This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information.
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| George Floyd protests | |
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| Part of human rights and police brutality in the United States | |
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From top, left to right:
Protesters
gathered in downtown Minneapolis, a protester standing on a damaged
police vehicle, protesters with raised fists outside the Minneapolis Police's
3rd Precinct, protesters overtaking and burning the precinct,
protesters confronting police, armored police with military
accompaniment, and demonstrators on a torched street with firefighters
working in the background.
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| Date | May 26, 2020 – present (1 week and 5 days) |
| Location | |
| Caused by |
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| Methods | Protests, demonstrations, civil disobedience, and civil resistance |
| Status | Ongoing |
| Deaths, injuries and arrests | |
| Death(s) | 18+ |
| Arrested | 11,000+ |
The George Floyd protests are an ongoing series of protests and riots against police brutality that began as local protests in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota before spreading throughout the United States and then worldwide. The protests began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, following the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, in which Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, knelt on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes during an arrest the previous day.
Protests quickly spread across the United States and internationally in support of Black Lives Matter. Protests in some cities resulted in rioting and looting
while many were marked by street skirmishes and significant police
brutality, notably against peaceful protesters and reporters. At least twelve major cities declared a curfew on the evening of May 30, and as of June 2, governors in 24 states and Washington, D.C, had called in the National Guard, with over 17,000 troops activated due to the mass unrest. From the beginning of the protests to June 3, at least 11,000 people had been arrested, including all four police officers responsible for the arrest resulting in the death of George Floyd.
The mass protests are a significant moment for the Trump administration, which has drawn widespread criticism for its hardline stance and divisive rhetoric during the crisis. The unrest is also occurring during the global COVID-19 pandemic,
with health experts as well as public authorities warning that the
protests will likely facilitate an accelerated or rebounding spread of COVID-19.
Background
History of police brutality in the United States
Frequent cases of police brutality and fatal use of force by law enforcement officers, particularly against African Americans, in the United States have long led the civil rights movement and various other activists to protest against the lack of police accountability in incidents involving the use of excessive force. The Watts riots in 1965 were a response to police brutality during the civil rights movement. Confrontations with police during the 1965 riots resulted in the deaths of 34 people, most of whom were African-Americans. The 1992 Los Angeles riots were a response to the acquittal of the police officers responsible for excessive force used on Rodney King.
In recent times, these incidents have included the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore in 2015; and the 2014 death of Eric Garner in New York City, who, like George Floyd, repeatedly stated "I can't breathe" in his final moments. Several of these nationally publicized incidents occurred in Minnesota, including the 2015 shooting of Jamar Clark in Minneapolis, the 2016 shooting of Philando Castile in neighboring Saint Paul, and the 2017 shooting of Justine Damond, also in Minneapolis. In March 2020, the Kentucky shooting of Breonna Taylor by police at her own apartment was also widely publicized. In 2016, Tony Timpa was killed by Dallas police officers in the same way as George Floyd.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
Measures taken against the growing COVID-19 pandemic, including closure of non-essential businesses and implementation of a stay-at-home order,
had significant economic and social impact on many Americans as
millions lost their jobs and were made more economically vulnerable. Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota,
said he was of the opinion that people "have been cooped up for two
months, and so now they're in a different space and a different place.
They're restless. Some of them have been unemployed, some of them don't
have rent money, and they're angry, they're frustrated."
Killing of George Floyd
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Memorial at the site of Floyd's death
On May 25, 2020, at 8:08 p.m. CDT, Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officers responded to a 9-1-1 call regarding a "forgery in progress" on Chicago Avenue South in Powderhorn, Minneapolis.
MPD Officers Thomas K. Lane and J. Alexander Kueng arrived with their
body cameras turned on. A store employee told officers that the man was
in a nearby car. Officers approached the car and ordered George Floyd,
a 46-year-old African American man, who according to police "appeared
to be under the influence," to exit the vehicle, at which point he
"physically resisted." According to the MPD, officers "were able to get
the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical
distress. Officers called for an ambulance."
Once Floyd was handcuffed, he and Officer Lane walked to the sidewalk.
Floyd sat on the ground at Officer Lane's direction. In a short
conversation officer asked Floyd for his name and identification,
explaining that he was arrested for passing counterfeit currency and
asking if he was "on anything". Officers Kueng and Lane attempted to
help Floyd to their squad car, but at 8:14 p.m. Floyd stiffened up and
fell to the ground. Soon, MPD Officers Derek Chauvin and Tou Thoa
arrived in a separate squad car. The officers made several more failed
attempts to get Floyd into the squad car.
Floyd, who was still handcuffed, went to the ground face down.
Officer Kueng held Floyd's back and Lane held his legs. Chauvin placed
his left knee in the area of Floyd's head and neck. A Facebook Live livestream recorded by a bystander showed Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck. Floyd repeatedly tells Chauvin "Please" and "I can't breathe", while a bystander is heard telling the police officer, "You got him down. Let him breathe."
After some time, a bystander points out that Floyd was bleeding from
his nose while another bystander tells the police that Floyd is "not
even resisting arrest right now," to which the police tell the
bystanders that Floyd was "talking, he's fine." A bystander replies
saying Floyd "ain't fine." A bystander then protests that the police
were preventing Floyd from breathing, urging them to "get him off the
ground ... You could have put him in the car by now. He's not resisting
arrest or nothing." Floyd then goes silent and motionless. Chauvin does not remove his knee until an ambulance arrives. Emergency medical services
put Floyd on a stretcher. Not only had Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck
for about seven minutes (including four minutes after Floyd stopped
moving) but another video showed an additional two officers had also
knelt on Floyd while another officer watched.
Medics were unable to detect a pulse, and Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital. An autopsy of Floyd was conducted on May 26, and the next day, the preliminary report by the Hennepin County
Medical Examiner's Office was published, stating "no physical findings
that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation."
Floyd's underlying health conditions included coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease.
The initial report said that "[t]he combined effects of Mr. Floyd being
restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any
potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death." The medical examiner further said Floyd was "high on fentanyl and had recently used methamphetamine at the time of his death."
However, on June 1, a private autopsy commissioned by the family of
Floyd ruled the death a homicide and found that Floyd had died due to
asphyxiation from sustained pressure, which conflicts with the original
autopsy report done earlier that week. Shortly after, the official post-mortem declared Floyd's death a homicide. Video footage of the incident generated global attention and raised questions about the appropriate use of force by law enforcement.
Protests
Cities in North America with George Floyd protests with more than 100 participants. Minneapolis–Saint Paul is marked in red. Click the map to view a larger size and to see protests outside the frame.
States that activated the National Guard in response to the protests
Memo from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley
Minnesota National Guard standing guard behind police at the state capitol building in St. Paul, May 31
State
As of June 2, governors in 24 states and Washington, D.C. had called in the National Guard to respond to the protests and riots. Over 17,000 National Guard troops have been activated. Most state police officers across the United States have also been present in dozens of cities to back up local efforts to quell rioting.
Federal
As of June 5, 2,950 federal law enforcement personnel from a dozen agencies including the Secret Service, Capital Police, Park Police, Customs and Border Protection, FBI´s Hostage Rescue Team, Bureau of Prisons' Special Operations Response Team, DEA's Special Response Team, ATF, and Marshals Service's Special Operations Group have been dispatched to assist local authorities, with most of them being garrisoned in D.C.
