUL/ NEW YORK/ KARACHI:
Violence continues: Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as protests continued overnight. The former officer who was seen with his knee on Floyd’s neck was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter as protesters demand charges for the other officers involved.
Trump threatens force: Declaring himself “your president of law and order,” President Donald Trump vowed Monday to return order to American streets using the military if widespread violence isn’t quelled — even as peaceful protesters just outside the White House gate were dispersed with tear gas, flash grenades and rubber bullets as he visited a nearby church.
Use of neck restraints: About two-thirds of the people placed in neck restraints by Minneapolis officers in the years leading to Floyd’s death were black — despite black residents making up 19% of the population, police data shows. At least 58 people lost consciousness after the city’s officers put them in neck restraints — a procedure banned by many police departments.
Police kneel with protesters: Some officers have been pictured kneeling, praying and mourning to honor Floyd. In Atlanta, Georgia, police officers holding shields kneeled in front of demonstrators. The Denver Chief of Police linked arms with protesters, the New York City Police Chief embraced a demonstrator and a California Highway Patrol officer shook hands with a protester in LA.
Strictest curfews in decades: Curfews have been issued in 40 cities, although many have been ignored by protesters. The curfew in LA is the harshest since the riots in 1992 following the acquittal of the officer who beat Rodney King. New York City has enacted its strictest curfew since the race riots of 1943.
World joins in protests: People from London to Amsterdam to Rio have staged demonstrations in solidarity with protesters in the US. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was “horrified” by George Floyd’s death. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said racism was “real in the United States but it’s also in Canada.” Iran’s judiciary chief, Hojjatoleslam Raeesi, blasted the US and said leaders should stand trial for “deliberate homicide and racial discrimination.” A top EU diplomat said Floyd’s death was an abuse of power and must be renounced.
Floyd’s family call for calm: Floyd’s family support the protests but have condemned the looting and violence that has led to hundreds of arrests nationwide. His brother, Terrence Floyd, delivered a simple message for those committing violence: “He would not want y’all to be doing this.”
Iran criticizes “oppressive” US reaction to protests
The Iranian government has criticized the reactions of the US administration and US police to the protests which have broken out following the death of George Floyd, according to governmental statements published on Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
On Tuesday, Iran’s judiciary chief, Hojjatoleslam Raeesi, said “US leaders should stand trial before the international courts on charge of deliberate homicide and racial discrimination.”
Iranian government spokesman, Abbas Mousavi held a news conference in English on Monday to “urge” the US to “stop oppression and aggressive conducts against its people and let them breathe.”
To the American people: The world has heard your outcry over the state of oppression … the world is standing with you,” Mousavi said, according to IRNA.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, posted a photo of people paying respect at a Floyd mural and an Iranian stamp showing Malcom X on Twitter, writing: “The ‘knee-on-neck’ technique is nothing new: Same cabal—who’ve admitted to habitually ‘lie, cheat, steal’ — have been employing it on 80M Iranians for 2 yrs (sic), calling it ‘maximum pressure.'”
US officials have previously criticized Iran’s violent handling of civilian protests against the Iranian government, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly tweeting of Iranian demonstrators protesting against the government in 2019 and 2020.
George Floyd’s death is “abuse of power”: EU
George Floyd’s death was an abuse of power and must be renounced, a top EU diplomat said at a briefing in Belgium.
Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union, said all societies should remain vigilant against the use of excess force and deal with such incidents quickly.
“We here in Europe, like the people of the United States, we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd. And I think all societies must remain vigilant against the excess of use of force and ensure that all such incidents are addressed swiftly, effectively and in full respect of the rule of law and human rights,” Borrell said.
“We have to be sure everywhere, especially in societies which are based on the rule of law, democratic representation and respect for freedoms and liberties, that people who are in charge of taking care of the order are not using their capacities in the way that has been used in this very, very unhappy death of George Floyd.”
“It is an abuse of power and this has to be renounced as we combat [this] in the States and everywhere.”
He added: “We support the right to peaceful protest, and also we condemn violence and racism of any kind, and for sure we call for a de-escalation of tensions.”
UN fails to fulfill peacekeeping duties over US black man’s murder: ILF
The Chairman of International Lawyers Forum (ILF), Nasir Ahmed, Advocate has said that the United Nations (UN) has not only completely failed to prevent violence across America which started six days ago after the brutal killing of an unarmed black man by a white cop but also remained unsuccessful to maintain its basic peacekeeping duties while due to UN’s criminal negligence another black man was killed by police firing in Kentucky yesterday.
Nasir Ahmed strictly condemned UN performance and demanded Secretary General to resign or present result according to Geneva accord while a comprehensive compensation to be given to the victim’s family and control human rights violation worldwide. ILF grieved to the black man’s family and all other black masses across the world.
ILF’s Chairman appreciated Thailand-US citizen and ex-Mrs. Minnesota Kellie’s contribution over the killing of George Floyd by her husband and his companions and declared Kellie as “lady of the world” who took stand for humanity and protection of human rights without any discrimination and set a new standard for globe. Chairman also invited Kellie to visit Pakistan and warned Washington administration not to use state power against protesters.
Minneapolis site of Floyd’s death treated as memorial after family calls for calm
Hours after George Floyd’s brother asked protesters to abstain from violence, the Minneapolis site where Floyd died last week was being treated as a sacred memorial.
