Reflections - 2020 - The Killing of George Floyd at the Hands of Police

An historical social inflection point?
 
This true story has a heroine, a victim, and a villain. On May 25, 2020 the lives of three people intersected in tragedy. A seventeen-year-old black girl, Darnella Frazier, our heroine, accompanied her young niece to a grocery store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. To her horror, they came upon a scene where a forty-six year old black man, George Floyd, was lying on the street. Our victim. 
 
What shocked Darnella was that Mr. Floyd was lying on his stomach, his hands were handcuffed behind his back while a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, our villain, was pinning Mr. Floyd, face to the ground, with a knee pressing on his neck. Darnella, a teen equipped with her cell phone, had presence of mind. She whipped out her phone, turned on camera, turned on video, and began documenting for the entire world to see the killing of George Floyd at the hands of the police. She stood her ground, hand steady. 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Try sitting quietly for that long. It’s a very long time.
 
As subsequent investigation revealed, three other officers aided in bringing about this death. What had Mr. Floyd done? At this time in the U.S. counterfeit twenty-dollar bills circulate widely. You yourself may have been given one and purchased something with it. An employee at the grocery store felt Mr. Floyd had used a counterfeit bill to purchase cigarettes and called the police. Tragedy was set in motion. If only the store owner had been there. Mr. Floyd was known to him. But he wasn’t there. He would perhaps not have made that call. But the call was made and two rookie officers arrived. They began the attempt to make an arrest. Soon, officer Chavin arrived, a man with numerous complaints on his police record. He took over, and by the time Darnella and her niece arrive and Darnella began filming, Mr. Floyd was down.
 
He repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe,” “Mama,” and “please.” At one point he said, “I’m about to die.” Bystanders repeatedly told the police officer, to no avail, that he was killing the man. 
 
The video went viral and peaceful protests began, organized by the international human rights movement Black Lives Matter, founded by three black women: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. The protests spread, guided by the experience in the living memory of many in the black community of civil rights peaceful protests inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. and his followers that resulted in major legislation. Peaceful protests spread from coast to coast in the U.S., highlighting for a nation founded on belief in “justice for all” that systemic racism still cripples the nation, blemishes it. But racism and bigotry is not just a U.S. flaw, it’s a human flaw that bedevils us wherever it thrives. Protests have sprouted here and there around the world, wherever humanity’s “better angels” are willing to face up to it.
 
Sadly, there has been rioting and vandalism as well. That is another human flaw: there are always a few, almost always the majority being men, who are disaffected and criminal who seize on any opportunity to express the urge to destroy by using public physical violence. 
 
But in the fourteen days since Mr. Floyd’s brutal death, the following have happened as the result of peaceful protests, large and small. These suggest that to the extent that significant changes flow from the protests, his death may very well be a profound inflection point for the better for human history.
 
Within 10 days of sustained protests:

• Minneapolis bans use of choke holds.
• Charges are upgraded against Officer Chauvin, and his accomplices are arrested and charged.
• Dallas adopts a "duty to intervene" rule that requires officers to stop other cops who are engaging in inappropriate use of force.
• New Jersey’s attorney general said the state will update its use-of-force guidelines for the first time in two decades.
• In Maryland, a bipartisan work group of state lawmakers announced a police reform work group.
• Los Angeles City Council introduces motion to reduce LAPD’s $1.8 billion operating budget.
• MBTA in Boston agrees to stop using public buses to transport police officers to protests.
• Police brutality captured on cameras leads to near-immediate suspensions and firings of officers in several cities (i.e., Buffalo, Ft. Lauderdale).
• Monuments celebrating confederates are removed in cities in Virginia, Alabama, and other states.
• Street in front of the White House is renamed "Black Lives Matter Plaza.”
  Military forces begin to withdraw from D.C.

