New York kneels 9 minutes and 29 seconds in memory of George Floyd

New York, May 25 (EFE) .- Authorities and community leaders in New York knelt this Tuesday for 9 minutes and 29 seconds in memory of George Floyd, the black man murdered a year ago by suffocation when a white policeman hit him on the knee on the neck during that time.
The event, led by well-known civil rights activist Al Sharpton, who heads the National Action Network, featured the Mayor of the Big Apple, Bill de Blasio; several of the candidates to succeed him and local officials who work in the fight against racism.
“George Floyd will go down in history not only as a martyr, but also as a turning point for police surveillance in the United States,” said Sharpton, who highlighted the “intergenerational and multiracial” movement that took to the streets despite the pandemic. of covid-19 to demand racial justice.
Floyd’s murder, which sparked the largest wave of protests and race riots in the U.S. in half a century, has resulted in the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin on all three charges he faced: second-degree manslaughter, third-degree murder. degree and second degree manslaughter.
Sharpton, along with the authorities, demanded that a federal law of police reform be approved soon in the name of Floyd that the Republican and Democratic legislators are debating in Congress and to which the Joe Biden Administration had imposed a deadline that ended today, on the anniversary of his death.
In this regard, Mayor De Blasio recalled that change is “possible” and that under his Administration the city eliminated the “stop and frisk” policy, a controversial tactic that allowed the Police to arrest and search anyone on the street and that was primed with blacks and Latinos.
New York, since Floyd’s murder, has passed police control measures and previously authorized an anti-abuse law on behalf of Eric Garner, an African-American who died of suffocation in New York in July 2014 at the hands of police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who he practiced a forbidden choke hold on him.
“For those who feel pain, cynicism or doubt: I understand you, but I also ask you to see what this movement has achieved in the last year. Across the nation, laws are changing, the Police are being held accountable in ways not imaginable before thanks to a popular movement, “said an emotional De Blasio.
“The story is not who kneels, but when America is going to get up,” concluded Sharpton after kneeling for more than 9 minutes. “Imagine how long that felt on the neck of a human being. It is time that we correct the police surveillance in this country,” he added.

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