The DEA's legal authority was specifically expanded by the Department
of Justice beyond usual limits to include surveillance of protestors and
the ability to arrest for non-drug related offenses. In response, Representatives Jerry Nadler and Karen Bass of the House Judiciary Committee denounced the move and requested a formal briefing from DEA Acting Administrator Timothy Shea.
During an address on June 1, President Trump threatened to deploy the U.S. military
in response to the unrest: "If a city or state refuses to take the
actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents,
then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the
problem for them." This would require invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, last used to quell the 1992 Los Angeles riots on May 1, 1992 by Executive Order 12804. Also on June 1, Arkansas senator Tom Cotton pushed for the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division to be deployed to quell the unrest, calling protestors "Antifa terrorists." The same day, Cotton tweeted "No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters." Many legal experts said this would violate the Department of Defense Law of War Manual, the ICRC, and Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions. Cotton later said he was using "no quarter" in a colloquial sense, but Mark Zaid and Tom Nichols responded that the legal definition of the term is a war crime. Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton said military personnel should "lay down [their] arms" if deployed in the United States.
Deaths
As of June 5, 2020, at least 18 people have died during the protests. 16 of the casualties died of gunshot wounds:
May 27
- In Minneapolis, Calvin Horton Jr. died after being fatally shot during a protest. A local shopowner was arrested, and police sources claimed that Horton was involved in looting of his store.
May 30
- In Oakland, California, amid unrest, a Federal Protective Service officer, David Patrick Underwood, was fatally shot outside a federal courthouse in a drive-by attack that also wounded another guard. At the time of the shooting, Underwood was providing security at the courthouse during a protest. The Department of Homeland Security has labeled the shooting an act of domestic terrorism. The FBI is investigating but had not yet identified a motive or a suspect as of May 31. Although initially the police were not sure that the shooting was connected to the protests, on June 2, investigators stated they now believed the attackers were targeting uniformed officers, but who carried out the attack is not clear so far.
- In St. Louis, Missouri, 29-year-old protester Barry Perkins died after being run over by a FedEx truck that was fleeing from looters.
- In Omaha, Nebraska, 22-year-old protester James Scurlock was fatally shot outside of a bar. The shooter was the owner of the bar, who had a scuffle with a group of protesters and ended up firing several shots, one of which struck Scurlock in the clavicle, killing him. Two days later, it was announced by authorities that there will be no charges for the bar's owner and that he had opened fire in self-defense.
- In Kettering, Ohio, 22-year-old Sarah Grossman, a recent graduate of Ohio State University, died after she was in a group sprayed with tear gas at a demonstration in Columbus, Ohio. An autopsy is pending.
May 31
- In Indianapolis, two people were fatally shot in the vicinity of protests or riots downtown. One of them was 18-year-old African-American man Dorian Murell, killed around 2:30am on June 1; a 29-year-old white man turned himself in to the police, maintaining Murell had pushed him down, and was subsequently charged with murder on June 2. The other was 38-year-old Chris Beatty, a local business owner, who was shot shortly before midnight May 31.
- In Kansas City, Missouri, 50-year-old Marvin Francois was shot and killed by robbers while picking up one of his sons from a protest.
June 1
- In Louisville, local restaurateur David McAtee was killed as a Louisville Metro Police and Kentucky National Guard curfew patrol fired at him. Authorities allege that the patrol returned gunfire after McAtee fired at them. However, McAtee's alleged gunshot occurred after the patrol appeared to fire a pepper ball into McAtee's restaurant, nearly striking his niece in the head. According to the victim's sister, the gathering was not a protest but rather a regularly scheduled social gathering at which McAtee served food from his barbecue restaurant. An investigation of the killing is ongoing. LMPD Chief Steve Conrad was fired later that day, as officers and troops involved in the shooting did not wear or failed to activate body cameras. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer admitted that the city had shown an “inability to apply [curfew] evenly.”
- In Davenport, Iowa, two people were fatally shot on a night with significant rioting. One of the victims was 22-year-old Italia Marie Kelly in an apparent random shooting as she was leaving a demonstration. A Facebook Live video spread online in which Kelly's sister emotionally denounced the protesters for shooting and killing her sister.
- In Cicero, Illinois, two men were fatally shot in separate incidents following an "afternoon of unrest"; this was confirmed by Cicero Police. Town spokesman Ray Hanania said the shots were fired by "outside agitators." The two men were both described as bystanders and were identified as 28-year-old Jose Gutierrez and 27-year-old Victor Cazares Jr.
- In Las Vegas, police shot and killed Jorge Gomez. Gomez was walking among protesters as a demonstration was coming to an end and reportedly reached for his firearm when he was shot.
June 2
- In Philadelphia, a man was fatally shot by the owner of the gun shop Firing Line Inc., while trying to break into the store in the south section of the city. Mayor Jim Kenney stated that he was "deeply troubled" by the killing and that he did not condone vigilantism.
- In Philadelphia, during the fourth day of unrest, a 24-year-old man was severely injured after attempting to use an explosive device to destroy an ATM machine. He was rushed to a local hospital before being pronounced dead.
- In St. Louis, 77-year-old retired police captain David Dorn was shot and killed by looters at a pawn shop. The shooting was reportedly streamed on Facebook live.
- In Vallejo, California, Sean Monterrosa, a 22-year-old man, was shot and killed by police while on his knees. Monterrosa lifted his hands up, which revealed a 15-inch hammer tucked in his pocket that was mistaken for a handgun. A police officer in a vehicle then fired on him five times through the windshield. Monterrosa later died at a local hospital. The police were responding to a call over alleged looting at a Walgreens, according to police chief Shawny Williams. The day after his death police revealed that "there had been an 'officer-involved shooting'" at a press conference, yet declined to offer further details, including the name of the officer involved. The event reportedly sparked intense outrage in the Bay Area, particularly in Vallejo, which was identified as having a long history of police violence, excessive force complaints, and high-profile killings like the shooting of Willie McCoy.
The death of a 21-year-old man on May 29 in Detroit was initially reported as a possible part of the unrest, but police investigation determined the killing had no connection to the protests. The man was killed when his car was shot at amid protests.
Concerns over COVID-19 transmission
A protest in Philadelphia
The mass protests occurred during the global COVID-19 pandemic and health experts warned that the protests will likely facilitate an accelerated or rebounding spread of COVID-19. On June 4, CDC Director Robert Redfield warned lawmakers that the protests could be a "seeding event" for more coronavirus outbreaks.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz expressed worries over a spike in COVID-19 cases.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo shared similar worries describing the
protests as "inherently dangerous in the context of this pandemic."
He also stated that people have the right to protest but that they
don't have the "right to infect other people," or the "right to act in a
way that's going to jeopardize public health."
Later he stated that he would recommend assuming exposure to the virus
if one has attended a protest and announced that the state is opening
COVID-19 testing facilities to all people who were at a protest. Mayor of Washington, D.C. Muriel Bowser stated that "We've been working hard to not have mass gatherings. As a nation, we have to be concerned about rebound."
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms stated that "I am extremely
concerned when we're seeing mass gatherings. We know what's happening in
our community with this virus," She also said "If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a Covid test this week."
