US protests latest: mourners gather for George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis
Mourners converged in Minneapolis on Thursday for the first in a series of memorials to George Floyd, an African-American man whose death while in police custody has sparked turbulent protests around the world against racial injustice.
Memorials are set to take place in three cities over six days. After the Minneapolis event, Floyd's body will go to Raeford, North Carolina, where he was born, for a public viewing and private family service on Saturday. Finally, a public viewing will be held Monday in Houston, where he was raised and lived most of his life.
The farewells for Floyd " an out-of-work bouncer who was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit US$20 bill at a convenience store and died after a white officer pressed his knee on the handcuffed black man's neck for several minutes " come as demonstrations across the US and around the globe continue.
In the US, relative quiet continued for a second straight night on Wednesday following a decision by prosecutors to charge the three other Minneapolis officers at the scene of Floyd's death with aiding and abetting a murder.
Authorities also filed a new, more serious murder charge " second-degree, up from third-degree " against the officer at the centre of the case, Derek Chauvin.
The three officers newly charged in the Floyd's death " Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao " were due to make a first court appearance on Thursday. Chauvin is not due in court until Monday.
Here are the developments:
Congressional Democrats, powered by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), are preparing a sweeping package of police reforms as pressure builds on the federal government to respond to the death of George Floyd and others in law enforcement interactions.
With the urgency of mass protests outside their doors, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working furiously to draft what could become one of the most ambitious efforts in years to oversee the way law enforcement works.
Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California, both former presidential candidates, are expected to announce a package in coming days, with a House bill coming soon.
Both the Senate and House efforts are expected to include changes to police accountability laws, such as revising immunity provisions, and creating a database of police use-of-force incidents.
Revamped training requirements are planned, too, among them a ban on the use of choke holds. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has endorsed such a ban.
"We have a moral moment in our country," Republican Karen Bass, the chairwoman of the CBC, said on Wednesday.
With Democrats in the majority, the bills will almost certainly pass the House. But the outcome in the Senate is less certain. Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the chamber would take a look at the issues, but he has not endorsed any particular legislation.
A protester kneels in front of military police near the White House on Wednesday to protest the death of George Floyd. Photo: AFP alt=A protester kneels in front of military police near the White House on Wednesday to protest the death of George Floyd. Photo: AFP
Iranian President Hassan Rowhani has called George Floyd's killing "brutal" and criticised US President Donald Trump for posing for photos while holding a Bible.
"We express sympathy toward the American people who are on the streets while harshly condemning the crime," he said in a televised speech on Thursday.
Rowhani also made reference to the clearing of peaceful protesters from a park outside the White House with chemical agents and flash bang grenades so that Trump could walk to a church for a photo opportunity.
"It is a shame that the president stands with a Bible when he plans to act against his people," Rowhani said.
Iranian officials regularly take advantage of protests in the US to criticise the administration, even though Iran itself in November put down nationwide demonstrations by killing hundreds, arresting thousands and disrupting internet access.
State television has repeatedly aired images of the US unrest.
Officials in Minneapolis said the total cost of looting and property damage that following the death of George Floyd was at least US$55 million.
At least 220 buildings in the city where Floyd died were set on fire or otherwise damaged, and that number is expected to go up, city officials said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey will ask for state and federal aid to help rebuild after the civil unrest. Until that happens, community members are pitching in to support Minneapolis neighbourhoods.
More than US$1 million has been raised to help businesses in north Minneapolis, WCCO-TV reported. The West Broadway Business and Area Coalition said it will announce how they plan to use the money in the coming weeks.
Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote an open letter on racism, highlighting that his company must do more. The full text of the letter was posted to the iPhone maker's website.
"To create change, we have to re-examine our own views and actions in light of a pain that is deeply felt but too often ignored," Cook said. "Issues of human dignity will not abide standing on the sidelines. To the black community " we see you. You matter and your lives matter."
Cook said Apple would "commit to continuing our work to bring critical resources and technology to underserved school systems", as well as "fight the forces of environmental injustice " like climate change " which disproportionately harm Black communities and other communities of colour".
Earlier this week, Cook said in an internal memo to employees that protections for people are "still not universally applied" as he discussed discrimination and inequality in the US.
