It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, June 01, 2020
In Some Cities, Police Officers Joined Protesters Marching Against BrutalityLisette Voytko Forbes Staff Business I cover breaking news. Updated Jun 1, 2020
As protests sparked by George Floyd’s death entered their chaotic fifth day, social media filled with images and video of police officers using batons, tear gas and rubber bullets to quell crowds—but some squads joined in with Saturday protesters to express their stance against police brutality and to show solidarity with the anti-racism movement. Police officers kneel during a rally in Coral Gables, Florida, on Saturday in response to the death ... [+] EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES KEY FACTS
“We want to be with y’all, for real. I took my helmet off, laid the batons down. I want to make this a parade, not a protest,” Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson was seen telling protesters in Flint, Michigan, before he joined the assembled crowd to march, eliciting cheers. Officers in Camden, New Jersey, helped carry a banner reading “Standing in Solidarity,” and seemed to join in with the crowd chanting, “No justice, no peace!”
In Santa Cruz, California, Police Chief Andy Mills took a knee with protesters in the pose made famous by Colin Kaepernick, with the department tweeting it was “in memory of George Floyd & bringing attention to police violence against Black people.”
Two Kansas City, Missouri, police officers—one white man, one black man—were photographed holding aloft a sign reading “END Police Brutality!”
In Fargo, North Dakota, an officer was seen clasping hands with protest organizers while holding up a sign reading “We are one race . . . The HUMAN race.”
Officers in Ferguson, Missouri, participated in a nine and a half-minute kneel in Floyd’s memory, with cheers erupting from the crowd.
Despite the moments of solidarity, conflict broke out between protesters and police in Kansas City, Fargo and Ferguson. THESE COPS ARE PROBABLY NOT MEMBERS OF THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE!
WASHINGTON – Protesters clashed with police outside the White House and throughout the nation's capital Saturday as the demonstrations grew more confrontational in their second day, with President Donald Trump threatening to shut down "mob violence" he said dishonored the memory of George Floyd. Even as they halted traffic on the Capital Beltway and shouted obscenities at the fleet of presidential helicopters that carried Trump back to the White House, the demonstrations scattered throughout the city remained mostly peaceful.
But there were also signs of increased tension as the protesters sought to call attention to the killing of Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody after a white officer pinned him to the ground under his knee. Some threw bottles at Secret Service agents and police near the White House. Officers responded by firing tear gas to break up the crowds. The D.C. National Guard joined other armored forces in Lafayette Square, near the White House, in trying to control protesters.
“Don’t run! Don’t run!” some yelled as police and protesters clashed outside the park Saturday night.
Showing at least five red welts on her bare left arm, Lindsay Kouyate, 21, said she was shot with something she couldn't identify. Kouyate said she was holding her "I Cant Breathe" sign near the police in front of Lafayette Square at the time.
"I was just standing there with my sign. A bunch of other people were yelling and screaming,” she said. "He shot me so many times. I don’t know what it was."
Kouyate, who lives in Maryland, said she had been at the protests all day but wasn’t going home, even after her injury.
"You have to keep protesting," she said, "otherwise it won’t ever stop."
Nour Faladi, a 22-year-old programmer from Maryland, was among those caught in a round of tear gas.
She was in a crowd when a gas canister hit the ground, she said, and it was “immediately harder to breathe." She said her eyes started running. She said a volunteer in the crowd washed her eyes out, and then she headed back into the crowd.
People run out of a smoke shop with smoking instruments after breaking in as police arrive on Monday, June 1, 2020, in New York. Protests were held throughout the city over the death of Floyd, a black man in police custody in Minneapolis who died after being restrained by police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Police wearing helmets and holding shields formed a line between the protesters and the White House, a hot spot in the city throughout much of Saturday evening.
At times, some protesters tried to knock over temporary barriers or approach officers, although none appeared to get near the tall fence at the White House. At least one vehicle was on fire a few blocks north of the White House, and firefighters also responded to an alley fire near the White House. A local TV station reported that stores in the city's tony Georgetown neighborhood had boarded windows.
"Multiple" special agents and uniformed officers were injured when some protesters threw bricks, rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers, officials said.
Trump attended the historic SpaceX rocket launch in Florida earlier Saturday and returned to the White House on Marine One at around 8:30 p.m. As the presidential helicopters buzzed overhear near the White House grounds, some demonstrators shouted obscenities and shook their fists.
