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African-American George Floyd's death has led to marches, demonstrations, acts of violence, and looting across the USA and in other parts of the world. Emotions are running high. We will not attempt to accuse or defend anyone here. Just attempt to lay out the information we have and offer it up for the community to discuss. Many comments about this incident have been posted to unrelated stories on this site. This is, therefore, an attempt to provide one place on SoylentNews where people are encouraged to discuss it. So as to not derail other stories on the site, I kindly ask you focus those comments here.
Wikipedia has a page about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_George_Floyd (permanent link to the page as it appeared at the time of writing):
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an African-American man, was killed in the Powderhorn community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white American Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on the right side of Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time occurred after Floyd became unresponsive.[3][4][5][6][7] Officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas K. Lane participated in Floyd's arrest, with Kueng holding Floyd's back, Lane holding his legs, and Thao looking on and preventing intervention by an onlooker as he stood nearby.[8]:6:24[9][10]
The arrest was made after Floyd was accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a market.[11] Police said Floyd physically resisted arrest.[12][13] Some media organizations commented that a security camera from a nearby business did not show Floyd resisting.[14][15] The criminal complaint filed later said that based on body camera footage, Floyd repeatedly said he couldn't breathe while standing outside the police car, resisted getting in the car and intentionally fell down.[16][17][18][19] Several bystanders recorded the event on their smartphones, with one video showing Floyd repeating "Please", "I can't breathe", "Mama", and "Don't kill me" being widely circulated on social media platforms and broadcast by the media.[20] While knee-to-neck restraints are allowed in Minnesota under certain circumstances, Chauvin's usage of the technique has been widely criticized by law enforcement experts as excessive.[21][22][23] All four officers were fired the day after the incident.[24]
[...] Charges: Third-degree murder (Chauvin) Second-degree manslaughter (Chauvin)
This has been extensively covered by the media. Some outlets attempt to put their own interpretations on their coverage with their selection of video footage and with their commentary. It is difficult to find a simple video of the incident. Here is one that has coverage from the time of initial encounter of the police the officers with George Floyd up through his being taken away by ambulance. The video is a composite of shots from a restaurant's surveillance camera (Dragon Wok), Officer body cam, and bystander cell phones. YouTube footage: Full George Floyd Available Footage (21:12). If anyone has more complete footage of the arrest, please mention it clearly (with a link) in the comments.
Lastly, this is a hard time for everybody. Pandemic. Lock-down. Unemployment. Fears. Please be mindful of others' circumstances when commenting. We are a community sprung from a time of challenge. Let us continue to be here for one-another during this difficult time. SoylentNews is People.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by PiMuNu on Tuesday June 02 2020, @08:45PM (8 children)
Crazy world. The US government is in the process of *declaring protesters are terrorists* and *moving troops onto the streets to suppress political protests*
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday June 02 2020, @09:10PM (1 child)
Yup.
I have just finished reading a book about the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and it strikes me there are some parallels.
The Hungarian Revolution started with no actual leaders, just a whole bunch of people who were sick of the status quo and saw no other way of improving their lot.
Of course, the US is not under the thumb of some foreign power, so the comparison is not perfect.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 02 2020, @10:00PM
I'd say the US government is well under the thumb of non-democratically controlled powers. It's just that these powers have a residential addresses inside the country and many PO boxes outside of it, but as far as the official US representational structure is concerned, they might as well be foreign.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 02 2020, @09:56PM (2 children)
Yup. Your DOTUS has already been talking about deploying the military domestically. That police state is coming along nicely, don't you think?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 02 2020, @10:48PM
Heaven forbid! I sure don't want THAT.
Better let the states handle it all by themselves. They are doing a great job; it's totally under control.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 02 2020, @10:50PM
Don't worry, checks and balances comes to the rescue! Republican Senators are expressing "unease" and "disappointment" and some even go as far as saying that they "wish he would stop tweeting that stuff." I hear Susan Collins believes that after all the dust settles on this, that Trump will probably have learned a lesson.
Powerful stuff to see those bulwarks of liberty defend the strength of the republic!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 02 2020, @10:35PM (1 child)
Protesters peacefully march and yell and get attention.
Terrorists loot, kill, maim, and set fire to buildings and churches.
Not such a difficult concept.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2020, @03:25AM
Then please explain why so many protesters are getting assaulted and arrested along with 100+ news crews in under a week.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 03 2020, @03:54PM
The US government is moving to declare Antifa a terrorist organization, because they are perpetrating political violence. Are you saying that all the protesters are members of Antifa, or that political violence is the same thing as peaceful protest?
Moving troops onto the streets to stop violence, looting, and vandalism, which are not "political protests." They are crimes. Moving troops onto the street, because the mayors have stood down the police and the governors have not called out the National Guard. Or do you want violent protesters to be able to burn down your building with your family in it? Do you think they'll stop to thoughtfully consider your pleas about how you're on their side?
Washington DC delenda est.