PHOTO: Sarah-Ji of loveandstrugglephotos.com
Derek Chauvin’s cold stare said everything. His nine minutes of relentless cruelty crystallized centuries of wrong. America exploded in righteous anger and will never be the same.
The extraordinarily broad response to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 by Officer Chauvin and three other cops shows that something has changed in America. The horrifying video evidence showing four cops working methodically to choke a black man to death – and coming in the wake of many years of police killings of black Americans – has forced millions of Americans to face some hard truths about race, the police, and what kind of America we want to have.
Tens of thousands of people of all ethnic backgrounds have flooded into the streets. Millions more have spoken up in other ways. In New York City and Minneapolis, union bus drivers refused to drive buses taking protesters to jail. White women in Louisville, Kentucky formed a line to defend black protesters from the police.
PHOTO: John Ramspott
As this movement became a tidal wave, the government pounced. Seizing on the actions of small groups of people carried out after massive peaceful protests of millions, the rulers of this country and their media outlets have unleashed a shrill hue-and-cry about “violence and looting.” This has been used as a pretext for states to mobilize National Guard troops and for cities to impose curfews. The president has talked ominously about shooting looters and warned of “vicious dogs” awaiting protesters who get out of line, and has essentially called for martial law.
If the public can be persuaded to support the emergency measures, those steps can serve as a precedent for further undermining democratic rights. The movement is refusing to let this go unchallenged and is refusing to be put on the defensive.
PHOTO: daymonjhartley.com
On June 3, Minnesota’s attorney general upgraded Chauvin’s charge from third to second-degree murder and charged the three other officers who assisted Chauvin with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. All the cops who worked together as a team to kill George Floyd should be tried for first-degree murder.
The protests against the murder of George Floyd have been extraordinary not just because they have involved such a large number of people but also because they have included so many people who have never spoken out before — people of all ages, ethnicities, and walks of life. Today, millions sense that something is fundamentally wrong in America.
PHOTO: John Ramspott, Atlanta, GA
Since George Floyd’s death, a powerful movement has come together of people determined to stop the drive toward an outright police state in America. As a young organizer from a Midwestern city that is among the most segregated in the country said, “It’s a new reality … it doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, Asian, whatever you are, we’ve got to organize and unite as a people, all of us at the bottom, because we are all in the same boat and the government doesn’t care nothing about you. Their biggest fear is seeing us do stuff together.”
This movement for democracy and equality deserves everyone’s support. It will continue until we have put an end not only to murders by cops, but to the rule of the billionaires who the police serve. The heinous murder of George Floyd opened the eyes of millions. Those eyes will never close again, and they will see justice done. Note: We welcome comments from readers and statements from organizations. E-mail: info@peoplestribune.org or go to: www.peoplestribune.org