Trump used his address at the Kennedy Space Center to offer a stern warning to "rioters, looters and anarchists" against violence.
"My administration will stop mob violence and we’ll stop it cold," Trump said, blaming violence in several cities on "radical left-wing" groups. "I will not allow angry mobs to dominate...It is essential that we protect the crown jewel of democracy: The rule of law."
The unrest in Washington came as protests erupted in cities across the nation against police brutality and racial discrimination. At least two deaths have been linked to the demonstrations. Protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and clashed with police officers dressed in riot gear in Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Portland, Oregon; and elsewhere.
Outside the White House, officers wearing plastic body shields charged and pushed back a crowd of people who had removed metal barriers set up on Pennsylvania Avenue. A police helicopter circled overhead. The smell of marijuana also hung in the air.
"Trump is the reason why cops feel they can do certain things to black people,” said Cameron Jackson, 25, a supervisor at a grocery store, as he stood in the middle of 16th Street. “He condones it. He is a racist.”
But Jackson said he opposed violence.
"I'm peaceful," he said. "I'm away from the violence."
Dave Pringle, 32, who works on criminal justice policy in D.C., also condemned Trump.
"This man – this occupant of this building – represents the worst of humanity," Pringle said. "I think he is an avatar of the worst of humanity."
Six people were arrested near Lafayette Square on Friday and early Saturday, according to the Secret Service, which said it "respects the right to assemble, and we ask that individuals do so peacefully for the safety of all."
President Trump says he spoke to George Floyd's family, addresses protests and violence
Secret Service agents and police carrying shields blocked off Lafayette Square north of the White House as drivers honked in support of the protesters and raised their fists in the air. Some demonstrators held up signs that read: "Stop Murdering Black People" and "White Silence is Violence."
"I came here to enforce the Black Lives Matter movement and to get justice for the injustices we have been receiving for over hundreds of years," said Ariel Weems, a 16-year-old high school student from Bowie, Maryland.
She called Trump part of the problem.
“I don’t agree with any of his policies," Weems said. "His Twitter comments? Shooting and looting? That was absurd. ... We’re out here protesting for our lives.”
In the heat of the afternoon, some moved through the crowds, passing out water bottles. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, others distributed masks. Most of the demonstrators wore masks but were closer than six feet from each other.
Strumming a guitar, Steve Canciani, 28, sang the Christian song “Break Every Chain” with Daniel Faludi, 22, near the White House. Their music mixed with the sound of sirens and the whirring of a circling helicopter.
"God always has a solution," Canciani said.
Jake Schindler, 26, was one of several people handing out water. Schindler said his Christian faith "called him" to justice. After running by the protest earlier in the afternoon and seeing others giving out water, he came back with a case of bottles to distribute.
James Bryant, a 30-year-old Washington resident, said he felt “like he needed to show up as a black man in America.” The protests, he said, were part of a “collective anger” that Americans can't ignore.
Asked if he was worried about tensions between the crowd and the cordon of police, he shrugged and said, “they’re just people.”
By early evening, some protesters marched to the National Museum of African American History and Culture near the Washington Monument. Along the route, someone painted a Wells Fargo bank branch with the words "capitalism is murder." Others painted references to the police and to Floyd on the ground.
a group of people walking down the street: Authorities look on as demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.
Authorities look on as demonstrators protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.
Corey Gwynn, a 27-year-old speech pathologist from Virginia, told USA TODAY she had joined the protest because she was "upset about the lack of equality," especially as people had peacefully protested for so long "with no change."
Asked what she thought of the protests around the country, some of which turned violent, she said she "can’t blame her brothers and sisters, but that’s not the way I’m going about it."
"Merchandise can be replaced, but black lives can’t, she said.
Floyd, 46, died Monday evening, shortly after video footage showed him handcuffed, gasping for air and saying "I can't breathe," as a white officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. The video, taken by a bystander, circulated online and prompted widespread protests nationwide.
The Minneapolis Police Department fired four officers involved in the incident while state and federal authorities have launched investigations into the matter. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was seen kneeling on Floyd's neck, was arrested Friday and is facing third-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Subsequent charges are possible and charges for the other officers involved are anticipated, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said.
But those actions have done little to quell the anger many feel.
Sherese Teixeira, 33, posed for a photo in front of graffiti sprayed on the side of a building near the White House that read: “Why do we keep having to tell you that black lives matter?”
