Protests are taking place in Minneapolis after an unarmed black man dies after a police officer was filmed kneeling on the man’s neck
Protestants in the US have clashed with police at protests following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who pleaded with a white officer who was kneeling on his neck during an arrest, saying that he could not breathe.
Footage of the arrest that led to the death of Mr Floyd was shared widely across social media after a bystander filmed the police officer pinning the shirtless suspect, George Floyd, to the ground in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
This news comes after the total worldwide number of coronavirus cases has now reportedly surpassed five million people infected, with the majority of cases in the United States.
Four Minneapolis police officers that were involved in the arrest of George Floyd have now lost their jobs, with Jacob Frey, the city’s mayor, saying:
“This is the right call.”
After viewing the video Mayor Frey described it as:
“wrong on every level.”
He continued saying:
“Being black in America should not be a death sentence.”
The streets where Mr Floyd died were filled with demonstrators, with some protesters carrying banners that read “I can’t breathe” and chanting as they marched towards a police station, where some protesters damaged windows and a patrol car, graffiti was also sprayed on the building.
Riot police eventually confronted the protestors, using tear gas and fired projectiles, which protesters kicked back towards the police force.
Some of the demonstrators made a barricade at a nearby supermarket using shopping trolleys, and tensions grew as conflicts between protesters and police continued late into the evening.
State agents, as well as the FBI are investigating the incident following George Floyd’s death that occurred on Monday night.
In the video, Mr Floyd can be heard saying to the officer on top of him “please, please, I can’t breathe” while the police officer continues to apply pressure to the suspect’s neck with his knee.
He then adds: “My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts.”
Onlookers can be heard throughout the video recording pleading with the police officer kneeling on the man’s neck to get off of him, with one pointing out to the officer that the suspect was complying and not resisting arrest, saying:
“He ain’t even doing nothing,”
“You could have put him in the f—ing car by now. He’s not resisting arrest or nothing.”
Medaria Arradondo, the Chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, said that his department would go forward with conducting a full internal investigation into the incident, and prosecutors will decide whether to file criminal charges against the officers that were involved.
In the UK large groups attended protests at London’s Hyde Park earlier this month to protest the nation’s lockdown restrictions.