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan shared a similar sentiment, saying that
"There's no questions that when you put hundreds or thousands of people
together in close proximity when we've got this virus all over the
streets is not healthy." The use of tear gas may increase the spread of the virus due to coughing and lung damage.
Shouting and speaking loudly, which are common to both violent and
non-violent protests, may also cause infections at distances greater
than 6 feet (1.8 m).
England's Health Secretary Matt Hancock urged people to not to attend
large gatherings, including protests, if there were more than six people
present as the United Kingdom's death toll passed 40,000.
Protests in Paris were banned by the city's police department because
of the pandemic-related health dangers from large gatherings and other
reasons.
The problems inherent to mass gatherings during the COVID-19
pandemic have been communicated widely and were a rationale for measures
such as lockdowns
worldwide before George Floyd's death and the protests. Irish doctors
have issued a stark warning against mass gatherings and asked people to exercise judgement.
In New Zealand, several figures including microbiologist and health adviser Dr. Siouxsie Wiles, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, Opposition Leader Todd Muller, and ACT Party leader David Seymour criticised participants at local Black Lives Matters solidarity rallies held in several urban centres including Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin
for flouting the country's COVID-19 lockdown restrictions banning
public gatherings of over 100 people. Dr Wiles also called for people
who attended the BLM marches and gatherings to self-isolate for 14 days. While expressing disappointment at the flouting of social distancing rules, Police Minister Stuart Nash indicated that New Zealand Police were not seeking to prosecute protest organisers and participants.
Preventive measures against COVID-19 as elements of the mass-gatherings
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Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney requested that citizens protest according to social distancing guidelines. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo asked for citizens to wearing masks to prevent spread of the disease. Minnesota's governor stated that "too many" protesters weren't applying physical person-to-person distances or wearing masks. Some police officers also weren't adhering to protective rules and norms such as wearing masks. Floyd's family encouraged those attending the official public memorial to do so wearing masks and gloves.
Experts have mixed views of the potential efficacy of properly used,
non-N95 masks and note that using a face mask does not warrant stopping
other protective practices such as keeping sufficient physical distance
from others. Ashish Jha,
the director of the global health institute at Harvard's TH Chan School
of public believes that masks are a critical part of protesting safely
and in accordance to COVID-19 guidelines.
Theodore Long, a doctor affiliated with New York's contact tracing
strategy, echoed Jha's point as well as advocating for attendants to
"practice proper hand hygiene and to the extent possible, socially
distance."
Consequences
Preventive measures against COVID-19 such as social distancing and
the avoidance of mass gatherings are meant to not only protect the
individual employing these measures from the virus but also – possibly
more importantly – to protect society and others – especially at-risk
groups – from contracting the virus or being unable to get sufficient,
life-saving treatment.
An Oklahoma State football player tweeted that he has tested positive
for COVID-19 "after attending a protest in Tulsa AND being well
protective of myself."
In Columbus, Ohio, the first case of a protester testing positive for
COVID-19 was announced on June 3. The person had been attending protests
in the city's downtown, despite feeling coronavirus symptoms prior to
attending.
Scott Gottlieb,
the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under
President Donald Trump said that "There's going to be a lot of issues
coming out of what's happened in the last week, but one of them is going
to be that chains of transmission will have become lit from these
gatherings." Megan Ranney,
an emergency room physician and researcher at Brown University called
for people to examine the racial disparities of the COVID-19 spread and
their relation to the protests. The mortality due to COVID-19
was expected and shown to be higher among African Americans as this
population is starting out with health outcomes that are
disproportionately poor.
Violence and controversies
Police violence
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Flushing the eyes of a protestor in Minneapolis with milk after exposure to tear gas
There have been numerous reports and videos of aggressive police actions using physical force as well as "batons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on protesters, bystanders and journalists, often without warning or seemingly unprovoked."
These incidents have provoked "growing concern that aggressive law
enforcement tactics intended to impose order were instead inflaming
tensions."
Police responded that such tactics are necessary to prevent vandalism
and arson, and that police officers themselves have been assaulted with
thrown rocks and water bottles. In response to the violence, Amnesty International issued a press release calling for the police to end excessive militarized responses to the protests. Police have been found "overwhelmingly responsible for attacking journalists."
Several African American politicians, including State Senator Zellnor Myrie, U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin and Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce, have been pepper sprayed by the police. Police have attacked medical workers and destroyed medical equipment.
An Indian American man is being complimented worldwide for sheltering
over 70 protesters fleeing arrest for protesting peacefully in front of
the White House in his House in Washington on 1 June, 2020.
May 30
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Miami protesters react to police firing chemical irritants on May 30 (top); Arrests in New York City, May 30
Two New York City Police Department (NYPD) vehicles were recorded ramming into protesters surrounding and throwing objects at the vehicles; New York City mayor Bill de Blasio defended the officers' actions and an investigation into the event was initiated.
Another NYPD police officer was recorded throwing down a female
protester with both hands while allegedly calling her a "stupid fucking
bitch." The protester was hospitalized after the assault and claims to
have suffered a seizure. An NYPD officer approached a protester, ripped off the protester's mask, and pepper-sprayed the protester in the face. The NYPD has said it is investigating the incident. An officer in Salt Lake City was filmed pushing an unarmed elderly man walking with a cane to the ground.
On May 30, multiple incidents of police violence occurred during
protests. One video was posted online showing police officers in
Minnesota ordering residents on their porches to go inside and after a
few demands, they fired paint rounds at the residents after shouting
"Light 'em up!"
In Atlanta,
two police officers broke the windows of a vehicle, pulled a woman out
of the car and tased a man. The two victims were identified as Taniyah
Pilgrim and Messiah Young. The two police officers were fired after a video showed them using "excessive force." Arrest warrants were issued for four other officers involved.
One of officers explained in a police report that the actions were
taken under the belief that either Pilgrim or Young were armed.
Young's attorney Mawuli Davis Pilgrim called this explanation as an
"attempt to assassinate the character of these young people."
Pilgrim described it as "the worst experience of my life," and Young
was seen wearing a cast on his arm at a press conference on Tuesday.
On 3 June the two officers were charged alongside four other officers
involved in the violence, for using excessive force during an arrest.
A woman participating in a protest in La Mesa, California was shot by the police with a non-lethal bean-bag round between her eyes. At a protest in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a viral video showed Grand Rapids Police pepper spraying a protester and then immediately firing a tear gas canister into their head. The Grand Rapids Police Department announced on June 2 that they would conduct an internal investigation on the incident.
In Seattle,
an officer placed his knee on the back of the neck of a looting
suspect; after onlookers shouted for him to remove his knee from the
man's neck his partner pulled it off. The Seattle Office of Police Accountability received about 12,000 individual complaints regarding the police department's conduct
during that weekend, including complaints about "[p]epper spraying a
young girl," "[p]unching a person on the ground who was being arrested,"
"[p]lacing a knee on the neck area of two people who had been
arrested," "[f]ailing to record law enforcement activity on body-worn
video," and "[breaking] windows of a Target store."
May 31
On May 31, 20-year-old African American Texas State University student Justin Howell was shot in the head with a less lethal bean bag round by an APD officer while protesting outside the police headquarters in Austin, Texas.
Chief of Police Brian Manley stated that they were aiming at another
protester and shot Howell by mistake. Fellow protesters were instructed
by police to carry the injured Howell toward them for medical aid,
however, those protesters were then also fired upon by police. Howell
was left in critical condition, with a fractured skull and brain damage.