"It’s been going on too long,” Teixeira said. "We're just tired of it."
Contributing: Kristine Phillips, Bart Jansen, Matthew Brown, John Fritze, Courtney Subramanian
YOU KNOW THE FOLKS WHO FOUGHT IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR AGAINST FRANCO AND HIS FASCISTS, AND THE NAZI'S AND MUSSOLINI. YOU KNOW WHO HATES ANTI-FASCISTS? WHO CLAIMS THEY ARE ANARCHISTS AND BOLSHEVIKS? FASCISTS THATS WHO! LIKE TRUMP WHO SAYS THAT THEIR ARE SOME VERY FINE PEOPLE WHO ARE FASCISTS.
Truck driver arrested after appearing to drive into protesters
ReutersA police officer looks in the cab for the driver of a tanker truck that drove into thousands of protesters marching on 35W north bound highway during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. May 31, 2020. REUTERS/Eric Miller
Video captured by CBS Minnesota and a webcam shows a tanker truck apparently trying to plow through a large crowd of people on Interstate 35W in Minneapolis on Sunday night. Officials said the man is under arrest and was taken to a local medical center with non-life-threatening injuries.
Footage shows a tanker truck approaching the throng of protesters at a high speed, as protesters frantically try to avoid being hit. The truck slowly stops and is then surrounded by protesters who pull open both the driver and passenger doors. The State Police said there was no immediate word of injuries.
The crowd was part of a protest group marching against the death of George Floyd, and demonstrators had taken position to take a knee on the bridge, CBS Minnesota reports. It had been a relatively peaceful protest up until that point.
CBS Minnesota video footage also showed people climb atop the cab of the tanker truck after it had stopped. Police intervened into the tense situation minutes later and could be seen dispersing the crowd with a liquid.
The interstate had been closed at 5 p.m. CT and it wasn't immediately known why the truck was on the road. Officials said they will investigate.
There have been six days of protests in Minneapolis since the death of Floyd, who was captured on video pleading for air as a police officer kneeled on his neck while he was handcuffed. Four Minneapolis officers have been fired and one, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Protests have spread across the state and country, with some turning violent. For the first time since World War II, the National Guard was fully activated in response to the violence and a curfew was placed on the Twin Cities. More than 5,000 National Guard troops were deployed Saturday night in what Minnesota Governor Tim Walz described as the "most complex public safety operation in the history of our state."
Trump’s policies have enabled police violence against black Americans
With pardons, abdication of oversight, harsh rhetoric, and executive orders, the Trump administration has encouraged violent policing.
But since his inauguration, Trump and his administration have worked to solidify a place for police violence in American life through both rhetoric and policy.
Such work was aggressively pursued by the Obama administration, and resulted in at least 15 consent decrees — arrangements under which local governments consent to federal oversight in order to bring their policing in line with federal civil rights laws.
Sessions was notably against these decrees; in a speech about one of the last to be put in place, with Chicago, the former attorney general said, “Micromanaging the CPD through a federal court isn’t just unjustified — it is an insult.”
Refusing to pursue new decrees has left local governments struggling to improve their police forces on their own — and has allowed those unwilling to do so to continue ignoring violations of rights and other issues.
But the federal government has stepped in to aggravate a problem highlighted by the protests following Michael Brown’s killing in Ferguson, Missouri: the militarization of the police force.
Again reversing an Obama-era policy, Trump signed an executive order in August 2017 allowing police departments to obtain and use surplus military equipment like grenade launchers, tactical vehicles, and bayonets either for free or with the use of federal dollars.
As Amanda Taub explained for Vox in 2014, the use of military equipment on the streets of Ferguson worsened an already tense situation as officers — not all of whom had received proper training on the use of the military equipment they were employing — who looked like “invading armies” performed their work using fear and force rather than community-building techniques.
Frustration with such tactics is apparent in the protests happening around the country right now. It is harsh tactics that led to the killing of George Floyd, the Minneapolis, Minnesota man who died after an officer placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Trump, however, has actively encouraged police to use forceful, even military-style tactics in the course of their work. Speaking to law enforcement officials in New York in 2017, Trump said, “please, don’t be too nice,” when arresting people.
“When you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over, like, don’t hit their head and they’ve just killed somebody,” the president said during that address. “Don’t hit their head. I said, you can take the hand away, okay?”
