Tuesday, 2 June 2020
WATCH: White Protesters Kneel Before Black Protesters, Ask For Forgiveness; Black Protesters Respond By Joining Them In Prayer
During a protest over the death of George Floyd, dozens of white protesters knelt before a group of African American protesters and asked for forgiveness from past sins of white people, which the leader described as “years and years of racism, of systematic racism.” In response, the black protesters knelt with their white counterparts and joined them in prayer.
“A powerful show of unity and support,” the Twitter user who posted the video wrote. “The white community kneeling down in front of the black community to ask for forgiveness after years of racism.”
“The black community followed that up by kneeling down as well and they all eventually joined in prayer,” he added.
As the white people are on their knees and bowing their heads, one white male at the front of the group praises God and asks “our black brothers and sisters” for “forgiveness” from “years and years of racism, of systematic racism.”
“We’re not shaming anybody, we’re just humbling ourselves before You,” the man says. “You brought the thunder and rain today, God, because Satan takes the ‘L’ today. Father, in Jesus’ name you get the victory.”
“Father, we ask for forgiveness from our black brothers and sisters for years and years of racism, of systematic racism,” he adds.
In a “response” video, the black activists join the white activists on their knees.
“You are the God of reconciliation,” one black male at the front of the group says. “Not only do we receive their repentance, but, God, we repent as the black community, for holding unforgiveness, for acting out of anger, for, Father God, failing our own community, at times.”
Protests began popping up across the nation on Tuesday over the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a police officer had his knee on the 46-year-old’s neck for over eight minutes during an arrest, as shown in viral video footage.
“An eight-minute clip filmed by a person on the street shows Floyd telling police he can’t breathe and begging the cop on top of him to stop before he falls unconscious,” The Daily Wire reported Tuesday. “Officer Derek Chauvin was identified as the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck outside Cup Foods on Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street.”
“He’s not even resisting arrest right now, bro,” one bystander is heard telling the officers, according to the video. “You’re f***ing stopping his breathing right now, you think that’s cool?”
Unlike the peaceful protesting here, most of the protests quickly turned ugly, including arson, looting, and violence in places like Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City, Rochester, Richmond, and other cities.
Since the incident, all four officers involved in the arrest have been fired, investigations from the FBI and state law enforcement have been opened, and, on Friday, Derek Chauvin, the officer at the center of the incident, was taken into custody.
WATCH:
A powerful show of unity and support.
The white community kneeling down in front of the black community to ask for forgiveness after years of racism.
The black community followed that up by kneeling down as well and they all eventually joined in prayer.#protests2020
Rioters Violate Social Distancing. Media Doesn’t Care. But Here’s What They Said About Conservative Protesters.
Some of us are old enough to remember the bygone days of three weeks ago. Back in those bad old times, the news media were quite certain that it was brazen and irresponsible and possibly murderous to protest during a pandemic. Such gatherings, we were told, would spread the virus at hyper speed and directly result in countless deaths.
Not to harp on ancient history, but I can recall this article from Vox assuring me that protesting under these conditions is racist because it might kill black people.
An article on PennLive.com repeated the once-common argument that protestors shouldn’t receive medical care if they contract the virus.
The Guardian warned that protestors might be spreading the virus “far and wide.”
Jimmy Kimmel, among others, said that protesters are “suicidal.”
Dr. Birx called it “devastatingly worrisome” that protesters would gather in the middle of an outbreak.
Others called the protests “reckless” and “mind-bogglingly selfish.”
The Washington Post assured us that demonstrators “don’t care about lives” while Slate accused them of “twisting the idea of liberty.”
Another Washington Post op-ed compared protesters to Typhoid Mary, as The Week and The Nation both agreed it is “dangerous” to be out rallying at a time like this. USA Today was even more direct, saying that protesters are “risking your health.”
These are just a few examples. Many more could be offered, but what’s the use? We all lived through the past three months when COVID-19 was the only thing the media cared about, and any gathering of people, of any size, in any context, was condemned as a heedless and foolhardy exercise in viral transmission. Even people who simply went to the beach to sunbathe and wade in the water were blasted in panicky news headlines.
It’s no use arguing that the “protests” currently ravaging our cities are more important and more justified. I hardly see mass looting as a more worthy cause than standing up against the disastrous and unconstitutional lockdowns that decimated the economy and shredded the Bill of Rights, but that’s beside the point. The point is that the very act of protesting, or of forming large groups for any other reason, was supposed to put many lives at risk, thus was worthy of condemnation (and prohibition by the government). In one fell swoop, literally overnight, all of that was put to the side.
Why? Has COVID-19 gone away? Did its method of transmission suddenly change? Are we witnessing a miracle? Or did the media just decide to dump one narrative in favor of another, for political reasons? The answer, of course, is clear. And the lesson we should all take home is also clear: if you want to protest during a pandemic, do it safely and responsibly, by burning down buildings, stopping traffic, and beating the hell out of random bystanders. That way you’ll escape criticism, not to mention prosecution.
