United Against Racism
Emotional tribute in Houston for police brutality victim George Floyd draws tens of thousands
A man and woman hold hands aloft in Hyde Park, London, on Wednesday during a ‘Black Lives Matter’ protest following the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis, US. Floyd’s death has sparked six nights of anti-racism rallies, protests and riots across the beleagured nation.
Protesters defied curfews across the US on Tuesday as leaders scrambled to stem anger over police racism, while President Donald Trump rejected criticism over his use of force to break up a peaceful rally.
Standoffs between police and demonstrators stretched into the night in cities from New York to Los Angeles over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man whose killing has brought protests to the nation for the past week.
But there were fewer reports of the looting and violence that had soured street demonstrations in previous nights.
Tens of thousands gathered earlier in Houston to pay a hometown tribute to Floyd, who grew up in the Texas city and is to be buried there next week.
A tearful Roxie Washington, the mother of Floyd’s six-yearold daughter, told a news conference she wanted “justice for him because he was good. No matter what anybody thinks, he was good”.
In New York, which on Tuesday prolonged its first curfew since World War 2 for the full week, reporters saw hundreds refusing to go home after the 8pm cut-off, instead chanting slogans and peacefully walking the streets in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The day before, several luxury Manhattan stores had been looted.
Minnesota took one of the first concrete actions to address the grievances behind the uprising, which began after Floyd’s death on May 25 in the state’s largest city Minneapolis.
The state launched a civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis police department, looking at possible “systemic discriminatory practices” going back 10 years, governor Tim Walz tweeted.
And in Los Angeles, one of dozens of cities hit by unrest, police officers and mayor Eric
Garcetti dropped to their knees in a symbolic act of solidarity as they met marchers led by African-American Christian groups.
But protesters gathered outside Garcetti’s residence late into the evening. A reporter witnessed a group of at least 200 refusing to disperse and their subsequent arrest.
In Washington DC, thousands returned to the streets on Tuesday for a peaceful “Black Lives Matter” march.
Police officers and mayor Eric Garcetti dropped to their knees in a symbolic act of solidarity
Hours after the 7pm curfew protesters could be heard chanting, as National Guard troops stood on the streets near the White House and helicopters hovered above.
In the same place on Monday, federal police had abruptly opened teargas and fired rubber bullets to break up a non-violent protest, clearing a path for Trump to stroll outside for a photo-op at a historic church damaged the previous night.
The move was loudly condemned by religious leaders, the president’s political rivals, and onlookers around the country.
But Trump voiced glee on Twitter over the response in Washington and accused the leadership of New York — led by the rival Democratic Party — of succumbing to “Lowlife & Scum”. “People liked my walk,” he said.
Joe Biden, Trump’s presumptive Democratic rival in November elections, denounced the crackdown as an abuse of power and promised, if elected, to tackle the “systemic racism” in the country.
A Las Vegas officer was in “grave condition” on Tuesday after being shot during protests on Monday night and an armed Hispanic man was shot and killed by police after raising his gun in a separate, nearby incident. A retired St Louis police captain was shot dead early on Tuesday outside a ransacked store. —