Day: June 1, 2020

The Fire This Time

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Fire This Time

In times of crisis, historical knowledge at least offers the small consolation of perspective. America’s current time of troubles, with the stress of the pandemic and economic meltdown now being intensified by nationwide protests and riots against police violence, inevitably calls to mind the last time the country was coming apart. The BBC described the protests ignited by the police killing of George Floyd as the “biggest racial clashes since the 1960s.”

Racism, Inequality and Institutional Terrorism: The Origin of Mass Unrest in the United States – INTERNATIONALIST 360°

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Racism, Inequality and Institutional Terrorism: The Origin of Mass Unrest in the United States

On Friday, May 29, Derek Chauvin, the policeman from Minneapolis (Minnesota, United States) who was seen on a video pressing his knee against George Floyd’s neck, was arrested, according to Public Security Commissioner John Harrington.

Chauvin had been fired along with three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest and murder and it is unknown what charges they might face.

The murder of Floyd, an African-American citizen, occurred after he was arrested last Monday, the 25th, for alleged “ongoing fraud”. During the arrest, Chauvin pressed on the detainee’s neck with his knee for at least eight minutes, even though Floyd was handcuffed to the floor and complained that he could not breathe. Shortly thereafter, he was declared dead in a hospital.