And he has continued delivering such rhetoric. Saturday, he praised what he characterized as rough tactics by Secret Service officials working to secure the White House amid the police brutality protests, writing on Twitter, “whenever someone got too frisky or out of line, [the Secret Service] would quickly come down on them, hard - didn’t know what hit them.”
“Nobody came close to breaching the fence,” the president wrote. “If they had they would have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least.”
He also suggested members of the service were eagerly awaiting a chance to inflict violence on peaceful protests, tweeting, “Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. ‘We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and good practice.’”
It is distressing to see the president advocating for the sort of law enforcement response that so many in the US are arguing is problematic, and that tens of thousands have demanded be declared unacceptable in recent days. But it is clear the president and members of his administration do not see harsh police tactics as a problem.
The Trump administration has shown law enforcement can operate with impunity
If there is something wrong with law enforcement in the US, the Trump administration has seemed to suggest, it is that there are too many restrictions placed on police without enough plaudits given to them.
The current attorney general, William Barr, has vocally wondered why communities — particularly the communities of color that most frequently suffer the often deadly consequences of police brutality — don’t respect officers. And he has suggested that perhaps those communities not inclined to show “the respect and support that law enforcement deserves” have their police protection taken away from them.
In his actions, Trump has gone beyond giving law enforcement the sort of support Barr advocated for — he has in fact, given them carte blanche to act lawfully or lawlessly as they see fit.
For instance, when a Trump ally and former sheriff, Joe Arpaio, was convicted of criminal contempt of court following his refusal to follow a federal order meant to protect immigrants from racial profiling, Trump pardoned him. Troops convicted of (and under investigation for) war
Police targeted journalists covering the George Floyd protests CBC Reporters hit by rubber bullets in Minneapolis the whole world is watching Deja Vu Fifty years ago it was then too
A journalist is seen bleeding after police started firing tear gas and rubber bullets into crowds near the Fifth Police Precinct in Minneapolis, on May 30. Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images Police targeted journalists covering the George Floyd protests
Though police were responsible for most of the violence, some protesters got in on the act too. By Katelyn Burns May 31, 2020
On Friday night, photojournalist Linda Tirado was shot in the eye by a rubber bullet while covering an anti-police brutality protest in Minneapolis — one of more than two dozen incidents of journalists experiencing violence while covering the recent demonstrations.
Tirado says she’s permanently blind in her left eye. (She is thankful she uses her right eye to take photos, so the injury is not career-ending.)
an update: I am permanently blind in my left eye, and the docs absolutely refuse to let me go back to work for they say six weeks. I’m definitely not allowed to be near smoke or gas.
Usually if I had to stay home I’d spend a lot of time amplifying folk but reading hurts today— Linda Tirado (@KillerMartinis) May 30, 2020
The Minneapolis Police Department and Mayor Jacob Frey’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment about Tirado’s injury.
“Targeted attacks on journalists, media crews, and news organizations covering the demonstrations show a complete disregard for their critical role in documenting issues of public interest and are an unacceptable attempt to intimidate them,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, program director at the nonprofit advocacy group Committee to Protect Journalists, in a statement Saturday. “Authorities in cities across the U.S. need to instruct police not to target journalists and ensure they can report safely on the protests without fear of injury or retaliation.”
Police shot at journalists with rubber bullets
A reporter and her camera crew were shot at by police in Louisville. Vox’s Alex Ward has more detailed coverage of the Louisville incident here.
Ali Velshi and his MSNBC camera crew were shot at by Minneapolis police live on the air while covering a peaceful protest.
Ali Veshi and his CNN crew come under fire from #Minneapolis police with tear gas and rubber bullets.
“There was absolutely no provocation. The police just drove up, split the crowd in two and started firing in both directions.” pic.twitter.com/GTXKU1fTdz— Chad Loder (@chadloder) May 31, 2020
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation journalist Susan Ormiston was hit with rubber bullets and tear gas fired by Minneapolis police live on the air Saturday.
#GeorgeFloyd Protests: CBC in Minneapolis#BREAKING The curfew is in effect but protesters are still out so police started tear gas and rubber bullets at them.
People have been hit including our colleague, CBC Senior Correspondent Susan Ormiston. pic.twitter.com/N8XcXaAyHH— Natasha Fatah (@NatashaFatah) May 31, 2020Two members of a Reuters TV camera crew were hit by rubber bullets in Minneapolis Saturday.
Minneapolis police here aiming directly at clearly identified journalists...
