By Malya Robenson
Over the course of the past few weeks, there have been a number of instances in which black men were killed, footage of the incidents drawing the focus of the public across social media. On May 6th, 21-year-old Dreasjon Reed was shot and killed in Indianapolis while running from the police, evading an arrest for reckless driving. While jogging, Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was shot and killed in February by a father and son who believed he had committed a series of burglaries in the area, video footage of which only surfaced recently. The most recent of such events occurred on May 25 when 46-year-old George Floyd was murdered by police, the incident sparked massive public backlash. At around 8:20 on Monday, May 25th, police officers were called to the scene of Cup Foods where an individual had allegedly been attempting to make a purchase using a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd was found by officers in his car not far from the store, and he appeared to be intoxicated. When he was asked to exit his vehicle, police claim that he had resisted arrest, despite security footage from a restaurant which captured the moments before the violent incident which the owner of the restaurant claims, does not depict such a thing and the recounting of the incident by Maurice Lester Hall, 42, who was in the passenger side of the car with Floyd when the arrest happened, who had attempted to diffuse the situation between his friend and the officers to no avail. When Floyd and officers reached the police vehicle, a video posted by a woman named Darnella Frazier on Facebook shows the disturbing moments when Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, physically restrained him by pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck. Witnesses stood by horrified as Floyd cried out, “Please! Please, please, I can’t breathe,” some of whom urged officers to get off of him.
Floyd was held for about four minutes until he eventually stopped moving and responding, though Chauvin reportedly kept his knee on his neck for another four minutes until medical personnel arrived on the scene.
Floyd was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
The four officers involved in the incident, Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao who both appear in the video, and two others who still go largely unnamed, have all been fired from their jobs but many across the nation say that it’s not enough. Even the mayor of Minneapolis had called for Chauvin’s arrest almost immediately after footage of the arrest was released.
The state autopsy of Floyd’s body ruled out asphyxiation as the cause of his death but the second, private autopsy conducted soon after at the behest of Floyd’s family tells a very different story. That autopsy ruled his cause of death as mechanical asphyxia caused by Chauvin’s knee on his neck and the excessive force that two other officers used when pushing on his back.
Their desire to press charges against all four officers involved proved yet again to people what they had already known; that George Floyd was another African American murdered by the police because of the color of his skin.
In the days following Floyd’s muder, several protests erupted across Minnesota, groups ranging from about two dozen outside of Chauvin’s house, to several thousand in the streets.
The first of such protests occurred the day after Floyd died. It was largely non-violent and protestors held signs and chanted “I can’t breathe,” and “It could’ve been me,” among other phrases as they marched from the street where Floyd was arrested towards the city’s 3rd Precinct.
The atmosphere of the demonstration changed however, when a small group of people began vandalizing police cars and the building. The act prompted police to turn on all of the protestors, tear gassing them, tossing flash grenades, and shooting at them with rubber bullets. Some protestors responded in kind, throwing rocks and broken bottles while others ran.
Since then, civil unrest and disobedience has only gotten worse.
Wednesday saw a slew of looting and vandalism across the city. Several stores were hit including a Target, Cadillac Pawn & Jewelry, Chicago-Lake Liquor and several pharmacies, all of which either had merchandise stolen or experienced property damage. The most extensive of such acts of discord were the numerous fires raging throughout Minneapolis, fire departments still trying to put them out well into Thursday morning. Several arrests were made and one person is reported dead after a shooting connected to the looting of a pawn shop.
As a result of public outcry, Derek Chauvin was charged with 3rd degree murder. The other officers involved however, had not yet received charges.
Every day, more and more protests are appearing throughout the nation’s most prominent cities, demonstrations occurring in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, Houston and Minneapolis became the focus of many. There have been demonstrations in over four hundred cities across all fifty states, hundreds of thousands gathering to protest the racism and brutality that black people face at the hands of police officers.
Like the first protest in Minneapolis however, despite the demonstrations starting out peaceful, many of them take violent and unrestrained turns once the sun goes down. Fires, the looting of surrounding buildings, and the vandalism of police vehicles have become commonplace in neighborhoods across the nation and those who are suffering the most are low income families who live in these neighborhoods and the owners of small businesses who, after having been closed for so long amidst the quarantine, will not be able to afford reopening.
Those who vandalize and commit arson are people who have no desire to stand against police brutality and racism but instead are those who revel in destruction and discord.
These events have prompted thousands of arrests by local police, often violently and regardless of whether or not protestors were indeed doing anything illegal. Despite fears, this has not scared people away from doing what they believe is right. Protests have even gone up in front of the White House to demonstrate to the most powerful person in the country how they feel about the state of the nation.
On May 29th, President Donald Trump took to Twitter with statements calling for more violence. He has declared that military presence may be implemented to suppress demonstrations and he used the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” which dates back to the 1960s by Miami police chief Walter Headley during the civil rights movement, requisitioning violence to be used against black people. The next day, he tweeted that protestors outside of the White House would've been met with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons” had they breached the building’s outer fence.
June 1st saw the most egregious effort by the president yet. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets on a group of peaceful protestors outside of the White House and once Lafayette Park was free of people, President Trump made his way to St. John’s Church which had been damaged from acts of vandalism the night before where he posed with a bible for what he called a “very symbolic” photo-op. This coming just after rumors of him hiding out in a bunker beneath the White House all weekend began circulating, an allegation which he firmly denies.
The White House has denied the claims that tear gas and rubber bullets were used but many media outlets were quick to fire back with footage of protestors whose eyes were burning from pepper balls which release an irritating powder and Skat Shell OC canisters, the oleoresin capsicum in them containing a substance derived from chili peppers which can cause intense burning once it enters the nose, eyes or lungs. Both of these are what the CDC technically considers to be “tear gas” and “riot control agents”.
Many see this as an attempt by the president to suppress the First Amendment right of American citizens to stand up and speak out against the systematic oppression that black people have always had to face in America. However, if there is one thing that Americans have proven over the past few weeks, it is that nothing will ever be able to stop them from fighting for what they believe in.
This has been the way of the American people since the founding of the nation and the civil rights movements have only further proven the tenacity and strength of the will of the American people. The march from Selma to Montgomery in March of 1965 lasted five days and consisted of 25,000 people and was one of the direct causes of the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which was passed just a few months later. The Stonewall Uprising was a series of riots lasting six days in front of Stonewall Inn led by black, transgender LGBTQ+ rights activist Marsha P. Johnson and it was a critical juncture in the fight for LGBTQ+ individuals to be recognized as human beings in America.
This is not a new development. Riots and protests have always been the way that people enact change in this country and they work. Thanks to the efforts of the American people, Derek Chauvin had been charged with 2nd degree murder and the other officers involved are going to face criminal charges.
Despite this amazing development, people are still going out, protesting, and spreading awareness because there is the understanding that the murder of George Floyd cannot be another one of the countless stories that people are enraged about for a few days before moving on.
Right now, we are on the precipice of great change as people are showing the world just how fed up they are with the brutalization and the murder of black people at the hands of the supposed protectors of the people.
George Floyd was described by those who knew him as a kind soul.Those who knew him affectionately called him a ‘gentle giant’ due to his impressive stature at 6’6” and his overwhelmingly compassionate nature. He was someone who, after spending some time in prison about a decade ago, was looking to turn his life around. He was a father, a brother, and a friend to all.
Floyd is now one of the countless people who have had their lives stolen from them, not at any fault of their own, but because of the color of their skin and his death has not been ignored. His name will be spoken in the same breath as Eric Garner’s and Emmet Till’s as people of all races take to the streets, fighting for the justice and freedom that every human being deserves.
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