China Trolls Trump Over Riots, Hits U.S. Over Response To Hong Kong
Chinese officials tried to use violence, which spread across the United States over the weekend, to troll President Donald Trump, whose administration, just last week, took a strong stand against China’s decision to exert political control over Hong Kong.
In a series of social media posts over the weekend, Chinese information ministers and media loyalists tried desperately to connect the unrest in cities like Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., to anti-Chinese, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which China is now trying to extinguish with a series of draconian legislative measures.
Bloomberg reports that “China’s foreign ministry and state media seized the opportunity to fire back at Trump. Chinese propaganda outlets played up scenes from the U.S. of violence, burning buildings, harsh police responses, and protesters decrying government as part of a broader narrative that western democracies are regularly plagued by chaos and unrest that would never be permitted in the mainland.”
In some cases, Chinese officials got involved in the trolling directly. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying even retweeted a State department official urging global democracies to stand firm against Chinese communism and added the quote, “I can’t breathe” — an obvious reference to George Floyd, whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked the nationwide protests.
Perennial Chinese social media gadfly, Zhao Lijian, who was, last week, censored by Twitter for spreading false information about the origins of the novel coronavirus, even joined in: “Why does the U.S. beautify the so-called Hong Kong independence and violent elements as heroes and fighters while it calls its own people protesting against racial discrimination ‘rioters’?” he said in a news briefing, per Bloomberg. “Why does the U.S. point fingers at the constrained law enforcement by Hong Kong police but turn a blind eye to what happens at home while using shooting and even the National Guard against the protesters?”
The differences are, of course, stark. Most major cities used the National Guard only as a last resort to curtail looting and rioting that protesters say were unaffiliated with anti-police brutality demonstrations, and, instead, used those demonstrations as a cover.
Hong Kong residents have been fighting Chinese incursion for months now, battling first an effort to allow Chinese intelligence agencies to conduct surveillance on “dissidents” and enemies of the Communist state hiding on the island, and now, opposing a draconian effort by the Chinese government to strip Hong Kong residents of their rights and place Hong Kong back under Chinese control.
The United States has led a global effort to oppose China’s incursion, threatening, last week, to impose strict economic sanctions on China if it defied its U.N.-ratified treaty with the United Kingdom, guaranteeing basic human rights to the people of Hong Kong upon the island’s transfer from British control in the mid-1990s. On Thursday, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other nations issued a joint statement warning China to drop its effort to reintegrate Hong Kong or face repercussions.
Report: Thousands Arrested During Wave Of Riots Across U.S.
Law enforcement officers have arrested thousands since a wave of violent protests broke out in Minnesota last week and spread across the country.
Officers have arrested at least 4,400 people in connection with demonstrations over the deaths of several black people: Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, George Floyd in Minnesota, and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky. The arrests have been for offenses such as breaking curfew, blocking highways, destroying property, stealing, and assaulting police officers, according to The Associated Press.
Violent demonstrations have rocked the United States from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., hundreds of businesses have been looted or burned by mobs of rioters barely controlled by local and federal law enforcement officials. Riots in Washington, D.C, on Sunday night and early Monday morning resulted in a number of fires set near the White House.
Violent protests broke out in Minneapolis on Thursday over the death of Floyd. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was one of four officers that arrested Floyd after responding to a call about a man allegedly trying to use a counterfeit bill. During the arrest, Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground with his knee on the African-American man’s neck for roughly nine minutes, according to a criminal complaint against Chauvin.
Videos show Floyd begging for relief saying he can’t breathe. He was unresponsive for about three minutes before an ambulance arrived and took him to the nearest hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the complaint. Four officers, including Chauvin, have been fired in connection with the incident. Chauvin was arrested on Friday and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s preliminary findings into Floyd’s death indicate that Floyd likely died from a combination of being restrained, underlying health conditions, and potential intoxicants in his body. The medical examiner has found no evidence that Floyd died from strangulation or asphyxiation.
Police officers killed Taylor in March after breaking down her door while conducting a search for narcotics. No drugs were found. Taylor’s boyfriend, who was in Taylor’s house, fired and wounded one officer. The officers fired back hitting Taylor eight times.
Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he fired at the officers not knowing that they were the police. He said that the officers did not announce themselves before breaking down the door to Taylor’s home. The officers dispute Walker’s claim and say they did announce themselves before forcing their way inside.
Walker was charged with attacking a police officer, but the charges were later dropped. Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad has announced his intent to retire at the end of June, and three officers have been placed on administrative reassignment. The FBI is investigating the incident.
Arbery was killed in February by a father and son – Gregory and Travis McMichael – while jogging in a suburban neighborhood near Brunswick, Ga. The McMichaels were arrested and charged with murder several months later in May.
