America is torn and in flames right now! The cause is not a foreign invasion or the novel Corona Virus, but the murder of a common American citizen by the very people who sworn to protect him.
America The Land of the Free: Not Free from Racism and Oppression
Raging protests burst out all over America after yet another case of police brutality. The manslaughter of an African-American male in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Late in May, a video of arrest and murder of George Floyd made rounds on the internet. The video showed him gasped for breath in his final moments under the knee of a white police officer. It should be duly noted that the cause of the current protests is not because of this incident alone. As police brutality and racism has its roots in American law enforcement agencies for quite long. This racist behavior only further thrived under the white-supremacist banner of the current president. Though, this time it seemed Americans had decided to take law in their own hands.
Things were already severe with the ongoing pandemic. But the situation had taken a sharp turn with the BLM protests in the USA. Please use a monitoring app for your family members who go out amidst this pandemic and protests. You can install Facebook spy to keep track of your family from home.
Prerequisite:
Police brutality and racial profiling in the US dates back to the Civil Rights Movement era of the 1950s. A very disturbing 2019 study shows that people of color in the United States are more likely to be killed by police than white people. Every year, one or two cases of police oppression against dark-skinned members of society make the headlines. But a committee report suggests that 75 percent of cases of racial profiling go unreported.
An international activist movement by the name of Black Lives Matter is not an unfamiliar term. It is advocating for the African-American community since 2013 against racism and police brutality. The movement itself came into being following the brutal murder of the young teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012.
George Floyd’s Murder:
The most recent case of racial profiling and police brutality against yet another black man, George Floyd, is causing waves of rage and unrest not only in the US but also across the globe. May 25, 2020, was the day when a local deli in Powderhorn, a downtown area of Minneapolis, Minnesota called the police for suspected use of counterfeit $20 bill.
According to the official reports, George Floyd was sitting in his car when the cops approached him and showed resistance in leaving the vehicle. The cops tackled him down when he resisted getting into the police vehicle. Four police officers, namely, Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas K. Lane participated in the arrest. Officer Kueng held Floyd’s back, Officer Lane held his legs, and Officer Thao was a bystander when Officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on the side of his throat as he kept choking and kept crying for help “Please, I cannot breathe” and “Don’t kill me”. He kept his knee for almost ten minutes, of which, 2 minutes were even after he had passed out.
Luckily, the bystanders recorded the whole brutal incident and the videos made rounds on the internet. People reacted in disbelief and rage for the poor George’s agony and pain as he passed away under the cruel knee of the system.
The 46-year-old George Floyd had recently lost his job due to the lockdown order of the current Pandemic. He was a father to two daughters, aged 6 and 22.
Aftermath:
The videos circulating the internet attracted global attention to this incident and the authorities took strict and quick measures to detain the criminal officers. The Police department fired the four Police Officers involved in the murder of George Floyd from the service the very next day. The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) is currently conduction an in-depth civil rights investigation and the local authorities are also conducting their own investigations into the incident.
Peaceful protests started out in Minneapolis the next day (May, 25). They demanded justice but soon took a wild turn as people took the law into their own hands. They smashed the windows of a police precinct and committed arson and burnt two stores down. While several other stores were looted and damaged. After that, protests broke out all across the United States and are still on-going.
On 29 May, the police arrested and charged Derek Chauvin with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. However, the charge is of accidental murder, which is aggravating the protesters even more as they claim it was a hate crime against a black man by a white supremacist police officer, not taking into account the official reports on the incident. The lawyer of Floyd’s family is demanding first-degree charges (which requires an intent to kill) against the officers.
Further Aggravation
Some media channels put the light on police discrimination and aggression in handling these protestors and the white protestors with guns in their hands protesting the lockdown in the past months. Police is using brute force against the protestors to keep thing under control. This is in return, is aggravating the black rights protestors and activists even more. The protests are not partial to the United States anymore. Protests against the killing of George Floyd are erupting in major cities across the globe including, Toronto, Mashhad, and Milan.
Protests Hijacked:
The protests in the United States have turned very violent in the past few months. While there are peaceful protestors who demand a system of justice irrespective of one’s color, creed, and ethnic background. Others are hijacking the protests by looting shops and stores and destroying public property. Many journalists and public figures are observing that these violent protestors’ agenda has nothing to do with George Floyd’s death or equality and freedom for the colored folks.
The violent protestors destroyed and vandalized an estimated of 255 businesses in the Twin Cities Region, Minnesota. A curfew was in place in the region along with 11 other states. With National Guard soldiers dispatched in the area. But the curfew had little effect on the protestors.
Upcoming Elections:
Some politicians also suggest that the hijacking of the protests is to create an environment and hatred for the right-wing Trump administration. Also, to influence the upcoming elections in favor of the leftist liberal party.