Reporter and photojournalist Sarah Belle Lin was hit in the thigh by a rubber bullet fired by police while covering protests in Oakland, California, Saturday evening.
I was hit by the police by in the inner thighs. I am injured. I repeated my First Amendment rights. Oakland #GeorgeFloyd protest. pic.twitter.com/1Gm6Se1LQ8— Sarah Belle Lin (@SarahBelleLin) May 31, 2020
A man with a video camera and a press helmet was filmed by CNN getting shot with rubber bullets by Minneapolis police Saturday.
A man with a video camera and a PRESS helmet runs after being hit by... something... apparently some sort of pellet fired by police pic.twitter.com/OpH2Q60ry4— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 31, 2020
CBS News reporter Michael George reported that police in Minneapolis fired rubber bullets at his crew, striking sound engineer John Marschitz in the arm.
This is the moment Minneapolis Police fired on our CBS News crew with rubber bullets. As you can see, no protesters anywhere near us- we all were wearing credentials and had cameras out. Our sound engineer was hit in the arm. #cbsnewspic.twitter.com/UAy7HYhGnL— Michael George (@MikeGeorgeCBS) May 31, 2020
Police in Minneapolis are firing on us (press) with rubber bullets. Our sound engineer John Marschitz was hit. He is ok. We were not standing within 500 feet of any protesters at the time, and we had credentials displayed and cameras out. #cbsnewspic.twitter.com/Ai6Qd8gLjz— Michael George (@MikeGeorgeCBS) May 31, 2020 Police hit reporters with tear gas and pepper spray
LA Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske reported that Minnesota State Patrol troopers fired tear gas at reporters and camera crews in Minneapolis Saturday.
Minnesota State Patrol just fired tear gas at reporters and photographers at point blank range. pic.twitter.com/r7X6J7LKo8— Molly Hennessy-Fiske (@mollyhf) May 31, 2020
On Rodeo Drive in Santa Monica, California, an ABC7 reporter and his crew were hit with tear gas Saturday.
"We're getting hit by tear gas!" Live coverage from field reporters from @ABC7 in Los Angeles as protests rage through the luxury stores of Rodeo Drive.
Several Detroit Free Press reporters were pepper sprayed by Detroit police Saturday, including one who held up a press badge while police targeted him.
Several of our @freep journalists got pepper-sprayed tonight by Detroit Police, one directly in the face as he held up his media badge. A photographer had her livestream camera slapped out of her hand by another DPD officer as she tried to do her job. This is not OK. See this: https://t.co/PMq8IAnawi— Jim Schaefer (@DetroitReporter) May 31, 2020
KSTP reporter Ryan Raiche was with a group of media in Minneapolis before they were tear gassed and pepper sprayed by police Saturday.
Myself, photographer, and producer just made it back to the car. We were with a group of media and thought we were in a safe spot. We kept saying we’re media. Police tear gassed and pepper sprayed the entire group. Everyone ran. It was insane. It happened so fast. pic.twitter.com/Wl3Fzzlsnw— Ryan Raiche (@ryanraiche) May 31, 2020
VICE News correspondent Michael Adams reported that police raided a gas station where several members of the press were taking shelter. He said police threw him to the ground and pepper sprayed him.
Police just raided the gas station we were sheltering at. After shouting press multiple times and raising my press card in the air, I was thrown to the ground. Then another cop came up and peppered sprayed me in the face while I was being held down. pic.twitter.com/23EkZIMAFC— Michael Anthony Adams (@MichaelAdams317) May 31, 2020 Police threatened and arrested journalists
On Friday morning, CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and his crew were arrested live on the air in Minneapolis. Vox’s Matthew Yglesias has more detailed coverage here.
HuffPost reporter Christopher Mathias, who photos show with his press badge clearly visible to officers, was arrested while covering protests in Brooklyn Saturday evening. He was later released and in good condition, according to several of his HuffPost colleagues.
Confirmed that this is @huffpost reporter @letsgomathias getting arrested — I didn’t catch when they first apprehended him but it was incredibly violent. His press badge is clearly visible. pic.twitter.com/ob3FvEzkiK— Phoebe Leila Barghouty (@PLBarghouty) May 31, 2020
Minneapolis-based reporter Madeleine Baran tweeted that a Minneapolis police officer pointed a weapon at her and did not lower it when she identified herself as a reporter. The incident prompted her to leave and stop reporting on the protest.