Authorities in Washington D.C. dispersing protesters with tear gas ahead of President Trump's visit to St. John's Episcopal Church, June 1 (in Spanish)
June 1
President Trump went to the historic St. John's Episcopal Church,
whose basement had been damaged by fire, and posed for pictures in
front of it holding up a Bible. To clear the route so that he could walk
there, police and national guardsmen had used tear gas, rubber bullets,
and flash grenades to clear a crowd of peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square, resulting in significant news coverage and denunciation by the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.
June 2
On June 2, 22-year-old Latino protester Sean Monterrosa was shot and
killed with five bullets by a police officer. Monterrosa was on his
knees with his hands up. When he lifted his hands, a 15-inch (38 cm)
hammer tucked in his pocket was revealed, which was allegedly mistaken
for a handgun.
In Los Angeles, a wheelchair-bound man was shot in the face with a
rubber projectile; pictures of the man's bloody face were
widely-shared.
In Richmond Virginia, a group of officers were filmed as one of them appeared to repeatedly spit at a woman in handcuffs.
June 4
On, June 4, police shot tear gas at an unarmed couple waiting at a
traffic stop in Denver. When the man came out of the vehicle to confront
the officers because his pregnant wife was in the vehicle, the officers
ordered him to move along. He refused and the officers opened fire on
him and the vehicle.
In Buffalo, a 75-year-old man with a cane was left bleeding from
the head after approaching police officers and being shoved to the
ground by the police. A video of the encounter shows an officer leaning
down to examine him, but another officer then pulls the first officer
away. Several other officers are seen walking by the man, motionless on
the ground, without checking on him.
Initially, a police press statement claimed that the man "tripped and
fell" which led to further criticism. As of Thursday, the victim,
identified as Martin Gugino, is in a serious condition. Two of the
officers were suspended, as they yelled "move!” and “push him back!"
against the victim, before they hit him. On June 5, 57 officers of the Buffalo Police Department resigned from the department's Emergency Response Team in solidarity with the two officers who were suspended for this event.
Protestor violence
Against police
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A building burning in Minneapolis on May 29 (top); Vehicles are seen on fire during a riot in Washington, D.C., May 30
May 29
In Washington, DC several United States Secret Service agents suffered broken bones due to rocks and bottles of urine and alcohol thrown at them by rioters.
May 31
On May 31 Albany,
NY protests turned violent and rioters turned "commercial grade
fireworks" on police officers. 9 were arrested for charges ranging
second-degree riot and second-degree attempted assault to unlawful
assembly. 4 of the arrested were from outside of Albany.
June 1
In Lynchburg, Virginia two Lynchburg officers were hospitalized after being assaulted by a crowd of rioters Monday evening.
June 2
In St. Louis, four police officers were shot during violent protests just after midnight on Tuesday, June 2. In Winchester, Nevada, around 2:00 AM local time, police officer Shay Mikalonis was shot in the head while attempting to disperse rioters on the Las Vegas Strip. The officer remains in critical condition. Edgar Samaniego, a 20-year-old male, was taken into custody.
June 3
In Brooklyn, New York, two New York Police Department officers were
shot and one was stabbed in the neck while guarding against looting
during a protest.
Against civilians
On the night of May 30, a video posted online showed a man being beaten up by a group of protesters in Dallas. According to Fox Business,
the man appeared to defend a store and was reportedly armed with a
machete and has skirmished with rioters, who were throwing rocks at him.
The man was injured, but was able to sit up and was treated at the
scene before being taken away in an ambulance, where he was considered
to be in a stable condition.
President Donald Trump called the act of violence "terrible" and
demanded arrests and "long term jail sentences" for protesters. According to protesters, they acted in self-defense, and the video was edited to give "false impression" about protests.
According to BlackSportsOnline.com, Charles Shoultz later claimed to be
the man who was attacked by the crowd of protesters, blaming himself for
instigating the fight, explaining that he was merely "trying to protect
the bar he likes to drink at." Dallas Police said that the incident is part of an ongoing investigation.
Criminal activity during protests
Georgia National Guard form a shield wall in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park while enforcing curfew on June 1 (top); A guardsman directs his soldiers during protests in Atlanta, June 1 (bottom). The National Guard were deployed in multiple states during the height of the unrest.
May 30
On May 30, in Atlanta, around 10:30 p.m., APD officer Maximilian Brewer was struck by an ATV. He was taken to the intensive care unit at Grady Hospital. The driver was identified as 42-year-old Avery Goggans. Three Denver,
CO police officers were hospitalized after being struck by a vehicle
during late night protests on May 30. Driver Anthony Knapp was taken
into custody in relation to the incident.
May 31
In Oakland, CA two Federal Protective Service officers were shot while responding to protests at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. Officer David Patrick Underwood died from the gunfire.
June 1
In Davenport, Iowa,
at around 3:00 a.m., three Davenport police officers were ambushed by
gunfire while on patrol. Two of the officers were injured while the
third returned fire. Two civilians in Davenport were shot to death
during the same riot in separate shootings.
In Buffalo, New York,
on Monday, June 1, a car rammed a police line near where protesters had
gathered. Two officers were seriously injured and subsequently
hospitalized, with three people being arrested. 30-year-old Deyanna Davis was arrested. In St. Louis, a Missouri State Trooper
responding to a riot was struck by a bullet that lodged in his helmet's
face-shield. The Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) shared images of a
bullet hole in the shield Tuesday, saying the trooper “narrowly averted
serious injury.”
June 2
In St. Louis around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 2, retired police Captain David Dorn, 77, was murdered by a looter outside a pawn shop. In New York City in the early hours of June 2, two NYPD officers were struck in two separate hit-and-run incidents while responding to looting.
In Bethesda, teens were hanging racial justice posters when they were accosted by an unknown bicyclist.
In footage of the encounter, the man is seen to grapple with a girl
over her posters and to use his bicycle as a weapon to ram the person
filming the encounter. Park Police requested the help of the public in
identifying the unknown assailant. A suspect was arrested and charged
with three counts of second-degree assault.
Violence against journalists
U.S. Press Freedom Tracker recorded at least 49 arrests, 192 assaults
(160 by police), and 42 incidents in which equipment was damaged during
the protests. In comparison, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented between 100 and 150 such incidents per year for the past three years. Many journalists described being intentionally targeted by police even after they identified themselves as press.
One journalism professor suggested that the unusual aggressiveness
toward journalists might relate to President Trump's repeated public
attacks on the press as "enemies of the people"; in a May 31 tweet,
Trump blamed the "lamestream media" for the protests and said that
journalists are "truly bad people with a sick agenda."
From police
Journalists at several protests were injured and arrested by police
while trying to cover the story, being shot by rubber bullets, or
sprayed by tear gas. As of May 31, Bellingcat
has identified and documented at least 50 separate incidents where
journalists were attacked by law enforcement officials during the
protests.
According to Bellingcat, "law enforcement across multiple cities, but
especially in Minneapolis, are knowingly and deliberately targeting
journalists with less lethal munitions, arrests and other forms of
violence."
May 28
On the evening of May 28, officers fired pepper bullets at several employees of The Denver Post who were reporting on protests in Denver, Colorado.
