Riots errupt across Minnesota over death of black man in police custody

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52817097.If

There have been violent clashes between police and protesters in the US city of Minneapolis following the death of an unarmed black man in police custody.

Police fired tear gas and protesters threw rocks and sprayed graffiti on police cars.

Video of the death shows George Floyd, 46, groaning "I can't breathe" as a policeman kneels on his neck.

Four police officers have been fired, with the mayor saying that being black "should not be a death sentence".

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The incident echoes the case of Eric Garner, who was placed in a police chokehold in New York in 2014. His death became a rallying call against police brutality and was a driving force in the Black Lives Matter movement.

What happened at the protests?

They began in the afternoon on Tuesday, when hundreds of people came to the intersection where the incident had taken place on Monday evening.

Organisers tried to keep the protest peaceful and maintain coronavirus social distancing, with demonstrators chanting "I can't breathe," and "It could've been me".

Protester Anita Murray told the Washington Post: "It's scary to come down here in the middle of the pandemic, but how could I stay away?"

A crowd of hundreds later marched to the 3rd Precinct, where the officers involved in the death are thought to have worked.

Squad cars were sprayed with graffiti and protesters threw stones at the police building. Police fired tear gas, flash grenades and foam projectiles.

One protester told CBS: "It's real ugly. The police have to understand that this is the climate they have created."

Another said: "I got on my knees and I put up a peace sign and they tear-gassed me."

Police said one person had suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being shot away from the protest area but gave no further details.

What happened to George Floyd?

Officers responding to reports of the use of counterfeit money had approached Mr Floyd in his vehicle.

According to police he was told to step away from the vehicle and physically resisted officers.

Honestly, this guy deserves life behind bars. It's a disgusting act.

I watched a man die in real-time. These cops blatantly killed a man and need to be charged/arrested.

Honestly, I couldn't see the video until the end. It was way too graphic.

Used to live a quarter mile from the area. Surreal to see this happen in my old neighborhood. I can't possibly see how this is justifiable. But I'm sure some people will find a way.

Hoping they release the full ICC and body cam footage to provide more context. The only time you would apply pressure to the neck is in a carotid control hold... Certainly not with your knee though. At face value, appears grossly negligent.

Not sure how rioting/looting and acting with violence against your community will help the issue though. Hopefully they can charge as many as possible.

Such a shame, but cops kill more whites on average. Where’s that riot?

horrible, im glad all involved were fired. FBI currently investigating, hope justice is served

FYI tho that picture of that guy in the red hat IS NOT THE OFFICER.

What the officer did was horrible tho.

Get out there and start it, you lazy bum!

Destroyed.

If there is ever a time to riot, it's when those charged with protecting the public abuse their power and kills someone.

Seems like an easy thing to get wrong, training or no training, in the heat of the moment I don't imagine a lot of folks would check to make sure they are doing the proper, safer control hold instead of the oft-lethal choke hold. I know absolutely nothing about self-defense, however, so take that with a grain of salt.

Rioting brings notice to an issue. Landlords have stakes in those properties, landlords that are generally wealthy and also have input into politics. If you own a block of property that's getting destroyed, chances are you're going to call up the mayor and demand they apologize or take action against the offending officers in order to get things quiet again.

It's not entirely self-destructive, just a little bit.

This is not going to be pretty.

Found his name, guy wearing that hat in the photo is jonathon riches, ex convict online troll, not any of the officers involved.

Btw not making excuses for the cops, they fucked up royally imo and I hope they are punished for what they did. The other cops watching should have put a stop to that shit as well.

Surely they didn't need to do that. I don't imagine thats part of police training.

Wrong. He deserves someone pinning him down, with a knee to the back of his neck, and not stopping when he begs for it to stop.

In my heart, this is something we can be agree on. But I'm mixed with the death penalty/revenge killing. Although in this case, I'm really kind wishing for it.

What's worse is that according to the news, someone called the cops on him because he was forging a check. IF it did happen, we don't know, that's insane for him to be murdered that way.

The video clearly shows he was not fighting back and was pleading for them to stop because he couldn't breathe, jesus you have 4 cops on him. He's not going anywhere.

Strangling someone is very personal. You know exactly what you are doing and you know how long it is taking. What the cop did was not a split second error. It was prolonged and intended. I can understand why people say this is one of the worst ways to go.

That's true, but it doesn't justify any police brutality no matter what race the victim was.

The U.S has had a rising police state over the years and i don't like it. Excessive force is all to common and we shouldn't be arming our police force with military equipment, there's nothing worse than watching our police force go after its own citizens in a friggin MRAPS. Not to mention all to many times when big protests and riots happen you see police straight up aiming at citizens while barking orders. This kind of action is shunned by our military for the most part. You are taught you don't aim at people unless you plan to kill.