Then, there's all the other stuff that's hard to measure:

• The really difficult public and private conversations that are happening about race and privilege.
• The realizations some white people are coming to about racism and the role of policing in this country.
• The self-reflection.
• The internal battles exploding within organizations over issues that have been simmering or ignored for a long time. Some organizations will end as a result, others will be forever changed or replaced with something stronger and fairer.

 

• In France, protesters marched holding signs that said "I can't breathe" to signify both the words of Floyd, and the last words of Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old black man who was subdued by police officers and gasped the sentence before he died outside Paris in 2016.
• Cities across Europe have come together after the death of George Floyd:
• In Amsterdam, an estimated 10,000 people filled the Dam square on Monday, holding signs and shouting popular chants like "Black lives matter," and "No justice, no peace."
• In Germany, people gathered in multiple locations throughout Berlin to demand justice for Floyd and fight against police brutality.
• A mural dedicated to Floyd was also spray-painted on a stretch of wall in Berlin that once divided the German capital during the Cold War.
• In Ireland, protesters held a peaceful demonstration outside of Belfast City Hall, and others gathered outside of the US embassy in Dublin.
• In Italy, protesters gathered and marched with signs that said "Stop killing black people," "Say his name," and "We will not be silent."
• In Spain, people gathered to march and hold up signs throughout Barcelona and Madrid.
• In Athens, Greece, protesters took to the streets to collectively hold up a sign that read "I can't breathe."
• In Brussels, protesters were seen sitting in a peaceful demonstration in front of an opera house in the center of the city.
• In Denmark, protesters were heard chanting "No justice, no peace!" throughout the streets of Copenhagen, while others gathered outside the US embassy.
• In Canada, protesters were also grieving for Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a 29-year-old black woman who died on Wednesday after falling from her balcony during a police investigation at her building.
• And in New Zealand, roughly 2,000 people marched to the US embassy in Auckland, chanting and carrying signs demanding justice.

 

• Memorials have been built for Floyd around the world, too. In Mexico City, portraits of him were hung outside the US embassy with roses, candles, and signs.
• In Poland, candles and flowers were laid out next to photos of Floyd outside the US consulate.
• And in Syria, two artists created a mural depicting Floyd in the northwestern town of Binnish, "on a wall destroyed by military planes."
• In France, protesters marched holding signs that said "I can't breathe" to signify both the words of Floyd, and the last words of Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old black man who was subdued by police officers and gasped the sentence before he died outside Paris in 2016.
• Cities across Europe have come together after the death of George Floyd:
• In Amsterdam, an estimated 10,000 people filled the Dam square on Monday, holding signs and shouting popular chants like "Black lives matter," and "No justice, no peace."
• In Germany, people gathered in multiple locations throughout Berlin to demand justice for Floyd and fight against police brutality.
• A mural dedicated to Floyd was also spray-painted on a stretch of wall in Berlin that once divided the German capital during the Cold War.
• In Ireland, protesters held a peaceful demonstration outside of Belfast City Hall, and others gathered outside of the US embassy in Dublin.
• In Italy, protesters gathered and marched with signs that said "Stop killing black people," "Say his name," and "We will not be silent."
• In Spain, people gathered to march and hold up signs throughout Barcelona and Madrid.
• In Athens, Greece, protesters took to the streets to collectively hold up a sign that read "I can't breathe."
• In Brussels, protesters were seen sitting in a peaceful demonstration in front of an opera house in the center of the city.
• In Denmark, protesters were heard chanting "No justice, no peace!" throughout the streets of Copenhagen, while others gathered outside the US embassy.
• And in New Zealand, roughly 2,000 people marched to the US embassy in Auckland, chanting and carrying signs demanding justice.
• In Mexico City, portraits of him were hung outside the US embassy with roses, candles, and signs.
• In Poland, candles and flowers were laid out next to photos of Floyd outside the US consulate.
• And in Syria, two artists created a mural depicting Floyd in the northwestern town of Binnish, "on a wall destroyed by military planes."