is a silence more impressive than all the slogans. He suddenly reveals, above the hundreds of demonstrators gathered, on the asphalt, the blades of a helicopter and the horn of the Minneapolis tram. A moment ago, sitting in this downtown artery emptied by the Covid, between the piles of grayish snow attacked by the warm sun, they listened to the litany of 474 names. 474 people killed by the police, in the State of Minnesota, since 2000. Sometimes, several follow one another, with the same last name. Hazard ? Brothers ? Cousins? At the letter F, there was George Floyd. Then, as if stunned, the crowd observed a minute of silence.
It was good, in two days of mobilization before the trial of Derek Chauvin, the only quiet moment. The activists are there to make it happen. The multiple organizations, Black Lives Matter in the lead, have the talent for heady, rhythmic and rhyming slogans: “Accuse, condemn, send murderous cops to prison, the whole damn system is completely guilty!” “; “No justice, no peace, sue the police!” “; “Say his name: George Floyd! “; “There is no power like the power of the people, because the power of the people does not stop. ”
On May 25, 2020, employees of a convenience store called the police: George Floyd, 46-year-old African-American, paid for a pack of cigarettes with a fake twenty dollar bill. Surveillance cameras and videos filmed by passers-by show the two officers arresting him. He was forcibly taken into the police car. Derek Chauvin, 43, including 19 in the Minneapolis Police Department, arrives with Constable Tou Thao. He pulls Floyd out of the police car, puts him on the ground, handcuffed, puts his knee on his neck. In 5 minutes, Floyd begs, at least 16 times, “I can’t breathe.” The police call an ambulance for an elective intervention (mouth injury) then urgent when Floyd loses consciousness. In his last moments, he calls out: “Mama …” Passers-by shout at Chauvin to remove his knee, but he holds it down a minute after help arrives. That is 8 minutes and 46 seconds in all. The scene was immediately posted on social media and the phrase “I can’t breathe” was echoed by millions of protesters around the world. In Minneapolis, the mobilization turned into a riot, the stores were looted. So much so that the city, anticipating new unrest, has barricaded the court these days and mobilized the Minnesota National Guard.
“I have a little hope, because the whole world is watching”
On Sunday, in the procession, the hope that justice will be done is weak. Monique, black, red braids and long false eyelashes, wears a sign: “We are with you. “She does not have the lightness of her 17 years:” I hope that all the police officers will be condemned, so that the family is a little appeased. I know it won’t be enough, but it would be a strong signal to a lot of people. I have a little hope, because the whole world is watching. But in the past, there haven’t been many convictions for police violence. Since 2000, in Minnesota, there has only been one: Mohamed Noor, of Somali origin, sentenced to 12 and a half years for having killed a white Australian in 2017.
Selena, 46, black, who carries an “I can’t breathe” banner, pasted the list of 474 names on her refrigerator. “I’m scared as soon as I see a policeman in the street, as soon as I’m driving, suddenly I ask myself, have I been speeding? Is my license plate up to date? Did I shoot in violation? And it shouldn’t be like that, they are supposed to protect and serve us. “Nekima Levy Armstrong, lawyer and activist, develops:” These figures are all the more shocking that Minneapolis claims to be progressive, but it is false. It is called the Jim Crow of the North (from the name of the race laws in force in the south from 1877 to 1964, Editor’s note). No one has ever questioned this racist system. What do the numbers say? According to a study by local MPR radio, a black person is four times more likely to be killed by police than a white man in the state. Anger and dismay get along. The messianic accents à la Martin Luther King too. “God has chosen to make the Twin Cities (nickname for the cities of Mineapolis and Saint Paul) the new battleground for civil rights,” proclaims Nekima Armstrong at the microphone. God saw the injustices, and he decided to shake everything, he shakes, shakes! We need prayer fighters! God is with us ! ”
The first phase of the trial, that of the selection of jurors, which was to start on Monday, could last three weeks. The parties are looking for a rare species in Minneapolis, a neutral jury on the matter. “It’s going to be difficult given that the case has been so publicized, and so many people have protested,” said David, white. And the counterintuitive element, police immunity, is going to be explained to the jurors, so it’s hard to know how they’re going to react. “Her friend Nikita, Asian, worries:” It even seems that anyone who knows someone who has demonstrated is excluded. But who is left out of this movement? The whole city got involved! Do these falsely impartial people represent Minneapolis? ”
The security of the city also arouses suspicion. “Everyone’s seen this video, all they have to do is do what’s right, activist DJ Hooker tones. But when they put up barriers and barbed wire, when they deploy the National Guard, when they secure the courthouse like a fortress… They seem to be preparing not to do the right thing. And we’re here to make sure they do. The whole world is watching! “The” most important trial of the century “has become that of the American police and its abuses.
Overdose against “neck compression”
On the square in front of the courthouse, a group of George Floyd’s friends are gathered. “He was a father figure to me,” says Tony Clark, who wears a jacket with his image. He was very involved in the community. I knew him because I also worked in security, and I volunteered for the Salvation Army with him. He talked to me all the time about how to teach young people, he’s a good guy, he came to change his life. Because in the previous one, he served eight prison sentences, for minor offenses. He was also charged with an armed robbery.
When the substantive debates begin at the end of the month, the prosecution will attempt to demonstrate that Derek Chauvin “intended” to cause suffering, that it was not negligence. The defense will argue that Chauvin acted in accordance with his training and that Floyd died of an overdose on the synthetic opioid fentanyl detected during the autopsy (although the “compression of his neck” was identified as the cause of death. ). We are not there yet. On Monday, Judge Peter Cahill dismissed the parties and potential jurors, whose selection was postponed until Tuesday. The charges against Derek Chauvin are indeed not defined. He is charged with murder and manslaughter, but a third count, close to “willful violence resulting in death”, is the subject of a last resort. The Attorney General has sought the opinion of an appeals court and the trial is interrupted in the meantime. The three other police officers involved, Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao, will for their part be tried together in August for “complicity in murder”.
“This is the first day of a long and exhausting trial,” Lisa of Memorialize the Movement predicts Monday. We want to show the city and the police that we have not forgotten and that we are not going to disappear. Justice never did the right thing. We hope that our mobilization, our demonstrations will be strong enough to finally bring justice to this country. What if they feel that justice is not being done? “We are the reflection of our government. We react to what they do. It is a chance to fix what has been done in this city and to set a precedent, to say that the police cannot kill black people without suffering consequences. But if they side with the murderer, rather than the person seeking justice, the community’s reaction will be very negative. ”
About ten minutes from downtown Mineapolis, near George Floyd Square, residents have created a symbolic cemetery, with the names of the dead on signs. Maria Roesler, a White, comes there regularly so that her two daughters, 6 and 7, Métis, understand what is happening in the community. She sighs: “I’m really afraid they won’t find him guilty, because no police officer is ever convicted. And in this case, it will go very badly. The whole city will explode. ”
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
