George Floyd anniversary: Joe Biden meets family as US embassies fly Black Lives Matter flag
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Your support makes all the difference.The family of George Floyd, whose murder sparked protests around the world, met president Joe Biden at the White House for almost an hour to mark the anniversary of his death.
“If you can make federal laws to protect the bird which is the bald eagle, then you can make federal laws to protect people of colour,” George Floyd’s brother, Philonise, told reporters after the meeting.
It comes as the US president missed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act deadline, which he originally set for 25 May. To mark the anniversary, embassies around the country were authorized by the State Department to fly the Black Lives Matter flag “advance racial equity and access to justice on May 25 and beyond”.
Mr Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. A jury of 12 found Chauvin guilty on three counts; one count of second-degree murder, one count of third-degree murder, and one count of manslaughter.
The former police officer has not yet been sentenced but faces up to 40 years in prison. The state attorney general, Keith Ellison, has requested the judge consider ‘aggravating factors’ when handing out a sentence, which requests “an upward sentencing departure”.
Following the murder of Mr Floyd, protests broke out in the state, across the nation, and internationally, as thousands of people took to the streets to decry police brutality.
Mr Floyd’s family is marking a year since his death with a series of events, including the Saturday rally held alongside other victims of police killings, a day of action, and a candlelit vigil on Tuesday, 25 May – a year to the day he was killed.
Football continues to fight racism
On the anniversary of George Floyd’s death, UEFA has launched a campaign to encourage those involved in football to join the fight against discrimination and sign up for an Equal Game.
The campaign has been backed by stars inducing Paul Pogba, Jadon Sancho, Moise Kean, Pernille Harder, Matthijs De Ligt and Joao Felix who have shared personal accounts on their social media platforms.
US police killings of people of colour continue: Independent profiles
The Independent has been reporting on killings from the last year where people of colour lost their lives during interactions with police officers.
Among the 426 on record across the US since George Floyd’s death was Kendrell Watkins, who was killed on 15 August last summer. His family had called police in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to report that their son had been acting erratically and “losing it”; he was pursued by officers while completely naked and in mental distress, and was tasered twice before falling unconscious. He was taken away by paramedics and pronounced dead later that day.
Josh Marcus has more details.
George Floyd anniversary: Kendrell Watkins was killed by Taser on bodycam but mystery about his death still remains
Section of police video has been edited out, leaving his family with questions, writes Josh Marcus
A police killing in California after a call from a young man’s family
Angelo Quinto of Antioch, California was 30 years old when he died at Christmas last year. His family had called the police over his behaviour, worried that he was suffering a mental health episode; according to the family’s lawyer, the police not only handcuffed him but “inexplicably began using the ‘George Floyd’ technique of placing a knee on the back and side of his neck, ignoring Mr Quinto’s pleas of ‘please don’t kill me’.”
Andrew Buncombe has the story.
George Floyd anniversary: Family say Angelo Quinto died after police knelt on his neck but they have no video to prove it
Angelo is not here with us anymore, but we will be his voice, his mother tells Andrew Buncombe
Woman arrested for driving into Andrew Brown protesters
A woman in North Carolina was arrested yesterday after allegedly running her car into demonstrators marching in protest at the police killing of Andrew Brown.
The woman, 41-year-old Lisa Michelle O’Quinn, was charged with two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, one count of careless and reckless driving, and one count of unsafe movement. Police are also considering whether to bring hate crime charges against her.
There have been numerous incidents of people running their cars into racial justice and anti-police protests since the death of George Floyd. In one incident in Seattle last year, 24-year-old Summer Taylor was killed by a man who faces vehicular homicide charges. He claims her death was an accident.
Alex Woodward has more.
Woman runs over protesters at march against police killing of Andrew Brown
A woman in North Carolina was arrested on Monday after allegedly striking protesters marching against the police killing of Andrew Brown.
Police claimed mentally ill man was “too dangerous to taser"
On 4 May this year, police officers in Mesquite, Texas responded to a call at the apartment of 27-year-old Ashton Pinke after his girlfriend dialled 911 and hung up the phone. Mr Pinke, who had suffered from mental illness before, was ultimately shot dead in the encounter.
The officers involved said that he ran at them with a club and a knife; his family maintain he was holding a walking stick and a craft knife.
“The two officers who responded to Mr Pinke have completely disregarded the fact that he was suffering from a severe mental illness,” said a lawyer for his family. “And they also disregard the fact they had actually been trained to deal with someone experiencing those extraordinary circumstances.”
Ashton Pinke, who police say was too dangerous to taser, killed one year after George Floyd
Relatives say police had been told young man was suffering from mental health problems, writes Andrew Buncombe
George Floyd’s brother reflects on last year’s "progress”
Philonese Floyd spoke to CNN this morning about how it feels to look back over the year since his brother’s death, a year he says has been marked by slow progress toward real police reform.
“I think about my brother all the time,” he said. “And my sister called me at 12 o’clock last night, she said ‘this is the day that our brother has left the Earth’. Just devastated.”
“Like drowning on dry land”: A police killing on harrowing video
Andrew Buncombe reports on the death of Mario Gonzalez, who lost his life when police in Alameda, California held him face down on the ground for several minutes.
On body camera footage, he can be heard struggling as his face his held to the ground. After several minutes restraining him, the officers realised they could not find a pulse and one carried out CPR to try and save his life – but too late.
Read more here.
George Floyd anniversary: Mario Gonzalez killed in a police hold that was like ‘drowning on dry land’
Death of Mario Arenales Gonzalez came one day before George Floyd’s killer was convicted by Minneapolis court, writes Andrew Buncombe
Barack Obama addresses Floyd anniversary: “The last year has also given us reasons to hope”
Former President Barack Obama has shared a message to mark the anniversary of George Floyd’s death, sounding a note of optimism that “more people in more places are seeing the world more clearly than they did a year ago”.
Mother describes how Derek Chauvin knelt on her child’s back after answering 911 call
A Minneapolis mother has spoken to the website Law & Crime about an encounter with Derek Chauvin when she called for help with her autistic 12-year-old child during a crisis.
“I felt afraid for my life, and certainly for my kid’s life at that moment,” she told the site’s “Objections” podcast.
Michelle Obama marks anniversary of George Floyd death
The former first lady joined her husband to mark the year since Floyd was killed in Minneapolis by sharing a video of his daughter, Gianna.
“It’s been a year since those horrifying 8 minutes and 46 seconds stole George Floyd’s life,” sghe said in a tweet.
“Today, I am thinking of this clip of his daughter Gianna, and all the young people out there who have seen so much, but refuse to give up hope.”
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