Protestors in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where a police officer killed a black man on May 25 (By Christian Science Monitor)
Outraged Americans marched, chanted and knelt for justice in the killing of a black man, too common an occurrence, by a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer.
In the midst of a pandemic that already has killed more than 100,000 Americans, thousands took to the streets for the fifth night, the day after fired Officer Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Chauvin kept his knee on the neck of the handcuffed George Floyd, who lay on his stomach on the ground, for eight minutes and 46 seconds while passers-by begged him to stop it.
A CNN commentator in Minneapolis said that there were three groups on the streets: protestors, fire-starters and looters.
Late yesterday, Melvin Carter, the mayor of neighboring St. Paul, Minnesota, rescinded his earlier statement at a press conference that “every person” arrested for violent acts was from out of state, according to Forbes on May 30.
Carter said that he was given inaccurate information during a police briefing. A local television news outlet, KARE 11, examined police records from Hennepin County Jail and found that nearly all of the arrested people live in Minneapolis or the surrounding metropolitan area.
Minneapolis and other cities reinforced local police presence with State Police or National Guard units, and they posted curfews. Police used rubber bullets and pepper spray. In one city, they used their bicycles to create a barrier and contain crowds. A 19-year-old, who was hit by a bullet shot into a crowd in Indianapolis, Indiana, died of his wound. Six people were shot, and one person died in Chicago. Across the country, there were hundreds of arrests.
Besides Indianapolis and Minneapolis, there were also protests in the following American cities, among others:
Atlanta, Georgia
Baltimore, Maryland
Chicago, Illinois
Columbia, South Carolina
Denver, Colorado
Dallas, Texas
Kansas City, Missouri
La Mesa, California
Los Angeles, California
Oakland, California
Orlando, Florida
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Portland, Oregon
Raleigh, North Carolina
Rochester, New York
Salt Lake City, Utah
San Diego, California
San Francisco, California
San Jose, California
Santa Ana, California
Santa Cruz, California
Seattle, Washington
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