George Floyd killing: US rocked by eighth night of protest and grief – live
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An investigative reporter in DC, Nathan Baca, also picked up a canister at the scene that does appear to cause irritation.
There’s no doubting the international impact of the protests over George Floyd’s killing. Last night a new mural by street artist Akse was unveiled in the Northern Quarter of England’s Manchester. Local council buildings in the area were also lit up in purple in Floyd’s memory.
Several US news organisations are reporting that Tuesday night’s protests have been the calmest in days.
Clearly that is not the case in Portland and Seattle, where police have been dispersing people with force, but it may point towards a nationwide drop in confrontations.
The New York Times reported that while protesters defied curfews, the violence has ebbed.
Crowds in Washington DC, it said, “remained peaceful in a mood that appeared to be taking hold in other cities, too. When a few demonstrators began to rock the fence, they were quickly stopped. ‘Use your words,’ two women yelled. ‘Don’t do that.’”
The Washington Post has also reported an easing of tensions, while the Associated Press said the nation’s streets were the “calmest in days”.
It is unclear if this is due to the protesters themselves or more due to a change in law enforcement strategies. There have certainly been some striking photos of uniformed officers “taking the knee” at demonstrations coming in from around the country.
Pope Francis isn’t the only foreign voice speaking about the protests and violence in the US today. If you missed it from our earlier live blog, my colleague Philip Oltermann in Germany reported that Germany’s foreign minister has criticised Donald Trump’s threat to use the US military against protesters in his own country, saying “democrats must never escalate – even with their words”.
“Instead of pouring oil into the fire, we should seek reconciliation”, Heiko Maas told Der Spiegel news website. “Instead of allowing ourselves to be divided, we should stand shoulder to shoulder against radical extremists.”
Earlier in the week, the Social Democrat politician had described the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police as “cruel and shocking”.
Associated Press reports that in the Vatican, Pope Francis has addressed the killing of George Floyd, saying he has “witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest” in the United States, and calling for national reconciliation.
“My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life,” he said during his weekly Wednesday audience, which was being held in the presence of bishops alone due to the coronavirus restrictions on gatherings.
At the same time, the pontiff warned “nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost.”
The pope said he was praying “for the repose of George Floyd and all those who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism” and issued his condolences for all those who grieve their loss.
Last night was the first public appearance in Minneapolis from the people most closely affected by the death of George Floyd: his immediate family.
“I wanted everybody to know that this is what those officers took from …” George Floyd’s widow Roxie Washington struggled to find the words while holding back sobs last night. As her daughter Gianna looked up at her, she said: “At the end of the day, they get to go home and be with their families. Gianna does not have a father. He will never see her grow up, graduate. He will never walk her down the aisle.”
Protests continued across the country – and around the world. Here are the key points:
- Tens of thousands attended a memorial for George Floyd in his home town of Houston. Members of Floyd’s family were in attendance, alongside the mayor, the police chief and a group of protesters on horseback, with attendees paying respects to a “gentle giant”
- Although details of each incident are still unclear, the death toll from the protests in the US has reached at least 11.
- Protests in Washington were responded to more peacefully than in recent days, however, the capital remains on high alert, with about 1,600 US soldiers moved to the DC region, according to the Pentagon.
- Derrick Johnson, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), has written for the Guardian saying: “The expendability of Black lives is not a flaw in the system; it is the system. We are meant to die or, at the very least, we are not meant to be protected, to be respected, to be valued, to be considered fully human.
- The NFL has been accused of hypocrisy with its public anti-racism statements after the high profile treatment of Colin Kaepernick’s protests.
- Inspired by the US demonstrations, 20,000 people defy a ban to rally in the streets of French capital Paris, with a focus on justice for Adama Traore, whose death four years ago has been a rallying cause against police brutality in France.
I’m Martin Belam in London and I’ll be keeping our live blog coverage running until my colleagues in New York take over later in the day.
Follow us on twitter (ajuede.com) or on Instagram (ajuedeman) for details of the global situation presently.
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