I do honestly wish more people protested for victims of police killings when they aren't black.. its fucked up no matter what race the victim is. BLM kind of fucked up a chance for a universal movement to crack down on the rising police state. It just kinda sucks that something that could have been for all people turned into a racial movement for specific cases.

We only see people gather together when the victim is black. I bet most people here never heard of a guy named Duncan Lemp. His girlfriend and himself were shot by police while sleeping in their house, cops shot through the house from outside while they were asleep, Duncan was killed and his girlfriend wounded. This was soon after the red flag laws passed in Maryland. Apparently someone called one in on him, suspecting him of having a gun. so they shot him through the house while he was asleep. Media didn't say much, poor bastard just wasn't dark enough.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lawyer-man-asleep-police-fired-house-killing-69587748

If you really care about such instances you'll embrace the BLM movement. It won't lead to addressing policies, practices, and infractions against black people only, but all people the police interact with.

You should view that movement as an ally on this front, not an adversary.

While this is no doubt true, proportionality is something to consider. Whites account for 61.3% of US population, blacks 12.7% percent; roughly a 5:1 ratio for white/black. According to non-comprensive database of 2019 fatal police shootings (not dealths by any others means, deaths in custody etc), a total of 1,004 shootings, 370 were white (370 deaths for 61.3% population), 235 were black (235 deaths for 12.7% population); roughly a 3:2 ratio for white/black. It would indicate among their portion of the population, whites are proportionally about half as likely to be shot and killed by police compared to their representation in total population, whereas blacks are proportionally about twice as likely to be shot and killed than their representation in total population, that's aa substantial disparity, and that's probably why there's no riots over what you asserted.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/police-shootings-2019/

I did at first, Ferguson and Eric Garner, i figured people are finally pushing back on the police state! this is great!

I actually went to one of the protests for Garner while I was in college. huge crowd, thousands of people came out, it was cool at first.

One of the black sororities was trying to lead part of the protest down the street, at one point, the main girl with a megaphone started yelling at the white protesters to move to the back of the crowd marching lol true story. She spoke to the "whites" saying stuff like " remember this is OUR movement, we realize you are here to support US, but i'm asking our white allies to move to the back". i started laughing, im not here for you, im here for Garner! I felt that this is ridiculous, why are you splitting up the march based on color, that's fucking lame.

I realize this is anecdotal , but it was an experience i had that left a sour taste in my mouth. I really don't like the racial collective mindset that movements like BLM push. I've had friends get where i'm coming from and some argue with me about this but i'm just being honest with how i feel about it. Making it a race based issue imo weakens the cause, divides people up so you push away more support.

I've heard the counter to this, one friend put it well, "hey think of BLM as a domino, and if that movement can cause a change it will create a ripple effect that would help all communities. I get that viewpoint. But at the same time I wish we could actually work together on all cases of police brutality, if it wasn't BLM you would have alot more cases to capitalize on and gather even wider support imo. It seems to me the only cases BLM cares about are the ones where its a white cop and a black victim. Make the cop any other color than white, make the victim any other color than black, then BLM doesn't give a shit.

Joe Biden has responded to the incident.

“George Floyd’s life mattered. It mattered as much as mine. It mattered as much as anyone’s in this country. At least it should have,” Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said at the outset of a virtual conversation with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.

“Watching [Floyd’s] life be taken in the same manner, echoing nearly the same words … is a tragic reminder that this was not an isolated incident, but a part of an ingrained, systemic cycle of injustice that still exists in this country,” Biden said.

“It cuts at the very heart of our sacred belief that all Americans are equal in rights and in dignity, and it sends a very clear message to the black community and to black lives that are under threat every single day,” he added.

Although Biden said he was “glad” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey “stepped up right away” by announcing Tuesday the firings of the four officers involved in the arrest, the former vice president insisted “they have to be held more fully accountable” — referencing the ongoing FBI investigation into Floyd’s death and his call for a separate Justice Department probe.

“We have to get to the root of all this. You know, we have to ensure that the Floyd family receive the justice they’re entitled to,” Biden said. “And as a nation … we have to work relentlessly to eradicate these systemic failures that inflict so much damage on not just one family, one community, but on the people of color all across this nation.”

Minneapolis mayor is asking for charges to be brought now.

Not to diminish this death, but police overreaching is problem for whites too. I've experienced it first hand, just for excersizing some free speech. I was even literally framed for a crimes I didn't commit. I think it's a major issue in this country. Maybe some places the police are better than others.

What happened to you?