The subdued scene was in a sharp contrast with what was taking place in other cities across the country overnight where protesters were undeterred by curfews, enforced in an effort to curb the unrest that has erupted in the week since Floyd’s death in police custody.
“Our cities are boiling over because people are in pain,” Louisville Urban League President Sadiqa Reynolds told CNN’s Don Lemon Monday night. “It’s about years and years and years of a lack of access to justice. It’s a lack of accountability on the part of the police departments. It’s about the good officers not calling out the bad ones.”
Floyd’s family as well as many mayors and governors support the protests but have condemned the looting and violence that has led to hundreds of arrests nationwide.
Protesters have also been met with tear gas and rubber bullets by some police departments, though there have been examples of police joining demonstrations.
Floyd’s brother, Terrence Floyd, spoke to those gathered in support of his brother Monday, delivering a simple message for those committing violence.
“He would not want y’all to be doing this,” he said.
Three generations of black men: “We’re stuck in a time capsule”
“We … deserve the chance to grow and to learn and to love others. And to be a person with a heartbeat, with a breath to take,” says 17-year-old Ajani Carr.
He is one of four men from three generations who have shared their experience of different stages of the civil rights movement in America in a powerful video for CNN. They explain what they think has changed, and what progress still needs to be made.
“I don’t feel afraid, I don’t live my life with fear, but I do live my life with caution,” says Peniel Joseph, 47.
Ed Whitfield, 70, recalls the activists involved in the civil rights movement in the 60s, such as Sammy Younge Jr, who was murdered in Selma, Alabama for using the “whites-only” restroom.
“Shot and killed, nothing was done,” says Whitfield. “So there’s nothing new about this part.”
Mike Mosby, 32, adds: “You would think it’s 1965, you know, like we just got out of segregation and now we’re trying for civil rights … That’s what it feels like.”
“I swear it’s like we’re stuck in a time capsule.”
Some police officers are showing solidarity with protesters by taking a knee or embracing them
Americans have been protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police for days on end in dozens of cities throughout the United States.
While tensions between police and demonstrators have heated up in many places, some officers have shown solidarity with the movement by hugging protesters, praying with them, mourning with them, and taking a knee to honor Floyd.
In Atlanta, Georgia, a line of police officers holding shields during a protest Monday near Centennial Olympic park kneeled in front of demonstrators.
In another image, an officer wearing a gas mask, helmet and vest was seen embracing a demonstrator in a hug on the fourth day of protests in the southern city.
The Denver Chief of Police Paul Pazen joined in with demonstrators Monday, linking arms with attendees.
In New York, Chief of Department of the New York City Police, Terence Monahan, embraced a demonstrator during a protest in his city Monday.
On the west coast, protestor Kevin Welbeck of Cre8 The Change shook hands with a California Highway Patrol officer during a protest in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles.
Historic curfews in Los Angeles and New York are harshest in decades
Curfews have been issued across the country in the wake of protests, both peaceful and violent, against police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.
In Los Angeles: the curfew is the harshest since the riots in 1992 following the acquittal of the officer who beat Rodney King.
The county of Los Angeles, the nation’s most populous county with approximately ten million residents, enacted a 12-hour overnight curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting Monday night.
Officials said the highly restrictive curfew has been ordered because of “imminent danger to life and property during the hours of darkness,” in the executive order.
In New York City: On the East Coast, New York City has enacted the strictest curfew since the race riots of 1943.
Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered a curfew from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. for the city that never sleeps, and an 8 p.m. curfew from Tuesday.
George Floyd’s last words fly across the skies of US cities
The final words of George Floyd, the unarmed black man who died after being restrained by a Minneapolis police officer, have become powerful slogans for protesters in the US.
As demonstrations against police brutality have spread through the country and the world, Dallas-based artist Jammie Holmes found a new way to immortalize Floyd’s pleas for help: sending them across the skies of five major cities.
Over the weekend, banners reading “Please I can’t breathe” and “They’re going to kill me” were seen trailing airplanes above Detroit and New York City respectively. The other three, flown across Los Angeles, Miami and Dallas, read “My stomach hurts,” “My neck hurts” and “Everything hurts” — words heard in a video filmed by a bystander and widely circulated on social media.
Trump’s speech will be remembered “for the very wrong reasons”
CNN political analyst and adviser to four US presidents, David Gergan, said President Trump’s speech on Monday will be remembered for the “wrong reasons.”
Gergan referenced Robert Kennedy’s speech that he gave announcing the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., saying that in times of crisis leaders should bring people together, not divide them.
“He (Kennedy) was in a situation coming to the speech when he learned that Martin Luther King, Jr. had not only been shot but just died. It was left to him to go in front of the crowd of largely black citizens who didn’t know King was dead,” Gergan said.
“It stems from the proposition that in a moment of crisis it’s the responsibility of the speaker to unify people and not divide them. To bring them together and comfort them. Give meaning to the occasion. That’s what Kennedy did. He showed a lot of empathy and talked about the fact he too had lost someone really important to him — his brother to an assassination. He had the much the same anger and despair. He learned to deal with it.”
Gergan said President Trump’s speech on Monday was “the total opposite.”
“I never heard a President, frankly, in a crisis incite people to violence,” he said. “The speech today will be remembered in history as well. For the very wrong reasons.”
In his speech, Trump called violent protests “domestic acts of terror” and threatened to deploy the military to put down the unrest.
