30 March 2021 - Derek Chauvin trial begins in George Floyd murder case
George Floyd: Everything you need to know as Derek Chauvin goes on trial for murder
Alix Culbertson (Sky News, 29/03/2021)
The former police officer accused of killing George Floyd, whose death sparked months of worldwide protests against racial injustice, is on trial for his murder.
Derek Chauvin, 45, is charged with three offences over the death of George Floyd, who died after he was arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the US last May.
The then-police officer was filmed kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck for about nine minutes as he said: "I can't breathe."
The struggle to reopen George Floyd Square: 'Injustice closed these streets; only justice should open them'
Suzette Hackney (USA Today, 29/03/2021)
No justice, no streets.
That's the mantra of community members who claimed the neighborhood where George Floyd died as their own. Until there is justice for Floyd's death, they say, the area where a former Minneapolis police officer kneeled on Floyd's neck while he struggled to breathe and cried for his mother belongs to the people.
Police officers, in particular, are not welcome. Some here call it an autonomous zone.
‘America is on trial’: George Floyd family and activists gather outside courthouse
Amudalat Ajasa (The Guardian, 29/03/2021)
Members of George Floyd’s family along with civil rights attorney Ben Crump and campaigner Al Sharpton gathered and knelt in front of the courthouse in Minneapolis on Monday morning as the murder trial began of former police officer Derek Chauvin.
“Derek Chauvin is in the courtroom but America is on trial,” Sharpton said to the crowd.
Downtown city buildings blocked out the sun as cold winds swirled through a small but determined crowd of a few dozen protesters next to the building that is surrounded by layers of barricades, high fences and razor wire.
Derek Chauvin trial begins in George Floyd murder case: 5 essential reads on police violence against Black men
Catesby Holmes (The Conversation, 29/03/2021)
The trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd is underway in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Chauvin, who is white, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the death of George Floyd, who was Black, during an arrest last May. For 8 minutes and 46 seconds, Floyd – handcuffed and face down on the pavement – said repeatedly that he could not breathe, while other officers looked on.
A video of Floyd’s agonizing death soon went viral, triggering last summer’s unprecedented wave of mass protests against police violence and racism. Chauvin’s murder trial is expected to last up to four weeks.