A photographer was struck twice by pepper bullets, sustaining injuries
on his arm. The photographer believed it was not accidental, saying, "If
it was one shot, I can say it was an accident. I'm very sure it was the
same guy twice. I'm very sure he pointed at me." Another journalist
said an officer shot at least one pepper bullet at her feet.
May 29
Omar Jiménez, a black Latino CNN
reporter, and his filming crew were arrested while giving a live
television report on May 29 in Minneapolis by the Minnesota State
Patrol, and then released about an hour later.
After the incident took place, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that he
deeply apologizes for what happened and would work to have the crew
released, calling the event "unacceptable" and adding that there was
"absolutely no reason something like this should happen."
CNN called the arrests a "clear violation of their First Amendment rights" in a tweet posted the same day.
After the incident the Minnesota State Patrol tweeted that "In the
course of clearing the streets and restoring order at Lake Street and
Snelling Avenue, four people were arrested by State Patrol troopers,
including three members of a CNN crew. The three were released once they
were confirmed to be members of the media," however the CNN crew had
already informed the troopers that they were members of the media before
and during the arrest and carried the relevant paperwork and
identification with them.
The Minneapolis Police Department falsely stated both while performing
the arrest and via Twitter that his crew had not adequately responded
when asked what they were doing.
Linda Tirado,
a freelance photo journalist, was hit in the eye with a rubber bullet
or a pellet by the police in Minneapolis, and following surgery has been
left permanently blind in that eye. Also on May 29 in Louisville, Kentucky, an officer fired pepper bullets at a reporter from NBC affiliate WAVE
who was reporting live on air for her station. The station manager
issued a statement strongly condemning the incident, saying there was
"no justification for police to wantonly open fire."
A 29-year-old mother of two was peacefully protesting in Sacramento
when police shot her in the right eye with a rubber projectile; she was
permanently blinded in one eye.
May 30
On May 30, members of a Reuters crew were fired on with rubber bullets in Minneapolis
shortly after a curfew they were reporting on began. One reporter was
hit in the arm and neck while another was hit in the face, which
deflected off his gas mask. Also in Minneapolis, France 2's U.S. correspondent Agnès Varamian said her photojournalist, Fabien Fougère, was hurt by non-lethal bullets as she shouted "press" to the police. Expressen's U.S. correspondent Nina Svanberg was also hit in the leg with rubber bullets. Meanwhile Deutsche Welle journalist Stefan Simons and his team were shot at by police in Minneapolis. In another incident that day, police also threatened to arrest Simons.
May 31
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, a reporter for Los Angeles NPR/PRI affiliate KPCC was hit in the throat with a rubber bullet, on May 31. Ali Velshi and his MSNBC crew were hit with rubber bullets live on air in Minneapolis. CBC News correspondent Susan Ormiston
was also hit by rubber bullets during live coverage there. Michael
George from the same network also reported his sound engineer being hit
by a rubber bullet in the same city. Sarah Belle, an independent journalist, was hit by a rubber bullet in Oakland.
Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske reported reporters and camera crews being at the receiving end of tear gas by Minnesota State Patrol, while the same happened to an KABC-TV news crew in Santa Monica. Several Detroit Free Press journalists were pepper sprayed by the city's police, as was KSTP reporter Ryan Raiche along other journalists. Michael Adams from Vice News also reported that happening to him and other journalists present. HuffPost
journalist Christopher Mathias was arrested in Brooklyn, as were
independent journalist Simon Moya-Smith in Minneapolis, and CNN's Keith Boykin in New York.
A BBC
cameraman, Peter Murtaugh, was purposely attacked by police on May 31
outside the White House. Murtaugh filmed a line of police officers
charging without warning, whereby a shield-wielding officer tackled
Murtaugh to the ground. A fellow BBC journalist stated that the attack
had occurred before a curfew was imposed.
In Minneapolis, for the second day in a row, police shot at Deutsche Welle journalist Stefan Simons and his crew.
June 1
During a live television broadcast for Seven News
covering protests near the White House on June 1, Australian journalist
Amelia Brace and cameraman Tim Myers were assaulted by a charging United States Park Police line as the area was cleared for the Donald Trump photo-op at St. John's Church. Brace was clubbed with a police baton while Myers was hit in the chest by a riot shield and then punched. Brace said she and Myers were also shot by rubber bullets.
Brace said at the time: "You heard us yelling there that we were media
but they don't care, they are being indiscriminate at the moment." In response, the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia would launch an investigation into the incident. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the actions of the police and said they had "a right to defend themselves."
Park Police acting Chief Gregory Monahan announced that two officers
involved had been assigned to administrative duties while an
investigation took place.
June 2
On June 2, The Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced that they would be investigating the alleged assault of a Wall Street Journal reporter, that took place on May 31, by members of the New York Police Department.
From protesters
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Rioters break windows in businesses in Saint Paul, Minnesota, May 28 (top); Rioters burning a police car in Pittsburgh on May 30
In Atlanta, the CNN Center, which houses the downtown Atlanta police precinct, was attacked and damaged by protesters on May 29.
In the District of Columbia on May 30, a Fox News crew was attacked outside the White House by a group of protesters while reporting on the scene. The crew was chased for several hundred meters until the police intervened.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said that three local journalists were
injured on May 30 when protesters "stomped and kicked" them and
destroyed their camera. One said he was rescued by other protesters, reportedly including David Morehouse. He and another were transported to a hospital.
Allegations of foreign involvement
There have been allegations of foreign influence stoking the unrest
online, with the role of outside powers being additive rather than
decisive as of May 31.
The founder and CEO of Graphika, which helped the U.S. Senate form its
report on Russian social media influence during the 2016 elections,
noted "very active engagement" from account clusters from Russia, Iran,
and China, and as of May 31 noted that his team was launching an
investigation on the matter of possible foreign influence.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio,
the current acting Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, asserted
"very heavy" social media activity linked to "at least three foreign
adversaries," noting that while they "didn't create these divisions,"
they are "actively stoking and promoting violence." National security advisor Robert C. O'Brien
said that there may be Russian activists who are exploiting the
situation, but also, in reference to Chinese officials posting on social
media, that the difference is that "[...] it's open. It's coming
straight from the government." For instance, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying tweeted "I can't breathe" in response to U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus's criticism over the situation in Hong Kong. Former national security advisor Susan Rice
stated that the violence that was emerging was "right out of the
Russian playbook," drawing angry responses from Russian officials with
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying that Rice is trying to blame Russia again for the United States' own domestic problems instead of facing her own people.
Analysts have said that there was a lack of evidence for foreign
meddling, whether to spread disinformation or sow divisiveness, but
suggest that the messaging and coverage from these countries has more so
to do with global politics.
Nathaniel Gleicher, head of security policy at Facebook, stated
that they found no evidence of foreign interference on their site, even
though its security teams were actively searching for signs of it.
Reports of extremist activities
There have been accusations of various extremist groups using the
cover of the protests to foment general unrest in the United States.
According to CNN, "although interference in this way may be happening, federal and local officials have yet to provide evidence to the public."
For instance, there are claims that groups are placing bricks and other
materials nearby areas of unrest to escalate protester action; it has
also been suggested that these were left by the police.
Far-left and anarchist involvement
President Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr blamed "far-left extremist" groups, like Antifa, for inciting and organizing violent riots.