The father and son team allegedly believed that Arbery was the suspect in a string of recent robberies in the neighborhood and set up a roadblock to confront him. In a video of the incident, Arbery is shot after struggling to disarm Travis.
WATCH: Rioters Set Fire To Home With Child Inside, Then Block Firefighters’ Access; Emotional Police Chief Details Incident
On Saturday, Richmond Police Chief Will Smith was overcome with emotion detailing one of the worst acts of violence carried out in the city during the previous night’s rioting, ostensibly over the death of George Floyd.
According to Smith, rioters set fire to an occupied multi-family residence with a child inside, then repeatedly blocked firefighters’ access to the scene.
Thankfully, officers found a way to secure access and saved the family, including the child.
“One incident that is particularly poignant, that truly illustrates the seriousness of the issues we’re facing,” Smith told reporters. “Protesters intentionally set a fire to an occupied building on [West] Broad Street. This is not the only occupied building that has been set fire to in the last two days.”
“They prohibited us from getting on scene,” the police chief continued. “We had to force our way to make a clear path for the fire department.”
“Protesters intercepted that fire apparatus several blocks away with vehicles and blocked that fire department’s access to the structure fire,” Smith said. “Inside that home was a child.”
“Officers were able to –,” Smith attempted to continue, though he was overcome with emotion, “help those people out of the house.”
“We were able to get the fire department there safely,” the emotional police chief added.
“When you take a legitimate issue and hijack it for unknown reasons, that is unacceptable to me,” Smith stated firmly, “it’s unacceptable to the Richmond Police Department, unacceptable to the city of Richmond.”
Protests began popping up across the nation on Tuesday over the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a police officer had his knee on the 46-year-old’s neck for over eight minutes during an arrest, as shown in viral video footage.
“An eight-minute clip filmed by a person on the street shows Floyd telling police he can’t breathe and begging the cop on top of him to stop before he falls unconscious,” The Daily Wire reported Tuesday. “Officer Derek Chauvin was identified as the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck outside Cup Foods on Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street.”
“He’s not even resisting arrest right now, bro,” one bystander is heard telling the officers, according to the video. “You’re f***ing stopping his breathing right now, you think that’s cool?”
The protests quickly turned ugly; arson, looting, and violence spiked in places like Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City, Rochester, Richmond, and other cities.
Since the incident, all four officers involved in the arrest have been fired, investigations from the FBI and state law enforcement have been opened, and, on Friday, the officer at the center of the incident was taken into custody.
WATCH:
Chief William C. Smith comments on a challenging situation during last night’s protests in #RVA. You can watch the rest of this @CityRichmondVA press conference here: facebook.com/RVAGov/videos/…
435 people are talking about this
Minneapolis Police Chief: All Involved Officers ‘Complicit’ In George Floyd’s Death
All of the officers involved in the arrest of George Floyd were “complicit” in his death, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said Sunday.
Floyd died after a police officer arresting him for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes on May 25. Videos shot by bystanders show white Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck, even as Floyd, who was black, repeatedly said he could not breathe. Several other police officers are seen nearby in the video, but none took action.
“Silence and inaction, you’re complicit. If there was one solitary voice that would have intervened … that’s what I would have hoped for,” Chief Arradondo said on CNN. “So I don’t see a level of distinction any different. Mr. Floyd died in our hands, and so I see that as being complicit. Being silent or not intervening, to me, you’re complicit,” he said.
Arradondo fired all four of the officers involved in the incident just a day after footage surfaced of Floyd’s ultimately fatal arrest. Chauvin was arrested four days later and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. So far, none of the other officers at the scene have been charged.
The police chief said he fired the officers because the video showed their actions were wrong.
“There are absolute truths in life. We need air to breath. The killing of Mr. Floyd was an absolute truth that it was wrong,” he said. “I did not need days or weeks or months or processes or bureaucracies to tell me what occurred out here last Monday was wrong.”
Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, said Arradondo should charge the other officers.
“They have enough evidence to fire them, so they have enough evidence to arrest them,” Philonise said on CNN, as noted by The Hill. “I need him to do it. Black lives matter.”
In a separate interview Sunday night on CNN, another police chief from Floyd’s hometown stood in solidarity. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told CNN he wants his department to escort Floyd’s body “back home” and said he is “hopeful that we have reached a watershed moment here and we will see some meaningful reform in terms of the way that we deal with bad police officers and the way we deal with police officers involved in criminal conduct that completely undermines the good work of the vast majority of police officers.”
In response to Floyd’s death protests and riots have broken out across the country, including the nation’s capital, where rioters converged on the White House, at one point Friday prompting Secret Service to rush President Trump to a bunker and, late Sunday, reportedly injuring dozens of Secret Service agents and damaging historic sites.
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