Joining Twitter, Snapchat curbs Trump for inciting 'racial violence'
Civil rights icon cried over video of Floyd killing
Civil rights icon John Lewis said on Thursday that the video of George Floyd's death at the hands of police in Minnesota "made me cry."
"I kept saying to myself: How many more? How many young black men will be murdered?"
"It made me so sad. It was so painful," Lewis told CBS This Morning. "It made me cry."
Lewis said he was encouraged to see such diverse crowds protesting Floyd's killing, seeking the arrests of the police officers involved and demanding an end to racial injustice.
Protesters cross Morrison Bridge in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters alt=Protesters cross Morrison Bridge in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
"It was very moving, very moving to see hundreds and thousands of people from all over America and around the world take to the streets to speak up, to speak out," he said.
Lewis, 80, was a key figure in the civil rights movement and was one of the leaders behind the 1963 March on Washington and the push to end legalised racial segregation. He had his skull fractured by Alabama troopers as marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on March 7, 1965.
He urged protesters seeking justice in Floyd's killing to embrace non-violence and called on Trump not to crack down on "orderly, peaceful, non-violent protests".
"You cannot stop the call of history," Lewis said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry urged the US authorities to respect Americans' right for peaceful protest amid the wave of demonstrations sparked by George Floyd's death.
The ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Moscow has taken note of the use of tear gas to disperse rallies and massive arrests of protesters in the US. She also pointed out numerous journalists, including Russian reporters, were hurt while covering the protests.
She said "it's time for the US to drop the mentor's tone and look in the mirror", challenging the US authorities to "start respecting peoples' rights and observing democratic standards at home".
South Africa's Nelson Mandela Foundation said on Thursday violence can be a rational response to racism and for some communities is the only way to elicit change, as protests raged across the United States over the death of George Floyd.
The foundation, set up to guard the legacy of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first democratically-elected president, said that violence is often too readily dismissed as the work of extremists or criminals, when it can be the result of careful calculation by communities who "see that only such action elicits the desired response from the state".
"When communities are confronted by both resilient structural violence and attacks on their bodies, violent responses will occur ... The use of violence can be rational and carefully targeted," its statement continued.
Violent struggle helped bring an end to a system of segregation and white minority rule in South Africa. But 26 years after the end of apartheid, the country is still grappling with racial tensions and massive inequality, with the foundation saying democracy had not "yet ensured black lives matter as much as white lives".
The US Park Police said it has placed two officers on administrative leave after video showed two Australian journalists being attacked during Monday night's protest in Washington. Acting Chief Gregory T. Monahan said the attack is being investigated.
Video captured by WJLA-TV in Washington showed reporter Amanda Brace and cameraman Tim Myers being assaulted as law enforcement officials cleared an area near the White House so President Donald Trump could walk to a nearby church that had been damaged during the demonstrations the previous night.
The journalists were reporting live for Australia's Channel 7 on the demonstrations protesting George Floyd's death.
"As is consistent with our established practices and procedures, two US Park Police officers have been assigned to administrative duties, while an investigation takes place regarding the incident with the Australian Press," Monahan said in a statement posted on Twitter.
Australia's ambassador to the United States has complained about the attack that the network's news director Craig McPherson described as "nothing short of wanton thuggery".
Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged Australians involved in Floyd-related anti-racism protests around the world to be "extremely cautious" after attacks on Australian journalists in Washington and on Wednesday in London.
"In terms of some of the violence ... that we're seeing around the world today, for those Australians who find themselves in those situations, I would urge them to show great caution," Morrison told reporters.
Inspired by global protests at the death of George Floyd, some 30,000 people in Belgium have signed two petitions to remove statues of the country's colonial-era King Leopold II, whose troops decimated Congo in the late 1800s.
The online petitions, one of which was started by a 14-year-old boy on Instagram, demand the removal of the monuments across Brussels and a bust in the city of Halle.
"We are minors and do not wish to reveal our identities. This is why we are looking for an organisation ... to represent us," Noah said.
His petition in French and Dutch on change.org calls for the removal by end-June, saying Leopold II has no place in multicultural Brussels, which bills itself as the capital of Europe.
In the Belgian city of Ghent, a bust of Leopold II was covered in red paint and daubed with "I can't breathe", words spoken by Floyd as he was pinned down by the neck, according to photos posted on Twitter. Another statue was set on fire near the city of Antwerp, Belgian media said.
Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg and dpa
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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