George Floyd protests news: 11 June 2020
George Floyd protests: 12 June
What is the Seattle Autonomous Zone and why was it created?
What is the Seattle Autonomous Zone and why was it created?
US President Donald Trump has warned he may send the National Guard in to break up a makeshift camp in Seattle set up after police evacuated a precinct.
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Black Lives Matter protest in Israel
Mask-clad protesters in Tel Aviv, Israel, gather outside the US embassy on Friday, for a demonstration in support of US protests over the death of George Floyd.
(Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
McConnell: Removing Confederate statues from Capitol down to states
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told reporters that the decision on whether or not to remove Confederate statues from the US Capitol comes down to the country's states.
"Every state is allowed two statues. They can trade them out any time," McConnell said in quotes picked up by Politico. "A number of states are trading them out now, but I think that’s the appropriate way to deal with the statue issue. The states make that decision."
Seattle protesters' 'autonomous zone'
Artists fill in the letters of a 'Black Lives Matter' mural on E. Pine Street in Seattle. As they protest against racial inequality and call for the defunding of Seattle police, demonstrators in the city have taken over what they call an 'autonomous zone' near the SPD's East Precinct.
Speaking on Thursday, Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan said the city would not agree to bringing in federal troops to move the protesters out of the area, telling reporters: "The threat to invade Seattle, to divide and incite violence in our city, is not only unwelcome, it would be illegal."
Earlier, US president Donald Trump had told Durkan: "Take back your city NOW. If you don't, I will."
(Photo: REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson)
NFL commits to $250m program to combat systemic racism
Amid protests around the world following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the NFL is committing $250million to combat systemic racism.
Cuomo defends Columbus statues for symbolism to Italian Americans
(Reuters) New York should keep statues honoring Christopher Columbus even though the brutalization of the West Indies inhabitants he encountered on his voyages to the New World is inexcusable, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday.
Cuomo said Columbus was an important figure for Italian Americans, symbolizing their contribution to New York, and for that reason, he opposes removal of the statues. With protesters attacking statues of Columbus in recent days during anti-racist demonstrations, Cuomo was asked by a reporter whether it was time for monuments in the state celebrating the Italian explorer to go.
Absolutely not, said Cuomo, an Italian-American. "I understand the feelings about Christopher Columbus and some of his acts, which nobody would support," Cuomo said at a briefing. "But the statue has come to represent and signify appreciation for the Italian-American contribution to New York."
#ITakeResponsibility video
This video of white actors is getting a lot of attention. From what we're seeing on social media it's dividing opinion rather starkly.
Shutdown for Juneteenth
The ILWU, founded in 1937, is one of most radical antiracist unions in the country. They are looking at trying to shut down the west and east coasts.
UK courts to fasttrack prosecutions
British courts are preparing to fast-track prosecutions for the Black Lives Matter protests, as justice secretary Robert Buckland has told magistrates to model the process along the lines of the response to rioting in London in 2011, The Times newspaper reported.
The plans made by Buckland and Interior Minister Priti Patel will lead to offenders being jailed within 24 hours of arrest to defuse disorder if they are found causing vandalism, criminal damage or assault on police officers, the report said.
Trump pushing for more police funding
Watch Texas Chief of Police Vernall Dooley back up the president's recent call.
8:46 will be remembered
A system “has been in place that favors some and diminishes others,” said Brian Newcomb of the United Church in Kettering.
Statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis falls on a man in Portsmouth protests
Statue critically injures protester
A protester has reportedly been left critically injured after a Confederate statue pulled down fell onto his head on Wednesday in Portsmouth.
Minneapolis police say 'this is not who we are'
More than a dozen Minneapolis police officers on Thursday condemned the former policeman charged with killing George Floyd in an open letter and said they were prepared to embrace 'change, reform and rebuilding.'
The letter, posted on the website of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper, follows weeks of protests over the death of Floyd under ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's knee and a vote by city leaders to disband the police department.
