The death of George Floyd has left America burning as other police killings of black men grew on Saturday. Tense protests continue to escalate in New York, Tulsa, and Los Angeles as police cars were set on fire.
The protests that began in Minneapolis after George Floyd was killed by a police officer after he pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes straight. The protests that began on Monday has left the city with broken windows, burning or burned outbuildings. Floyd’s death has brought the conversation back to America’s biggest issue still – racism.
The protestors are reminding people and the administration of years of such crimes being committed by the police. However, the protestors not maintaining social distance and not wearing masks have alarmed health experts as the country is yet to recover from the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic that claimed 100,000 lives in the country. As the country was looking to reopen the economy, it was stuck with Floyd’s death.
Although many protestors took to streets to demonstrate their protest peacefully, some of the protests took an ugly turn on Friday as many turned violent.
Cities across the country erupt in Protest
In Washington, people were seen outside the White House chanting slogans as the security tried to keep them away from the barricades even as they pushed against it. President Donald Trump spent his weekend at the SpaceX launch and landed in the White House and refused to speak to the journalists.
In the city of Philadelphia, 13 police officers were left injured when the peaceful demonstration turned violent as four police vehicles were set on fire. In the Greenwood District of Tulsa, people assembled at the site of a 1921 massacre of black people and chanted the name of Terence Crutcher, a black man who was killed by the police in 2016.
In Los Angeles, people chanted “Black Lives Matter” within inches away from the police shield. The “Black Lives Matter” has got onto social media as to massive criticism against Trump and his administration surfaced. Popular singer Taylor Swift tweeted to the President and gave the message of voting him out. The social media platform, Twitter, has changed its official account’s bio to “Black Lives Matter”.
Source: The Hindu
