George Floyd protests: Hundreds of thousands take to America's streets to call for racial justice
Unprecedented marches across US call for racial justice as mourners gather in North Carolina for George Floyd memorial
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Thousands of Americans gathered in cities across the US on Saturday, continuing a second week of demonstrations against police brutality and racism in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on Memorial Day.
Across Europe, the US, Asia and Australia, major demonstrations were being staged. More than 200,000 people were expected to join a march in Washington DC where the White House has installed fencing and an intensified police presence is expected.
In North Carolina, mourners gathered for a memorial service to honour Mr Floyd, as Americans returned to the streets in major cities and small towns to demand racial justice.
Hundreds of people lined up to pay their respects at his coffin.
Rev Christopher Stackhouse from Lewis Chapel Missionary Baptist Church delivered a eulogy, saying that "although it took 8 minutes and 46 seconds for him to die" — referring the length of time that officer Derek Chauvin was kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck before he died — "it took 401 years to put the system in place for nothing to happen".
Meanwhile, demonstrations continued for a 12th day following his death, as officials weigh reform efforts against law enforcement or suspend and charge police officers captured brutalising protesters in cities across the US.
With hundreds of National Guard troops deployed in the city, Donald Trump revived his fight with the mayor and touted his approval ratings among Republicans.
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US officials move to curb police brutality
Officials across the US are moving to rein in police following accusations of excessive force being used against demonstrators, with protests over the killing of George Floyd set to enter their 12th day on Saturday.
North Carolina governor Roy Cooper has ordered that all flags at state facilities be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Saturday in honour of Mr Floyd, who was originally from the state's Fayetteville city.
On Friday, marches and gatherings took place in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Miami, New York and Denver, among other places, while protesters massed again, in the rain, in front of the White House. The night-time protests were largely peaceful but tension remains high even as authorities in several places take steps to reform police procedures.
A federal judge in Denver ordered city police to stop using tear gas, plastic bullets and other "less-than-lethal" devices such as flash grenades, with his ruling citing examples of protesters and journalists being injured by police.
(Hundreds of protesters march in downtown Brooklyn, New York on Friday 5 June)
"These are peaceful demonstrators, journalists, and medics who have been targeted with extreme tactics meant to suppress riots, not to suppress demonstrations," US District Judge R. Brooke Jackson wrote in the ruling.
In Minneapolis, Democratic city leaders voted to end the use of knee restraints and choke-holds, where pressure is applied to the neck, while California Governor Gavin Newsom said he would end state police training of carotid restraints similar to the technique used on Mr Floyd.
In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo said his state should lead the way in passing "Say Their Name" reforms, including making police disciplinary records publicly available as well as banning choke-holds.
"Mr Floyd's murder was the breaking point," Mr Cuomo, a Democrat, said in a statement. "People are saying enough is enough, we must change."
A logo written in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign on the streets near the White House can be seen from space.
The words were written on two blocks of 16th Street in bright yellow letters, on the orders of Washington DC’s mayor, Muriel Bowser. The decision was taken amid protests over the death in police custody of George Floyd.
The Democratic politician also ordered that the section of the street where the logo was written was renamed “Black Lives Matter Plaza”, and accompanied by a new street sign.
While the words would be difficult to miss for anyone walking along this part of the nation’s capital, they were also viewable from space.
Read more below:
Thousands take to the streets in Australia
Black Lives Matter protests across Australia on Saturday proceeded peacefully as thousands of people in state capitals honoured the memory of George Floyd and voiced their anger at the deaths of indigenous Australians in custody.
Organisers of the Sydney protest got a late reprieve when their appeal against a Friday ruling declaring the rally unauthorised was granted. The New South Wales Court of Appeal, just 12 minutes before the rally was scheduled to start, gave the green light, meaning those taking part could not be arrested.
It appeared to be a moot point as up to 1,000 protesters had already gathered in the Town Hall area of downtown Sydney ahead of the decision.
In Sydney, there was one early scuffle when police removed a man who appeared to be a counter protester carrying a sign saying, "White Lives, Black Lives, All Lives Matter."
(Aboriginal elders in Sydney conduct a traditional smoking ceremony in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests)
Crowds filled Victoria Square in Adelaide after police gave special permission for the event to proceed despite COVID-19 restrictions. The march through the city was held after Commissioner Grant Stevens approved the rally on Friday.
