Tribute was paid Thursday 4th June 2020 to George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, who died following an arrest by a white police officer on May 25th in Minneapolis.
“You have changed the world George”: the American leader of the civil rights Al Sharpton delivered Thursday 4th June 2020 during a ceremony in tribute to George Floyd a moving eulogy funeral, with political accents tinged with sadness but also with hope for a better world, with the promise to “continue the fight”.
8 minutes and 46 seconds silence
In Minneapolis, family, religious or political leaders and celebrities gathered at the North Central Christian University to honour the memory of this African-American, whose death at the age of 46 was killed by a white policeman on May 25th a deep wave of anger.
The ceremony began with a moving rendition of “Amazing Grace” after the mayor, white, of Minneapolis knelt in tears before the coffin.
It was notably marked by a period of silence of 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the time during which the police officer Derek Chauvin remained kneeling on the neck of George Floyd despite his pleas.
Speaking, the brother of the deceased, Philonise Floyd, denounced with applause “the pandemic of racism and discrimination” which prevailed.
Symbol of oppression of African Americans
Reverend Al Sharpton, a figure in the civil rights movement, delivered a very political eulogy.
“George Floyd should not be among the dead. He did not die from a common health problem. He died of a common dysfunction in the American justice system.”
He said he saw in the knee that crushed George Floyd’s neck the symbol of the oppression of African Americans “in all aspects of American life”: education, health, employment, etc.
To Donald Trump, who made forcibly evacuate the area around the White House Monday night to ask in front of a church, bible in hand, the Baptist minister of 65 years advised to “open the Bible.”
This dispersal of protesters is also worth the American president a legal complaint filed by the powerful association for the defence of civil rights ACLU and other organizations. It also targets the Ministers of Justice and Defense.
Events still in progress
Filmed by a passer-by, the father’s agony provoked a climate of tension that the United States had not known since the 1960s and the civil rights movement.
Demonstrations, sometimes degenerating into looting and violence, took place across the country to denounce police brutality, racism and social inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Police have made a total of nearly 10,000 arrests in the country in recent days, according to an estimate reported by American media.
Other arrests were reported Thursday evening in New York among the protesters defying the curfew effective at 8 p.m. Nearby, in Buffalo, the images of a policeman violently pushing an elderly man and throwing him to the ground ignited social networks. According to a statement from the authorities, the man, who was bleeding profusely and appeared to have lost consciousness, “tripped and fell”.
Local media reported that an internal investigation had been opened into the incident and that the victim’s days were not in danger.
“Victory” on the judicial level
However, after more than a week of excesses, the situation seems to have calmed considerably in the country, the demonstrators having obtained a first “victory” on the legal level.
As they claimed, the prosecutor investigating the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis redefined the facts as intentional homicide and charged the three other officers present with aiding and abetting. The latter appeared in court Thursday for their bail to be fixed: between 750,000 and 1 million dollars each.
Trump’s controversial remarks
Accused by the Democratic opposition of throwing fuel on the fire by threatening to use the army to check the streets, Donald Trump continues to show his firmness.
” PUBLIC ORDER! “, He tweeted again early in the morning in capital letters in what will certainly be one of the themes of his re-election campaign until the presidential election on November 3rd.
The Republican billionaire’s favourite media, Twitter has invoked a “copyright” issue to remove a video of the president paying tribute to George Floyd.
For his campaign team, it is simply “censorship” by Twitter and his boss Jack Dorsey of the presidential speech. “The same speech that the media refused to cover,” they accuse … on Twitter.
very interesting article. thank you.