George Floyd death: Protesters and riot police clash in Minneapolis
Written by MAX FM on May 28, 2020
Protesters clashed with riot police firing tear gas for a second night in Minneapolis on Wednesday in an outpouring of rage over the death of a black man seen in a widely circulated video gasping for breath as a white officer knelt on his neck.
The video, taken by an onlooker to Monday night’s fatal encounter between police and George Floyd, showed him lying face down and handcuffed, groaning for help and repeatedly saying, “please, I can’t breathe,” before growing motionless.
The second day of demonstrations, accompanied by looting and vandalism, began hours after mayor Jacob Frey urged prosecutors to file criminal charges against the white policeman shown pinning Floyd to the street.
Floyd, who was unarmed and reportedly suspected of trying to pass counterfeit bills at a corner eatery, was taken by ambulance from the scene of his arrest and pronounced dead the same night at a hospital.
The policeman shown kneeling on Floyd’s neck and three fellow officers involved were dismissed from the police department on Tuesday as the FBI opened an investigation.
Hundreds of protesters, many with faces covered, thronged streets around the Third Precinct police station late on Wednesday, less than 1km from where Floyd had been arrested, chanting, “No justice, no peace” and “I can’t breathe”.
Anger at Floyd’s death also triggered a rally in his name against police brutality by hundreds of people in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon.
.@MinneapolisPD use tear gas to break up the crowd at E Lake St. & Minnehaha in front of the 3rd Precinct. This protest has been going strong for over 4 hours. #GeorgeFloyd #WCCO pic.twitter.com/nrTaH9jLw3
Advertisement— Marielle Mohs (@MarielleMohs) May 27, 2020
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That demonstration reportedly turned violent after a crowd marched onto a nearby freeway and blocked traffic, then attacked two California Highway Patrol cruisers. One protester who clung to the hood of a patrol car fell to the pavement as it sped away, and was treated at the scene by paramedics, news footage of the incident showed.
The video of Monday’s deadly confrontation between Minneapolis police and Floyd led Mayor Frey to call on Wednesday for Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman “to charge the arresting officer in this case”.
The city identified the four officers as Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J Alexander Kueng. It did not say who knelt on Floyd’s neck and gave no further information.
The local police union said the officers were cooperating with investigators and cautioned against a “rush to judgment”.
The county attorney’s office said it would decide how to proceed once investigators had concluded their inquiries. – Reuters
