“You have changed the world George”: the American leader of the civil rights Al Sharpton delivered Thursday during a ceremony in homage to George Floyd a moving eulogy funeral, with political accents tinged with sadness but also of hope for a better world , with the promise to “continue the fight”.
Family, religious or political leaders and celebrities gathered at the North Central Christian University of Minneapolis to honor the memory of this African-American, whose death at the age of 46 under the knee of a white police officer on May 25 triggered a deep wave of anger across the United States.
The ceremony, in the presence of black personalities like rapper T.I. or comedian Kevin Hart, began with a moving interpretation of “Amazing Grace” after the mayor, white, of Minneapolis knelt in tears before the coffin.
It was notably marked by a period of silence of 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the time during which the police officer Derek Chauvin remained kneeling on the neck of George Floyd despite his pleas.
Speaking, the brother of the deceased, Philonise Floyd, denounced with applause “the pandemic of racism and discrimination” which prevailed.
Reverend Al Sharpton, a figure in the civil rights movement, delivered a very political eulogy.
“George Floyd should not be among the dead. He did not die from a common health problem. He died from a common dysfunction of the American justice system,” he said, seeing in his knee who crushed George Floyd’s neck the symbol of African American oppression in the United States since the time of slavery.
“What happened to Floyd happens every day in this country, in education, health care and all aspects of American life. It is time for us to stand up in honor of George and to say ‘Take your knees from our necks,’ “he proclaimed, calling on the police to report.
A Donald Trump, who evacuated manu militari the surroundings of the White House Monday evening to pose in front of a church, bible in hand, the Baptist pastor of 65 years advised to “open the bible”.
“I have been preaching since a young age, and I have never seen anyone hold a bible like that, but let’s move on,” he said.
Another ceremony is scheduled for Saturday in North Carolina, before the funeral on Monday in Houston, Texas.
No major incident
Filmed by a passer-by, the father’s slow agony provoked a climate of tension that the United States had not experienced since the 1960s and the civil rights movement.
Demonstrations, sometimes degenerating into looting and violence, took place across the country to denounce police brutality, racism and social inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the emotion crossed the borders of the United States, several big American cities decreed night curfews to try to contain the overflows. On Thursday, they were lifted in Los Angeles and Washington.
Police have made a total of nearly 10,000 arrests in the country in recent days, according to an estimate reported by American media.
But after more than a week of excesses, the night from Wednesday to Thursday proved to be calmer overall, without any major incident to be deplored, the demonstrators having obtained a first “victory” in the legal field.
As they claimed, the prosecutor investigating the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis reclassified the facts as intentional homicide, charging Derek Chauvin with “unpremeditated murder” – a count of 40 years imprisonment – and aiding and abetting the three other agents present. The latter appeared in court Thursday for their bail to be fixed: between 750,000 and 1 million dollars each.
“PUBLIC ORDER!”
Charged by the Democratic opposition for throwing fuel on the fire by threatening to use the army to check the streets, Donald Trump continues to want to be firm.
“PUBLIC ORDER!”, He again tweeted early in the morning in capital letters in what will certainly be one of the themes of his re-election campaign until the presidential election on November 3.
One of his former ministers struck him head-on Wednesday accusing him of wanting to “divide” America.
“In my lifetime, Donald Trump is the first president who does not try to bring the Americans together, who does not even pretend to try,” wrote former Defense Minister Jim Mattis in a column for The Atlantic. .
His successor at the head of the powerful Pentagon, Mark Esper, himself distanced himself from the president on Wednesday, saying he was opposed to the idea of deploying the army in the big cities of the United States to curb the vast movement of current protest.
–