A Minneapolis police officer pointed a weapon at me at @sfreemark’s heads, while we were standing on Nicollet and 32nd covering the protests. I yelled that I’m a journalist. He did not lower his weapon, so we ran. Calling it a night.— Madeleine Baran (@madeleinebaran) May 30, 2020
Journalist Simon Moya-Smith was pepper sprayed and arrested after being told “Roll on your side, Mr. Journalist,” by a Minneapolis police officer Saturday.
I was pepper-sprayed then arrested last night by Minneapolis PD even after identifying myself as a reporter MULTIPLE times:
Cop 1: *checks press badge as I’m on the ground* Cop 2: “Roll on your side, Mr. journalist.” Cop 3: *loads me in the car, sees my press badge and shrugs*— Simon Moya-Smith (@SimonMoyaSmith) May 31, 2020
CNN commentator Keith Boykin tweeted that he was arrested by NYPD Saturday.
The police locked me in tight zip ties that bruised my wrists. They held me in a van for an hour. Then a hot police bus for an hour. Then they took me to 1 Police Plaza and held me in a jail cell with about 35 others with no social distancing and many of the others unmasked.— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) May 31, 2020 Police weren’t the only people targeting journalists this weekend
But it was unfortunately not just police targeting journalists over the weekend. Fox News reporter Leland Vittert and his crew were harassed, assaulted, and chased off the scene near the White House in Washington, DC, Friday. Their camera was broken in the process.
“Vittert and the crew were punched and hit with projectiles as they fled, and a Fox News
George Floyd protests go global
Foreign leaders are also reacting to the turmoil in the United States.
A demonstration in London’s Trafalgar Square on May 31 in response to the death of George Floyd. Hollie Adams/Getty Images
As protests continue across the United States, the rest of the world is watching the chaos unfold in America’s cities, and is commenting on the systemic issues the demonstrations — and their inciting incident — reveal.
The death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a white police officer pushed a knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, has garnered international attention, as have the sometimes-violent protests that have erupted in the US.
Demonstrations in solidarity with Floyd protesters popped up in cities like London and Berlin, and world leaders, allies and foes of the US alike, have commented on the violence across the country.
Here is a look at how the world is reacting.
In the United Kingdom:
Hundreds marched in London on Sunday to protest the death of Floyd, defying the United Kingdom’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions that prohibit mass gatherings.
Protesters in London, England, march in support of the anti-police brutality demonstrations being held in the US on May 31. Hollie Adams/Getty Images
UK police officers block a road near the US Embassy in London on May 31. Hollie Adams/Getty Images
WATCH: Some pretty big crowds in London marching down Whitehall for #BlackLivesMatterUK protests.
Demonstrators gathered in Trafalgar Square in London, kneeling in unison at 1 pm local time to honor Floyd. Protesters, some in masks, held up signs with slogans such as “Justice for George Floyd” and chanted, “Black Lives Matter.” Standing in solidarity with Floyd, some protesters also called out injustice and racism in the UK.
Hundreds marched at Trafalgar Square to protest the death of George Floyd in London on May 31. Hollie Adams/Getty Images
Some protesters marched through London to the US Embassy there. Hundreds also marched in Manchester, UK, on Sunday — and more protests are expected in the UK this week.
Toronto also saw demonstrations on Saturday, which largely focused on Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a 29-year-old Toronto black woman who, according to police, fell from her balcony while police were at her home last week. Officers responded to a call about a “domestic incident” at her home on Wednesday night, but the circumstances leading up to her fall are unclear. An investigation is underway.
Demonstrations in support of Korchinski-Paquet merged with calls to end racism in Canada, the US, and around the world. Police are still investigating the death of Korchinski-Paquet, and protesters held up signs that read “Justice for Regis.”
Protesters chanting “Justice for Regis” during an anti-police brutality rally in Toronto, Canada, on May 30. Arindam Shivaani/NurPhoto/Getty Images
A group of Black Lives Matter demonstrators also gathered outside the US consulate in Milan on Thursday to protest Floyd’s death. A graffiti mural in Milan read “I Can’t Breathe,” a reminder of Floyd’s pleas to police.