According to a Justice Department spokesperson, Barr came to this
conclusion after being provided with information from state and local
law enforcement agencies. On May 31, Trump announced that he planned to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. Various government and non-government officials have stated that designating domestic terrorist groups is prohibited by the First Amendment
and federal law restricting the designation of terrorist organizations
to foreign entities due to concerns pertaining to the First Amendment's
speech and assembly rights.
During a press conference, Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert
said he's "willing to bet his check" that "there’s a lot of people who
are anarchists" who cause "damage and injury." He added, "It's just a
damn shame that they took advantage of the situation, for [...]
something [that] happened in another state where somebody died who
shouldn't have died, and they hijacked that message for their own."
In Pittsburgh, a man was arrested for allegedly starting riots over the
weekend that ended in violence. The police chief said that
"‘anarchists’ likely hijacked peaceful protests downtown." Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism of the NYPD John Miller said there is a high level of confidence within the department that unnamed "anarchist groups" had planned to commit vandalism and violence in advance.
On June 3, the Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation cited having "no intelligence indicating Antifa
involvement/presence" in violent protests on May 31 in DC.
Far-right and white supremacist involvement
On May 29, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz noted then-unconfirmed reports of white supremacists as well as drug cartels taking advantage of the protests.
Although reports that all or most of the individuals arrested were not
from Minnesota turned out to be false, the presence of white supremacist
groups aiming to exploit the protests to incite violence was confirmed
the following day by Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington.
On May 30, Minnesota officials including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter stated they believed that white nationalists were using the protests as cover for inciting violence, and that Minnesota officials were monitoring the ongoing far-right online effort to incite violence. On the other hand, Howard Graves, an analyst at the SPLC stated on May 31 that he did not see clear evidence of "white supremacists or militiamen" heading out to "burn and loot." The University of St. Thomas'
Lisa Waldner, an analyst of the American white supremacist and
anarchist movements, has noted that the goal of many of the individuals
involved in the destruction of Minneapolis was to create chaos so as to
pursue their own agendas. White nationalist Facebook groups reportedly began urging members to "get their loot on."
In at least 20 cities across the country as of May 31, members of hate
groups and far-right organizations filmed themselves at the
demonstrations.
Vice and New York University's Reiss Center reported that far-right accelerationists, who aim to exacerbate tensions and speed up the supposed coming of a "civil war," have urged followers online to use the protests as an occasion to carry out violence; an eco-fascist Telegram channel with almost 2500 subscribers posted on the 28th that "a riot would be the perfect place to commit a murder." Analysis by Vice and the New York Times also noted the proliferation of chatter on 4chan
hailing the violence as the beginning of a "race war." Such tactics
match a long running history of accelerationists exploiting moments of
political and/or civil unrest
to, in the words of historian Stuart Wexler, "produce racial
polarization and eventual retaliation" which would then swell the ranks
of whites supporting white supremacist violence, ultimately leading to a
race war that they hope will "purify" America through ethnic cleansing. Analogous tactics were used by their ideological forebears in the 1960s,
and accelerationist ideas are proliferated on web forums and have
inspired various white supremacist acts of violence, being featured also
in the manifesto of the perpetrator of the Christchurch massacre.
The presence of Boogaloo Bois, an armed anti-government far-right extremist movement that seeks a Second American Civil War, noticeable for their Hawaiian shirts, have also been reported at the protests.
Administrators of the Facebook page Big Igloo Bois, a splinter of the
Boogaloo movement, called for members to attend the protests with one
administrator stating, "come in peace, prepare for there to be
violence."
While some of the Boogaloo Bois have espoused white supremacist views,
other groups, such as the Big Igloo Bois, have aimed to make common
cause with the Black Lives Matter movement due to their shared mistrust
of the police.
According to a Twitter spokesperson, an account pretending to
belong to a national “antifa” organization and pushing violent rhetoric
related to ongoing protests has been linked to the white nationalist
group Identity Evropa, which also calls itself the American Identity Movement.
On 3 June, Three men who identified with the Boogaloo movement were arrested in Las Vegas
for reportedly plotting to commit violent acts to incite a riot, and
were arrested on terrorism charges. The three men also had military
experience, and were plotting to attack economic targets prior to the
protests in May.
Use of social media
Many individuals of the general population and celebrities used
social media to document the protests, spread information, promote
donation sites, and post memorials to George Floyd. Following Floyd's
death, a 15-year-old started a Change.org petition titled "Justice for George Floyd," demanding that all four police officers involved be charged. The petition was the both the largest and fastest-growing in the site's history, reaching over 13 million signatures.
During this time, multiple videos of the protests, looting, and riots
were shared by journalists and protestors with many videos going viral.
One such was footage of a destroyed and smoky Target store interior that
the poster claimed was in Minneapolis and damaged during the protests.
Childish Gambino's song "This is America" was used heavily by protesters sharing footage of protests and police action on TikTok.
Others used personal Twitter pages to post video documentation of the
protests to highlight police and protestors actions, and points of the
protests they felt would not be reported.
One example was a viral photo that appears to show white women
protestors standing with their arms locked between Louisville Metro
Police Officers and protestors, with the caption describing the image
and "This is love. This is what you do with your privilege."
Viral images of officers "taking a knee" with protestors and
engaging in joint displays against police brutality, highlighted by
hashtags such as #WalkWithUs, have circulated widely on social media. These acts have been identified by some cultural critics as copaganda, or "feel-good images" to boost public relations. Official social media accounts of police departments boosted positive images of collaboration. In some cases, these displays of solidarity, such as police kneeling, have been recognized as occurring moments before police teargassed crowds or inflicted violence on them. An article in The Fader
characterized these acts as public relations tactics which were being
undermined by police violence: "it feels like we go past the point of no
return several times each day."
Cardi B
used her social media to comment on the police brutality and looting
during the protests stating; "Police brutality been going on even way
before I was born, but it has been more visual ever since social media"
and "How many peaceful protests have we seen? How many trending hashtags
have we seen? People are tired. Now this [looting] is what people have
to resort to." Director Spike Lee
posted a short film on his social media to support the protests and
highlighted the deaths Floyd, Eric Garner and fictional character Radio Raheem from his film Do the Right Thing. The short uses footage of the deaths of all three men and opens with the words "Will history stop repeating itself?"
K-pop fan accounts
hijacked rightwing and pro-Trump hashtags on social media, flooding
trending hashtags with images and videos of their favorite artists.
Users attempting to look up the hashtags #WhiteLivesMatter,
#WhiteoutWednesday and #BlueLivesMatter were met with anti-racist
messages and video clips of dancing idols. After the Dallas Police Department
asked Twitter users to submit videos of protesters' illegal activity to
its iWatch Dallas app, submissions of K-pop videos lead to the
temporary removal of the app due to "technical difficulties."
Misinformation
Misinformation and disinformation
has been spread across social media since hours prior to the beginning
of the first protests. Internet users and celebrities spread images of
men wearing MAGA hats that were falsely identified as Chauvin. Social media users claimed a man videoed breaking the windows of an AutoZone in Minneapolis on May 27 was an undercover Saint Paul Police
officer (who was identified by his ex-wife); the Saint Paul Police
Department denied these claims through a statement on Twitter.
