In Minneapolis, protesters outside a burning restaurant on May 29, 2020. – John Minchillo / AP / SIPA
Burning buildings and clashes with law enforcement … The city of Minneapolis, in the northern United States, lived Thursday evening
his third night of violence. The National Guard was sent on Friday to restore calm to protesters protesting against the
police violence, after the death of George Floyd, asphyxiated during his arrest by the police on Monday evening. 20 minutes returns to the sequence of events.
What do we know about the death of George Floyd, the starting point for the riots?
It all started with a video that went viral: the police arrest of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, filmed by a passerby. It shows a police officer who straps George Floyd to the ground, keeping his knee on his neck for long minutes.
We see the latter repeating “I can’t breathe”. The agent, a white man, tells him to stay calm. A second policeman keeps passersby away who start to get angry when the man arrested does not move and seems unconscious. “He is no longer breathing, he is no longer moving, take his pulse,” repeats a witness while the police wait for an ambulance which arrives after several minutes. He was taken to a hospital where he died soon after.
New videos appear to dismiss the police argument that George Floyd, suspected of having tried to forge a counterfeit $ 20 bill, resisted officers who arrested him. In images captured by the cameras of the restaurant in front of which he was arrested, his hands are handcuffed behind his back and he offers no resistance when a policeman drives him to a patrol car.
Without the images posted on social networks, the police “would have given a false version of the facts and they would have stashed that under the carpet,” denounced Benjamin Crump, lawyer for the family of the deceased.The four police officers involved were dismissed, and local and federal authorities are investigating. Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo said an investigation will be launched by the federal police. But no charges have yet been laid, which fuel anger and frustration.
Fires, demonstrations… How did the demonstrators react?
In response to the death of George Floyd, protests against police violence began in the city, with the slogan “I can’t breathe”. Since Monday, the protests have been largely peaceful, with crowds contained by chains of men in uniform. But a police station was burnt down in the northern districts of the city and around thirty stores were looted. A man died after being shot in the vicinity of the protests.
Faced with the risk of riot, soldiers of the National Guard were deployed to “offer support to the civil authorities, as long as they are asked, in order to ensure the safety of people and property”, according to a press release military. State Governor Tim Walz signed a decree Thursday afternoon to authorize the intervention of the National Guard.
We are here with the Minneapolis Fire Department ready to assist so they can safely do their mission. pic.twitter.com/FjsCJ5B8d0
– MN National Guard (@MNNationalGuard) May 29, 2020
During the night, soldiers have already “participated in several missions” with firefighters and to fight against “civil unrest,” the statement said. They continued to flock to Minneapolis until the early hours of the morning until there were 500 “in position”. Two hundred state police, as well as helicopters, were also mobilized.
What was Donald Trump’s reaction?
President Donald Trump Initially reacted through his spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany, indicating that he had been “outraged when he saw the video” of this “heinous, tragic” drama. “He immediately took his phone” to make sure the FBI investigation was going fast, she said, “He wants justice done.”
The President then reacted in person on Twitter. “These VOYOUS dishonor the memory of George Floyd, and I will not let that happen,” he wrote, speaking of looters among the demonstrators. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the army is by his side all along. At the slightest problem, when the looting begins, the shooting begins. Thank you ! “Tweeted Donald Trump on Thursday evening.
A message that can be interpreted as an incitement to the police to use their weapons, and that led Twitter to take action to hide this tweet with a warning message: “This tweet violates Twitter’s rules of violence,” the social network reacted. The tweet remains visible when the message is clicked.
And now ?
Anger is starting to spread to other American cities. In Louisville, Kentucky, clashes took place as residents sought justice for Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by police in her apartment in March. Protesters blocked a highway in Denver, others defied containment orders in New York or Chicago. In New York, 70 people were arrested.
