The images are tragically familiar. The death of an African American at the hands of the police; the manifestations of anger which turn into a riot; the mobilization of the national guard. The chain of events this time takes place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It all started with the muscular questioning of a 46-year-old black man on May 25. The scene, filmed by a witness, is difficult to sustain. George Floyd is thrown to the ground and a policeman kneels on his neck. ” I can not breathe “, he repeats. Neither his pleas nor those of the people attending the scene are heard. Then, George Floyd’s body comes to rest. When the emergency services intervene, the policeman, Derek Chauvin, is still perched on him.
The municipality’s reaction was swift: the four police officers were dismissed on the spot. The accused police officer had been the subject of eighteen complaints related to his behavior. The lack of immediate legal consequences, however, fueled the frustration of protesters for two consecutive nights. These disturbances prompted the Democratic governor of the state, Tim Walz, to request, Thursday, the deployment of the national guard. “Gorge Floyd’s death must bring justice and substantive reform, no more death and destruction,” he implored. A police station was set on fire Thursday evening during a third night of clashes. Protest demonstrations have spread across the country, in Los Angeles as well as in Chicago, Denver or Memphis.
This bloody routine is verified by the numbers. The number of people killed by the police in the United States in 2019 was 1,004, according to the accounts of the Washington Post, which only lists gun deaths. A figure higher than that recorded in 2018 (992) and which disproportionately concerns African-Americans. The tragic death of George Floyd echoes that of a young African-American, Ahmaud Arbery, chased by a former policeman and his son, while he was jogging.
The young man was killed in February, but the author of the fatal shot had pleaded self-defense and argued for a state law adopted in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, which allows a citizen to arrest it. another if he witnesses a crime. Ahmaud Arbery had entered a house under construction before being chased by the two men, then intercepted. A third had filmed the scene, also difficult to sustain. The publication of the video in early May forced local authorities to react, after initially covering up the matter. The three men are now imprisoned.
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