{"id":59572,"date":"2020-06-05T04:42:46","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T04:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=59572"},"modified":"2020-06-05T04:42:46","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T04:42:46","slug":"you-changed-the-world-george-rights-leader-tells-floyd-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=59572","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You changed the world George,\u2019 rights leader tells Floyd memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"MINNEAPOLIS, June 5, 2020 (BSS\/AFP) \u2013 Hundreds of mourners joined an emotional memorial service in Minneapolis Thursday for George Floyd, the black man killed by police last week, as civil rights leader Al Sharpton vowed mass protests will continue until \u201cwe change the whole system of justice\u201d in the United States.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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Demonstrations, largely peaceful and somber, took place for a tenth straight night in cities from coast to coast, including New York \u2014 where thousands marched over Brooklyn Bridge \u2014 as well as Washington, DC, Seattle and Los Angeles, where curfews have been lifted.<\/p>\n

In Minneapolis, Floyd\u2019s attorney told mourners he would find justice for the 46-year-old, who died during a May 25 arrest when a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not the coronavirus pandemic that killed George Floyd,\u201d said Benjamin Crump, who is representing Floyd\u2019s family. \u201cIt was that other pandemic. The pandemic of racism and discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crowd stood in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds \u2014 the same length of time that officer Derek Chauvin spent with his knee on Floyd\u2019s neck, a scene captured on video.<\/p>\n

Floyd\u2019s death has reignited long-felt anger over police killings of African-Americans and unleashed a nationwide wave of civil unrest unlike any seen in the US since King\u2019s 1968 assassination.<\/p>\n

With marches for racial justice stretching beyond the US and around the world, Sharpton said Floyd\u2019s death would not be in vain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for us to stand up in George\u2019s name and say get your knee off our necks,\u201d said the 65-year-old Baptist minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou changed the world, George,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to keep fighting, George.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep going until we change the whole system of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of Floyd\u2019s family, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar were among several hundred people attending the North Central University service.<\/p>\n

Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo dropped to a knee as the hearse bearing Floyd\u2019s remains arrived for the service, streamed live to a large crowd gathered at the flower-covered site where Floyd died.<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u2018Necessary and overdue\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n

A vigil for Floyd was also held in New York and was attended by thousands of people, including Floyd\u2019s brother, Terrence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhite Silence is Violence,\u201d a sign read. \u201cMake America Not Embarrassing Again,\u201d read another.<\/p>\n

In Richmond, protesters gathered around a statue of Robert E. Lee, after Virginia governor Ralph Northam announced plans to remove the Confederate leader monument vandalized during the demonstrations.<\/p>\n

A Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, broke ranks with her party meanwhile and revealed she was \u201cstruggling\u201d with whether to support President Donald Trump\u2019s re-election.<\/p>\n

Murkowski said her move was prompted by remarks from Trump\u2019s former defense secretary James Mattis, who a day earlier delivered a biting assessment of a president who \u201ctries to divide us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought General Mattis\u2019s words were true and honest and necessary and overdue,\u201d Murkowski told reporters.<\/p>\n

Her comments mark a major break with Trump within the Republican camp, which has largely held together through various crises including his impeachment and current threat to use military force against protests.<\/p>\n

While condemning Floyd\u2019s death, Trump has adopted a tough stance towards the protesters, saying they include many \u201cbad people\u201d and calling on governors to \u201cdominate the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

US civil rights groups filed a case Thursday suing Trump, after security forces fired pepper balls and smoke bombs to clear peaceful demonstrators outside the White House before the president walked to a church for a photo op earlier this week.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s \u201cfrankly criminal attack on protesters because he disagreed with their views shakes the foundation of our nation\u2019s constitutional order,\u201d said Scott Michelman, American Civil Liberties Union legal director.<\/p>\n

Low-flying choppers were also used in an apparent show of force above protesters in Washington, DC on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Trump snapped back on Twitter, writing: \u201cThe problem is not the very talented, low-flying helicopter pilots wanting to save our city, the problem is the arsonists, looters, criminals, and anarchists, wanting to destroy it (and our Country)!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u2018All-inclusive\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n

Democratic Congressman John Lewis, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr to fight segregation, echoed Sharpton\u2019s hope that Floyd\u2019s death could pave the way for \u201cgreater change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 80-year-old civil rights icon told \u201cCBS This Morning\u201d that the current protests felt \u201cso much more massive and all-inclusive.\u201d He also condemned Trump\u2019s threat to use military force against demonstrators.<\/p>\n

Some of the protests were marred by rioting and looting in the early days, but they have been mostly peaceful since then.<\/p>\n

Three of the four Minneapolis police officers who arrested Floyd for allegedly passing a counterfeit bill made their first court appearance on Thursday to face charges of aiding and abetting his murder.<\/p>\n

Bail was set at $1 million each.<\/p>\n

The fourth policeman, Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder and appeared before a judge last week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS, June 5, 2020 (BSS\/AFP) \u2013 Hundreds of mourners joined an emotional memorial service in Minneapolis Thursday for George Floyd, the black man killed by police last week, as civil rights leader Al Sharpton vowed mass protests will continue until \u201cwe change the whole system of justice\u201d in the United States. Demonstrations, largely peaceful and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":59574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,5,14],"tags":[114],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\t\n