'We wholeheartedly condemn Derek Chauvin,' the 14 officers wrote in the letter. 'Like us, Derek Chauvin took an oath to hold the sanctity of life most precious. Derek Chauvin failed as a human and stripped George Floyd of his dignity and life. This is not who we are.'
The officers said that the sentiments expressed in their letter was broad within the Minneapolis police department.
Cuban supports former NBA writers
The fund was established by NABJ to assist both sports and non-sports journalists whose jobs have been impacted by layoffs due to the pandemic.
Cuban told CNBC the donation was to honour former sportswriters, Roger B. Brown and Martin McNeal, “two legends in the business that I had the pleasure of working with via the Mavs.”
Pentagon shocked by Trump stance
President Donald Trump shocked senior Pentagon leaders on Wednesday with a series of tweets opposing the renaming of Army installations named after Confederate generals, just two days after top military leaders opened the door to doing so.
Classroom questions
“This is exactly how we feel every day,” Givens said. “When you have a Black child or a Black son, that’s what you’re afraid of. You’re afraid to put him on the bus when he goes to school because you don’t know if he acts out and a cop gets called, something might happen.”
NFL messages continue
“Things like that, you get numb to it,” Woods said Wednesday when asked about growing up Black in Los Angeles.
The pedestal where the statue of Confederate States President Jefferson Davis stood is full of graffiti after protesters pulled the statue down in Richmond, Virginia, on June 10, 2020. - The symbols of the Confederate States and its support for slavery are being targeted for removal following the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd while in police custody. (Photo by Parker Michels-Boyce / AFP)
In this file photo taken on June 01, 2020, US President Donald Trump walks with US Attorney General William Barr (L), US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper (C), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley (R), from the White House to visit St. John's Church after the area was cleared of people protesting the death of George Floyd, in Washington, DC. - Milley said on June 11, 2020, he was wrong to join President Donald Trump on a walk across a park violently cleared of protesters for a photo opportunity near the White House. 'I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of military involvement in domestic politics,' Milley said of the controversial June 1 incident. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)
The military seem to be backing away from Donald Trump now too. "My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics," said Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
US Soccer lifts ban on kneeling for anthem
United States Soccer has said it was wrong to prevent Megan Rapinoe from kneeling during the national anthem and has lifted a ban on its players doing so.
Four years ago, Rapinoe took a knee prior to the women's team's game against Thailand, following the lead of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who did so to protest police brutality and racial injustice.
Kaepernick was heavily criticised by president Donald Trump for kneeling and US Soccer's board of directors passed a law in 2017 which made it mandatory for its players to stand for The Star-Spangled Banner prior to games.
A volunteer holds a firearm while working security at an entrance to the so-called 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone' on June 10, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. The zone includes the blocks surrounding the Seattle Police Departments East Precinct, which was the site of violent clashes with Black Lives Matter protesters, who have continued to demonstrate in the wake of George Floyd's death. David Ryder/Getty Images/AFP
There is increasing pressure to replace statues of Americans with racist pasts. Some of the names of schools and different landmarks have these people's names on them. Trump not even considering renaming the Army bases though.
One of four Minneapolis police charged over Floyd's death freed on bail
One of the four former Minneapolis police officers who were charged over the death of George Floyd, a black man whose death in custody set off protests for police reform and racial justice, was released on bail on Wednesday.
Protests flared for a 17th day early on Thursday with crowds in Portland, Oregon, flooding city-center streets with some activists throwing bottles at police and removing temporary security fencing and using it to block traffic.
The former police officer released, Thomas Lane, 37, had been held on $750,000 bail and was freed from Hennepin County jail, sheriff's office records showed.
He was one of three officers charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the 46-year-old Floyd's death on May 25.
George Floyd rolling news: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the news surrounding the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African American, in police custody in Minneapolis on 25 May.