The person has yet to be officially identified. Others spread images of
damage from other protests or incidents, falsely attributing the damage
to the George Floyd protests.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speculated that there was "an
organized attempt to destabilize civil society," initially stating that
as many as 80% of the individuals had possibly come from outside the
state, and the mayor of St. Paul, Melvin Carter, said that everyone arrested in St. Paul on May 29 was from out of state. However, this was shown to be incorrect, as records proved that the majority of those arrested were in-state.
At a press conference later the same day, Carter explained that he had
"shared... arrest data received in [his] morning police briefing which
[he] later learned to be inaccurate."
Twitter suspended hundreds of accounts associated with spreading a false claim
about a communications blackout during protests in Washington DC, or a
claim that authorities had blocked protesters from communicating on
their smartphones.
Also, some accounts shared a photo of a major fire burning near the
Washington Monument, which was actually an image from a television show.
A photograph of the White House
with the exterior and interior lights turned off, purportedly showing
the White House during the protests, was shared thousands of times
online, including by Hillary Clinton. However, an AP News Fact Check found this picture to be an edited stock photograph from 2015.
The New York Post reported that a NYPD source said $2.4 million of Rolex watches had been looted during protests from a Soho Rolex store. However, the store in question was actually a Watches of Switzerland outlet that denied anything was stolen. Rolex confirmed that "no watches of any kind were stolen, as there weren’t any on display in the store."
Despite widespread eyewitness accounts and news reports of the use of tear gas to clear Lafayette Square for Donald Trump photo-op at St. John's Church,
Donald Trump claimed the use of tear gas was fake, and his presidential
campaign team demanded news outlets "correct" their claim.
Reactions
Domestic
Federal
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Replying to @realDonaldTrump....These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!May 29, 2020
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Special operations soldiers of the 3rd Ranger Battalion from Fort Benning, Georgia in front of the White House on June 3
On May 27, 2020, President Donald Trump tweeted "At my request, the
FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation
as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd...."
On May 29, Trump responded to the riots by threatening that either "the very weak Radical Left Mayor Jacob Frey get his act together and bring the City under control" or he will send in the National Guard, adding that "Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts." The tweet was interpreted as quoting former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley, who said "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" in December 1967, as Miami saw escalating tensions and racial protests aimed at the 1968 Republican National Convention. Trump's use of the quote was seen by Twitter as an incitement of violence; Twitter placed the tweet behind a public interest notice for breaching its terms of service in regards to incitement of violence.
The next day, Trump commented on his original tweet, saying, "Looting
leads to shooting, and that's why a man was shot and killed in
Minneapolis on Wednesday night - or look at what just happened in
Louisville with 7 people shot. I don't want this to happen, and that's
what the expression put out last night means...."
In a series of tweets on May 31, Trump blamed the press for
fomenting the protests and said that journalists are "truly bad people
with a sick agenda."
On June 1, in a teleconference with governors, Trump said they
had been "weak" and insisted that they "have to dominate ... You've got
to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail
for 10 years and you'll never see this stuff again." He later proclaimed in the White House Rose Garden,
"I am your president of law and order" and said he was "dispatching
thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel,
and law enforcement officers" to deal with rioting in Washington, D.C. Trump and an entourage subsequently departed the White House and walked to St. John's Episcopal Church,
whose basement had been damaged by fire, and posed for pictures in
front of it holding up a Bible. Police and national guardsmen had used
tear gas and rubber bullets to clear a crowd of peaceful protesters from
Lafayette Square to clear a route for Trump, an event that drew widespread condemnation from military and religious leaders.
U.S. Surgeon General @Surgeon_General Replying to @Surgeon_General5/ We won’t fix or remove all the obstacles and stressors that are affecting people’s health and well-being – especially ones like racism – over night. That doesn’t mean we mustn't try at all. Change happens over time and there needs to be meaningful progress.May 30, 2020
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Surgeon General Jerome Adams said, in relation to the protests, that the U.S. "must acknowledge & address the impact of racism on health"[1] and, via Twitter:
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) argued that extremists from the far-left and the far-right wanted to take aim at civil society and could potentially start a Second American Civil War. Republican Senators Ben Sasse, Susan Collins, Tim Scott and Lisa Murkowski; Congressional Democrats, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer;
and several military officials associated with various presidential
administrations—including three former Trump appointees, ex-Secretary of
Defense and retired Marine Corps general Jim Mattis, former White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly, and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Mick Mulroy—criticized Trump's handling of the protests.
States
Anti-police graffiti at the Utah State Capitol on May 30
On May 30, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
stated that the riots have exposed the "inequality and discrimination
in the criminal justice system" and that "When you have one episode, two
episodes maybe you can look at them as individual episodes. But when
you have 10 episodes, 15 episodes, you are blind or in denial if you are
still treating each one like a unique situation,"
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
called for protesters to express their anger through "non-violent"
means. She decried the riots as illegitimate and accused them of harming
Atlanta rather than helping.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie,
while sympathizing with the anger of protesters, asked for citizens to
stop the violence and have a "Respectful, peaceful dialogue."
General public
An opinion poll
indicates the majority (64%) of American adults are "sympathetic to
people who are out protesting right now" and a slight majority (55%)
disapprove of Trump's handling of the protests.
Polls indicate that among American voters, 46% approve of the protests,
38% disapprove and 16% were neutral; 76% of voters disapprove of
looting and property destruction during the protests, while 17% approve.
Industry
On the morning of May 29, Target temporarily closed 24 of its locations in the Twin Cities area, and reopened all but six the same day.
Target later announced that they would be closing 73 of their Minnesota
stores until further notice and made a commitment to rebuilding the
store on Lake Street. On May 31, Target closed 49 stores in California and 12 stores in New York.
On May 31, Walmart temporarily closed several hundred of its stores as a precaution. Amazon announced it would redirect some delivery routes and scale back others as a result of the widespread unrest. Meanwhile, Amazon Studios issued a statement supporting Black Lives Matter.
Entertainment industry
The entertainment industry has been overwhelmingly supportive of the protests, exhibited by corporations voicing support for Black Lives Matter causes and a number of celebrities attending protests and making donations. Actors such as Jamie Foxx, Nick Cannon, and Kendrick Sampson—among others—attended protests, while Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds donated a record $200,000 to the NAACP. Much of the music industry called for an organized "blackout" on June 2 while prominent musicians such as Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Chance the Rapper, Halsey, and J. Cole attended protests or otherwise voiced support for the cause. Jay-Z spoke to the Governor of Minnesota to weigh in on justice for George Floyd, Drake and The Weeknd donated to pro-Black Lives Matter causes, Taylor Swift made headlines by denouncing President Donald Trump for "stoking the fires of racism", while Kanye West—a
self-proclaimed Trump supporter—donated $2,000,000 to the families of
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, along with joining a
protest in Chicago.
Television networks owned by ViacomCBS, including BET, CBS Sports Network, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo TV, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, the Smithsonian Channel, TV Land, and VH1
suspended regular programming for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on June 1 at
5:00 p.m. Eastern Time as a tribute to George Floyd. The networks aired
a video with the caption "I can't breathe" accompanied with breathing
sounds, while Nickelodeon aired a separate scrolling video containing
language from the Declaration of Kids' Rights, which the network first
created on June 7, 1990.