That hat is so obviously shop'd

This is why some black people run from cops even over minor infractions of the law, you have a high chance of being killed for no reason in police custody based on the colour of your skin. Police are not actually in place to protect us, it has been proved multiple times before even in court. Every week there is an article about a cop killing an innocent person (even children) or cops getting caught for pedophilia and rape. I am waiting for the 'good cops' (is there such a thing?) to get some balls and speak up.

Several things on a number of occasions. We have a high police state where I live. Sometimes they feel they can pick you up for anything.

All four deserve jail time......standing idly by while it happens is not cool either.

It's extremely juvenile, self-destructive, and criminal. Anyone who goes out to hurt others/property with *reactionary* anger, under the guise of "righteousness" and justifies such based on that backwards logic, is dangerously close to a terrorist.

/Looks at the last 20 years of US-International conflict.

****.

I agree, I'm just playing Devil's Adovocate (yeah, I'm "that" guy in the group :( ).

But it does beg the question: if the literal embodiment of the law (police officers) can't be bothered to follow the law, why should we? Throwing rocks through windows and flipping cars over is a small reaction relative to a person's unwarranted death.

Furthermore, you can't argue with the results: the cop that was responsible for Garner's arrest (and arguably his death) was on the force for five more years before finally being removed from duty, and even then he was never charged. These cops that were involved in FLoyd's death were fired in less than a week.

Just to be clear the cops were fired before the riots.

Well then I guess I will just go eat crow.

One has to look at the totality and the bigger picture - was there a lawful reason for police being there, what information was provided to the officers before they arrived, information relayed as they were on scene, prior knowledge of the suspect, what was being vocalized by the suspect at the time and what physical actions was being taken by him, what was the surroundings and was the scene volatile, what was being communicated by the officers, etc. All things which require an in-depth and extensive look at by the investigating officers/feds. The courts will look at the "reasonableness" of what transpired and what a "reasonable officer" would have done. The idea of anyone placing their knee on a suspect's neck is insane to me, and screams of gross negligence. We control the head all the time with a combative suspect, but never using the neck.

It's easy for the reactionary crowd to focus on the short video and lose the forest among the trees. I've been on the riot line. I've seen the crap and nasty human beings who treat others with complete disregard for human life/property. I've had people inches from my face spitting as they screamed wishing my wife/children/friends/family would die. I expect to hear silly commentary from the riff-raff. Their only goal is to incite a reactionary so they can get that city payout, especially from the "professional" paid protesters (sadly, an actual thing in California).

Without all the facts however, I could see a valid case for manslaughter against the sole officer based on that negligence. Firing all four officers this quickly without an investigation likely violated their POBR. The union will defend them, of course, but you must have due process.

@Stevo_the_gamer: maybe a suspension would have been better then? Perhaps without pay (but again, unions...)?

Then again a suspension might not satisfy people, but then again again as @LJS9502_basic said the riot happened after they were fired so maybe nothing would have satisfied them.

*shrug*

I don't know man, I think you're right, reacting this way just isn't good in any situation, even if the offense is terrible.

@mrbojangles25: They have departmental orders and policy by the thousands of pages, they have process to follow by the letter. In my experience, the only time employees are terminated this quickly is if they're an at-will employee or on probation. Suspended with or without pay is the usual option until the fair and impartial investigation is completed.

Call it what it is, a murder. He deserves nothing but a speedy trial and conviction and life in prison. His crime was caught on tape, and is a result of systematized racism at the hands of the police in the US and no checks on white supremacy in the force.

He's absolutely right, except of course for the part I underlined. That's clearly just incorrect.

Them getting fired is no punishment at all. As we know from multiple previous examples, they can easily get a job at a different department or just ask (and get) early retirement by playing the victim (as in, the murder was a traumatic experience for them, etc.).

Here’s a thought. Be an upstanding citizen and you won’t have to encounter police - ever.

And what about black on black shootings in urban areas that far outnumber police altercations? Where’s BLM on that?

What a load of shit.

@Sevenizz: I contact upstanding folks all the time who were mistakenly called up, or were involved in a collision, or just having a bad day in an argument with their significant other and the neighbors called on them. There's a million possible examples of simple encounters that never get talked about nor should they.

With all that said, 99.99% of all use of force incidents could have been prevented if the suspect cooperates.

No one covers the record black on white crime because it is not politically correct.

More race baiting crap on gamespot. If roles were reverser it would not be a thread.

Oh and more whites die from the police than blacks.

You do know police detain the wrong people at times? Also he was nabbed for a minor infraction they weren't sure he did. But keep spreading anti democracy ideas dude...…….it's in your voting history already.

As if America isn't already reminding me much of Hong Kong right now.

Hong Kong did better on the virus...……...

@LJS9502_basic: Forgery fraud is a felony. Where did you read that was an infraction?

Edit: Also a federal crime which has a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

@foxhound_fox: the checks are the laws enforced. You’re always an extremist.