Protesters gathered in front of the US Consulate in Milan, Italy, on May 28. Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Italian protesters performed a peaceful flash mob demonstration, in which they sat in front of the US consulate with their hands at their throats, simulating suffocation. Mairo Cinquetti/NurPhoto/Getty Images World leaders have responded to the protests — including some authoritarian countries
And world leaders are using these problems to address their own ends, with many allies seizing upon them to plead for a more just and equitable society, as adversaries highlight them to score propaganda points.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remarked on Floyd’s death and the protests at a press conference on Friday. “Many Canadians of diverse backgrounds are watching, like all Canadians are, the news out of the United States with shock and with horror,” Trudeau told reporters.
“Anti-black racism — racism — is real. It’s in the United States, but it’s also in Canada and we know people are facing systemic discrimination, unconscious bias and anti-black racism every single day,” said Trudeau, who added that Canada also had “work to do.”
Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairman of the African Union Commission, which represents member states of the African Union, put out a statement that “strongly condemns the murder of George Floyd that occurred in the United States of America at the hands of law enforcement officers, and wishes to extend his deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”
The statement added that Mahamat encourages the “authorities in the United States of America to intensify their efforts to ensure the total elimination of all forms of discrimination based on race or ethnic origin.”
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab declined to directly address the protests or Trump’s response. “I’m not going to start commenting on the commentary or indeed the press statements that other world leaders make, or indeed the US president,” he told Sky News on Sunday. “Footage of what happened to George Floyd was very distressing, as has been the scenes across America of the rioting and some of the violence.”
He added that he wanted “to see the de-escalation of all those tensions and Americans come together.”
Keir Starmer, Labour leader and head of the UK opposition party, offered a more pointed suggestion; he tweeted Saturday that “George Floyd must not become just another name. His shocking death should be the catalyst for change.”
George Floyd must not become just another name. His shocking death should be the catalyst for change.
To build a better society we must stand together against racism and injustice.— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 30, 2020
Other UK lawmakers have also weighed in. Diane Abbott, a Labour lawmaker, wrote in the Huffington Post that Britain needed to learn from the US before it saw a tragedy similar to Floyd’s death. “Many of the issues that have made the situation in the United States so combustible exist right here in the British Isles,” she wrote.
Images of buildings burned and looted, images of police and protesters clashing, and images of journalists under attack by rubber bullets and tear gas, has also revealed, in some instances, an uncomfortable hypocrisy within the US on human rights and freedom of speech.
Authoritarian governments have seized on this disorder to try exploit it for domestic political gain.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan commented on Floyd’s death in a series of tweets. “The racist and fascist approach that led to the death of George Floyd in the US city of Minneapolis as a result of torture has not only deeply saddened all of us, but it has also become one of the most painful manifestations of the unjust order we stand against across the world.”
The racist and fascist approach that led to the death of George Floyd in the US city of Minneapolis as a result of torture has not only deeply saddened all of us, but it has also become one of the most painful manifestations of the unjust order we stand against across the world.— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) May 28, 2020
Erdoğan — who has purged the military and civil service of his perceived enemies, detained dozens of journalists, and led a targeted campaign against the Kurds — claimed that he would “continue to fight to protect the rights of all of humanity without any discrimination based on race, color, religion, language or faith.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif posted an obviously edited version of a US State Department press release, swapping the US in for Iran. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded on Twitter by indicting Iran’s treatment of gay people, women, and Jews, but he did not address the US protests.
And then there’s China, which seized on the US protests to push back on America’s stance on Hong Kong. This week, Pompeo declared Hong Kong no longer autonomous because of China’s encroachment on the territory, citing, among other things, the use of tear gas and mass arrests against peaceful demonstrations. This declaration suggested the city would lose the trade advantages that have helped make it an economic center — and indeed, on Friday, President Donald Trump announced the US would revoke Hong Kong’s special trade status because China was “absolutely smothering” Hong Kong’s freedoms.
China has been relatively quiet on the move, but on Saturday, Hua Chunying, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, responded to a tweet from the US State Department spokesperson about Hong Kong with: “I can’t breathe.”
Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-run Global Times, also tried to draw parallels between the unrest in the US and the unrest in Hong Kong. “Go talk to demonstrators seriously,” he wrote on Twitter, addressing Trump. “Negotiate with them, just like you urged Beijing to talk to Hong Kong rioters.”
Mr. President, don't hide behind the Secret Service. Go to talk to demonstrators seriously. Negotiate with them, just like you urged Beijing to talk to Hong Kong rioters. pic.twitter.com/nTOnO0sptk— Hu Xijin
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