Netflix was the first major studio to issue a statement in support of Black Lives Matter in the wake of protests. YouTube pledged $1,000,000 to combat social injustice in response to the protests. Lego
announced that they would cease advertising White House and
police-related toys and pledged $4 million to help African American
children and to educate all children about racism. The Walt Disney Company
pledged $5 million in support of nonprofit organizations that advance
social justice, including a $2 million donation to the NAACP. CEO Bob Chapek and executive chairman Bob Iger released a statement to Disney employees promising "real change" in the wake of George Floyd's death.
The video game industry as a whole supported the protests and Black Lives Matter, with companies like Electronic Arts, 2K Games and Humble Bundle committing US$1 million in funds towards black-oriented charities and foundations, and others like Ubisoft, Square Enix, and The Pokemon Company also making similar significant financial commitments.
International
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Protest in Vancouver on May 31
Countries
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Protest at the U.S. embassy in Berlin on May 30, 2020
Australia – Prime Minister Scott Morrison
stated his beliefs that violent protests would not create change. He
warned against Australian demonstrations taking a similar course as
"there's no need to import things happening in other countries."
Canada – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
called for Canada to "stand together in solidarity" against racial
discrimination. He said Canadians are watching the police violence in
the United States in "shock and horror."
When Trudeau was asked about Trump's threats to use military force
against protesters, he paused for 21 seconds before responding diplomatically.
China – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
said that "black lives matter and their human rights should be
guaranteed" and hoped that "the U.S. government would take all necessary
measures to deal with the violent law enforcement of police, so as to protect and safeguard the legitimate interests of racial minorities." However, both state media and individual officials also criticized the United States government and accused it of hypocrisy. For instance, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian
accused the United States of having a 'double standard' for labeling
U.S. protesters disappointed with racism as rioters while glorifying the
Hong Kong protesters as heroes, and for shooting U.S. protesters and mobilizing the National Guard while criticizing the Hong Kong police.
Hong Kong – Chief Executive Carrie Lam decried what she perceived as a 'double standard' in America's reaction to protests in Hong Kong and their protests at home. Student activist Joshua Wong offered his solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Cuba – Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla
tweeted that George Floyd "did not 'pass away.' He was brutally
murdered. Unfortunately this is a well known story for
African-Americans. He was unarmed and shouting 'I can't breathe,' but that wasn't enough to prevent an injustice. Our skin color should not define us. #BlackLivesMatter."
Germany – Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Twitter
that the peaceful protests in the United States following the death of
George Floyd are "understandable and more than legitimate." and that
peaceful protests must always be allowed.
Ghana – President Nana Akufo-Addo
said that "black people the world over were shocked and distraught" by
Floyd's killing, and expressed his condolences to Floyd's family and his
hope that there would be "lasting change" in how America "confronts the
problems of hate and racism."
Holy See – Pope Francis
called for "national reconciliation" in the U.S. saying that racism is
"intolerable" and that the violence that erupted on the streets is
"self-destructive and self-defeating."
Iran
– On May 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned "the tragic
murder of black people and deadly racial discrimination in the United
States." It added that "the voices of the protesters must be heard ...
(and) the repression of suffering Americans must be stopped
immediately."
Two days later, a Ministry spokesman said at a news conference,
speaking in English: "To the American officials and police: stop
violence against your people and let them breathe." In a televised speech on June 3, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
stated that in the United States, "they kill people in an open crime,
and they do not offer an apology while claiming [to support] human
rights... Apparently, the African American man who was killed there was
not a human being."
Netherlands – On June 4, during a press conference about whether the Dutch could go on foreign holiday that year, Prime Minister Mark Rutte
called the death of George Floyd "unacceptable". Rutte also commented
on the recent George Floyd protests in the Netherlands, saying that
racism is not only an American and that racism in the Netherlands is a
"systemic problem".
New Zealand - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
has stated that she was "horrified" by the situation around the death
of George Floyd. Ardern had been criticized by local Black Lives Mater
solidarity protesters for remaining silent about Floyd's death for a
week.
Russia – The Foreign Ministry
condemned the police violence and arrest of journalists amid the
protests, remarking that "this incident is not the first in the string
of incidents exposing lawlessness and unjustified violence by ‘guardians
of law and order’ in the United States." Maria Zakharova,
the ministry's spokeswoman, further commented that in light of the
protests, the US 'no longer had the authority' to criticize others
regarding human rights.
Chechnya – Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov
said Trump needs to "end the mayhem" and "illegal actions against
citizens." He continued, "Police are lynching people right on the
streets of American cities....They are strangling citizens, beating them
up, ramming them with cars." Kadyrov called on the United Nations to
intervene.
Spain – Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez
expressed his solidarity with the protests and his concern about the
"authoritarian" ways in which the protests have been responded to during
a parliamentary session. His Second Deputy Prime Minister, Pablo Iglesias, posted a tweet with the word "ANTIFA" in response to Trump's intentions to declare Antifa a terrorist organization.
Sánchez has considered that everyone must unite to combat what he
considers "the evil of our time," the extreme right, and has supported
some demonstrations that, he said, "have in their genesis some of the
most difficult elements in construction of a great country," the United
States, to which he has expressed his respect.
Turkey – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a "racist and fascist" approach led to Floyd's death and said that "[we] will be monitoring the issue." The Foreign Minister
added on June 3 that "it is unacceptable for police to kill any person
in such a way, regardless of race or religion... Justice must be done,"
but also that "No matter who it is, we do not support such vandalism,
not just in the US but also in other countries."
United Kingdom – The Foreign Office
reacted to the arrest of a journalist and said that "journalists all
around the world must be free to do their job and hold authorities to
account without fear of retribution." Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab
commented that the footage of Floyd's arrest was "very distressing" but
said that it is "not his job" to comment on the U.S. President's
response to the protests. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Parliament
that "black lives matter," and added, "I also support, as I’ve said,
the right to protest. The only point I would make... is that any protest
should be carried out lawfully and in this country protests should be
carried out in accordance with our rules on social distancing."
On June 5, the British embassy in the U.S. raised the issue of the
treatment of British journalists by U.S. police, a spokesman for the
Prime Minister said.
Venezuela – Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza condemned the "prejudiced language" used by Donald Trump in describing the protesters.
Zimbabwe – The government of Zimbabwe summoned Brian A. Nichols, the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, to a meeting over remarks by White House official Robert C. O'Brien that Zimbabwe is a "foreign adversary" that could face retaliation for "fomenting" the protests.
Organizations
United Nations – UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet
condemned the death at the hands of police, urging American authorities
to take "serious action" to stop the killings of unarmed minorities.
African Union – Head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat,
described Floyd's death as a "murder," stating that the African Union
condemned the "continuing discriminatory practices against black
citizens of the USA."
- Amnesty International – The organization released a press release statement calling the police in the United States to end excessive militarized responses to the protests. It also called on the UK to review exports of security equipment, including tear gas or rubber bullets, to US police forces.
European Union – European Union Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell
stated that the EU is "shocked and appalled" by Floyd's death and
attributed it to "abuse of power" by law enforcement. He also warned
against further "excessive use of force."
- Human Rights Watch said they were "appalled" by the footage of the arrest and said that "no one should ever be subject to such gratuitous violence." It also added that "George Floyd’s cruel and pointless death, and the litany of black lives that were lost before, reconfirms our commitment to combat these injustices."
