An anti-racism campaign group is urging Britons to “take the knee” on their doorsteps for a socially distanced protest in solidarity with protesters in the US.
Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) has organised the protest for 6pm on Wednesday as part of a day of action against discrimination in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
jim: "If that is the method for dealing with resistance then it's wholly and utterly and obviously wrong and it's despicable that you think it could be in any way appropriate. " - there you go again, where have I prescribed the method of restraint? These techniques are taught in training, no doubt by experts.
This is not so much about this single murder. The cop in question is being charged. There's no real debate that what was done was wrong, but if it was just this single event it would not make world news.
This is about the wider treatment of black people, going back over many years, whether there is systemic racism and, if so, how that can be eradicated.
What seems to have happened is that Chauvin turned up, decided that instead of trying to get Floyd in a police car he would throw him to the floor and put his body weight on Floyd's neck for nine minutes. Floyd complained that he was claustrophobic, or in any case he may simply have panicked.
There's also something weird about Floyd being asked to "get up and get in the car, man!" while he is *still* underneath the man with a knee on his neck.
The question then also becomes why it is that random members of the public are expected to conduct themselves perfectly in high-pressure situations, whereas police, who should be trained how to deal with this calmly and effectively, are given much more leeway even when the suspect ends up dead.
Other important context: the cop accused has faced multiple complaints about his behaviour and conduct. The cop accused arrived on the scene almost 20 minutes in to the arrest. The cop accused was asked by bystanders to get off him and his response was to threaten to pepper-spray them.
There are more incidents than this one though, danny. Plus it took a huge outcry to lead to anything other than being fired. There's a wider story here you seem to be missing. This sort of thing happens a lot, and police in the US rarely suffer any sort of consequences.
Honestly 3T, I think that if the cop had pulled a gun on Floyd and blown his brains out, you'd still be trying to find a reason to justify it. You're so determined not to give any credence to the so-called ROB, that you're blind to simple rights and wrongs.
Oh, yes, and finally, for now, there were two other police officers on top of Floyd at the time. The guy who was pressing on his neck was, at the very least, surplus to requirements. It would take a brute of a man to escape a situation where somebody was on his legs, somebody on his torso, and with his hands in cuffs, to escape.
TTT, you try to justify this but the truth is that the officer used too much force and ignored the fact that the man was stating he could not breathe.He deserves to be charged, and convicted, of murder.
// can you not see though that all of that is irrelevant,//
er no because it is relevant
as the consequent events prove
- police running and beating journos one of whom I understand has been blinded, - and yeah if they werent there they wouldnt have been injured strikes me as Lame