US protests: human tide swells across divided US
Tens of thousands of demonstrators have marched in Washington and other cities to demand an end to racism and police brutality.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators have marched in Washington and other cities to demand an end to racism and brutality by US law enforcement as protests over the killing of a black man by Minneapolis police ended a 12th day.
Wearing masks and urging fundamental change, protesters gathered in dozens of cities across the country and many countries.
The protests on Sunday (AEST) coincided with a second memorial service for George Floyd, 46, who died on May 25 after a Minneapolis policeman pinned him down using his knee on Mr Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.
His killing, recorded in excruciating detail on a bystander’s mobile phone, has led to a wave of protests and national soul-searching over the country’s legacy of violence and mistreatment of African-Americans and other minorities.
Near the front of the White House, Katrina Fernandez, 42, said she was hopeful and impatient in joining the protests to demand what she viewed as long overdue reforms in policing.
“I’m just hoping that we really get some change from what’s going on. People have been kneeling and protesting and begging for a long time and enough is enough,” she said. “We can’t take much more.”
Tens of thousands turned out in the US capital, despite the risks still posed by the coronavirus.
As in previous days, the protests in cities from Los Angeles and Chicago to New York and Washington involved a series of loosely organised marches.
New York City lifted its 8pm curfew, its first in decades, because protests have morphed into peaceful marches accompanied by singing and music.
“Yesterday and last night we saw the very best of our city,” mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted in his announcement of the curfew’s end “effective immediately”.
The move followed New York City police pulling back on enforcing the curfew on Saturday as thousands took to the streets. More than two hours after the curfew had passed, groups of several hundred continued to march in Manhattan and Brooklyn, while police monitored them but took a hands-off approach.
In Washington, thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial and elsewhere before converging on the White House. A throng marched past the George Washington University Hospital chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot!” “We march for hope, not for hate,” and “I can’t breathe!”
The second memorial service for Mr Floyd was held in the North Carolina town where he was born. Hundreds lined up at a church in Raeford to pay their respects during a public viewing, and a private service for the family was conducted later in the day. His first memorial was held on Friday in Minneapolis. His funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Houston.
Demonstrators in Washington appeared to be from diverse backgrounds and were dressed for the heat. Protesters assembled on H Street NW and the newly rechristened Black Lives Matter Plaza, a strip leading up to the White House where the city painted “Black Lives Matter” in huge yellow letters on the pavement on Friday in defiance of Mr Trump.
It was near the spot where US Park Police triggered outrage on Monday evening by firing smoke grenades and chemical irritant “pepper balls” before charging into peaceful protesters.
Afterwards, Mr Trump walked from the White House to the front of the nearby St John’s church and posed holding a Bible, a gesture criticised by Democrats and even some members of the President’s Republican Party.
On Saturday, the area had an atmosphere akin to a block party before the crowd marched towards downtown.
The demonstrators included families and people of all ages carrying signs saying “Fed up”, “All lives do not matter until black lives do” and “My black son matters”.
Uniformed officers were out in smaller numbers than earlier in the week and generally assumed a more relaxed posture, wearing patrol uniforms rather than body armour and helmets.
Even so, six buses unloaded hundreds of uniformed military personnel, most wearing body armour and carrying shields, at the White House grounds. Military Humvees were parked on tree-lined city streets.
In California demonstrations occurred in many cities including Los Angeles and San Francisco, where protesters briefly blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge as motorists honked in solidarity.
Reuters
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