"This is a unique and extraordinary event. There is a sentiment that suggests people should have a right to protest on significant matters," Mr Stevens said.
In Brisbane, the Queensland state capital, organisers said about 30,000 people gathered, forcing police to close down two major streets. The rally appeared orderly as police handed out masks to protesters and other officials provided hand sanitisers.
A Maori group did a traditional haka, or war dance, during the Brisbane protest. The large crowd later marched to a local police precinct, some chanting "They say justice, we say murder."
‘Donald Trump has the highest disapproval rating of any US president in recent history at this point in office, at 54 per cent. Joe Biden leads him by 10 per cent in recent polls.
'But it would be unwise to write off Trump in the coming election, just as it would be unwise to underestimate the power of fear,’ writes defence and security editor Kim Sengupta.
Read his analysis below:
Social media giants disable Trump video tribute to Floyd
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram disabled President Donald Trump's campaign tribute video to George Floyd on their platforms on Friday, citing copyright complaints.
The clip, which shows photos and videos of protest marches and instances of violence in the aftermath of the death of Floyd while in police custody in Minnesota, has the president speaking in the background.
It was not clear what copyright image prompted the complaint, but California lawyer Sam Koolaq told Politico his firm submitted copyright complaints to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Late on Friday, Mr Trump criticised the removal by Twitter. "They are fighting hard for the Radical Left Democrats. A one sided battle. Illegal," he wrote on the platform.
Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey responded in a tweet: "Not true and not illegal".
'I became an American groupie because the India of my youth was bedevilled by poverty and protest. Living in the US for the past two decades — and the George Floyd protests this week — have offered me a sharply different perspective,' writes Vasuki Shastry, an Associate Fellow in the Asia Pacific Program of Chatham House. Read his opinion piece below:
Floyd protests planned across UK as public urged to avoid mass gatherings
Anti-racism protests are planned across the UK this weekend in the wake of the death of George Floyd - but ministers have urged people to avoid mass gatherings.
Demonstrators are expected to converge on Parliament Square in London on Saturday and the US Embassy in the capital the next day, while other events are planned across the country.
An estimated 4,000 people are expected to attend a demonstration in Bristol, which will include a march through the city to Castle Park on Sunday, Avon and Somerset police said.
But ministers have urged people not to gather in large numbers and police have warned that mass demonstrations could be unlawful.
Health secretary Matt Hancock said that he was "appalled" by the death of Mr Floyd, but stressed that the UK was still facing a health crisis and coronavirus remained a "real threat".
Mr Hancock told the daily Downing Street briefing on Friday he could understand why people were "deeply upset", but said people in the UK should not attend large gatherings.
‘European nations need not be superior about America. Britain had its own share of disorder in the summer of 2011 and the poorer suburbs of Paris are readily combustible. Institutionalised, state-sanctioned racism has spread across Europe, with the rise of fascistic parties. America, if it ever was, is not alone in facing such problems.’
This editorial, from earlier this week, reflects on the uncomfortable commonalities shared between the US and Europe:
Black Lives Matter world protests - in pictures
(Aboriginal protesters conduct a traditional smoking ceremony at Town Hall during a 'Black Lives Matter' in Sydney, Australia)
(Protesters take part in a demonstration organised by Black Artists Unite and Protest to Support #BlackLivesMatter Movement at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in LA, America)
(Protesters attend a rally against racism in Berlin, Germany)
(Activists in central Seoul, South Korea hold placards as they attend a rally in support of the Black Lives Matter protests)
(Demonstrators attend a Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne, Australia)
(Protesters in Brooklyn, New York)
(Protesters employing social distancing "take a knee" as they attend a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in central London, England)
(Protesters demonstrate against police violence in front of a courthouse in Paris, France)
‘It’s taken the murder of a black man in America and the Black Lives Matter protests this week to make people in the entertainment industry in our own country properly sit up and take notice.
‘Racism doesn’t start and stop with beating up black people on the street. A long way before that comes the inability to see black people as the same as you, as normal. It comes from the audacity to allow yourself to dictate what they should and shouldn’t be talking about,’ writes author and comedian Shappi Khorsandi.
Read her analysis below:
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