For the fourth consecutive night, thousands of protesters marched to the United States to seek justice after the death of George Floyd, which occurred Monday in Minneapolis, in the north of the country. The 46-year-old African American was suffocated under the knee of a police officer who came to arrest him for a story about a counterfeit bill. Three other officers watched without doing anything. The scene, filmed, went around the world. "I can't breathe," we hear the victim blow.
VIDEO. Four police officers sacked after death of black man during arrest
These words are identical to those of another black man, Eric Garner, also smothered by the police in 2014 in New York. His death had led to the creation of the "Black Lives Matter" movement which combats police violence against blacks. And of course, here, everyone thinks back to the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1991 which had triggered the worst riots in the history of the country (more than 50 dead and 2300 injured).
The accused police officer was charged and imprisoned on Friday. The anger of the demonstrators, gathered again in Minneapolis on the night of Friday to Saturday despite a curfew, but also in other American cities like Washington and New York, however, is not limited to the case of George Floyd. His death comes after a series of racist episodes in recent months. Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was killed in February by residents of a neighborhood in Georgia while he was jogging.
"Institutional racism"
"For millions of Americans, being treated differently based on race is tragically, painfully and infuriatingly normal, be it in their dealings with the healthcare system, with the justice system, while jogging on the street or just by watching the birds in a park, "said ex-President Barack Obama on Friday.
His former White House partner, Democratic candidate Joe Biden, called for "uprooting" "institutional racism" in the United States. "The original sin of this country still defiles our nation," he said, referring to slavery. "It is time for us to face the deep gaping plague of our country," he continued, before calling for "real police reform".
For sociologist Alex Vitale, a specialist in police violence at Brooklyn College, the "procedural reforms" undertaken so far, such as wearing cameras on uniforms or holding training on racist bias, "have done nothing to improve the work of the police. "
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According to the researcher, the country has "a big problem of racism which is lodged both in the police institution and in the decision of political leaders to refer to the police the management of the problems of poor communities of color. Overdoses, homelessness, untreated mental illnesses, school failure ... all these plagues have become the problem of the police who use criminalization and violence to deal with them. This creates the deep resentment that we see expressed today. "
VIDEO. Death of George Floyd: "I didn't like what I saw at all," says Trump
In the campaign for his re-election, Republican President Donald Trump suggested Friday to shoot the demonstrators ... at the risk of further exacerbating this anger.