NY urges protesters to get tested
Council members in Minneapolis vow to disband police force
NEW YORK — With New York City poised to reopen after a more than two-month coronavirus shutdown, officials Sunday lifted a curfew that was in place amid protests of police brutality and racial injustice. But they also urged that demonstrators be tested for COVID-19.
“Get a test. Get a test,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told people who have been participating in rallies and marches in memory of George Floyd. “I would act as if you were exposed, and I would tell people you are interacting with, assume I am positive for the virus.“
Cuomo said the state would open 15 testing sites dedicated to protesters so they can get results quickly. His call for demonstrators to proceed carefully is similar to those made in Seattle, San Francisco and Atlanta following massive demonstrations, with free testing for protesters.
New York has been the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, with black communities hit especially hard.
The Rev. Brandon Watts of Epiphany Church in Brooklyn was mindful of the pandemic while organizing a “Pray & Protest” march with several other churches. He mandated that protesters wear masks, and he came with boxes of them. Attendees also were offered free coronavirus tests at one church.
“COVID-19 hit the inner city harder than anybody else,” Watts said. “And so we have to be very careful. We’re the only ones in a pandemic within a pandemic.”
In addition to suffering disproportionately from the the virus, the black community also has been roiled by the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer pressed a knee into his neck while arresting him.
Floyd’s death renewed calls to reform policing in America and sparked massive protests throughout the country. A heavy-handed police response to protesters in many places underscored what critics have maintained: Law enforcement is militarized and too often uses excessive force.
Cities imposed curfews as several protests last week were marred by spasms of arson, assaults and smashand-grab raids on businesses. More than 10,000 people have been arrested around the country since protests began, sometimes after violent confrontations with officers. Videos have surfaced of officers in riot gear using tear gas or physical force against even peaceful demonstrators.
But recent U.S. protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful — and over the weekend, several police departments appeared to retreat from aggressive tactics.
Several cities have also lifted their curfews, including Chicago and New York City, which is preparing to enter its first phase of reopening after virus shutdowns. Up to 400,000 people are expected to head back to the workplace Monday.
The confirmed global death toll from the COVID-19 virus reached at least 401,000 fatalities Sunday. Worldwide, nearly 7 million people have been infected by the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The United States leads the world with more than 1.9 million infections and 110,000 deaths, according to the tally. Europe has recorded more than 175,000 since the virus emerged in China late last year.
In Washington, National Guard troops from South Carolina were seen checking out of their hotel Sunday shortly before President Donald Trump tweeted he was giving the order to withdraw them from the nation’s capital.
At the newly renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, protesters posed with the street sign and the yellow block lettering painted on the pavement by the city.
Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, the city where Floyd died, nine of the 12 city council members vowed to radically overhaul policing. Council Member Jeremiah Ellison went so far as to promise the council would “dismantle” the agency.
The state of Minnesota launched a civil rights investigation of the department last week, and the first concrete changes came Friday when the city agreed to ban chokeholds and neck restraints.
“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” said Lisa Bender, the council president. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”
Disbanding an entire department has happened before.
In 2012, with crime rampant in Camden, New Jersey, the city disbanded its police department and replaced it with a new force that covered Camden County. Compton, California, took the same step in 2000, shifting its policing to Los Angeles County.
Also Sunday, The New York Times’ editorial page editor resigned after the newspaper disowned an opinion piece by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton that advocated using federal troops against protesters, and it was later revealed he hadn’t read the piece prior to publication.
James Bennet resigned and his deputy, James Dao, is being reassigned at the newspaper, the Times said Sunday. The fallout was swift after the Arkansas Republican’s piece was posted online late Wednesday. It caused a revolt among Times journalists.