Recap
- George Floyd’s family held a memorial service for him in Houston. Floyd, who was killed in police custody late last month, is now on his way to his final resting place. His final resting place is alongside his mother, who he called out for while a police officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck.
- The Rev Al Sharpton sharply criticized Trump’s response to recent protests in his eulogy for Floyd. “You take rubber bullets and teargas to clear out peaceful protesters, and then take a Bible and walk in front of a church, and use a church as a prop. Wickedness in high places,” Sharpton said.
- Joe Biden addressed mourners via livestream during Floyd’s service. “Today, now is the time, the purpose, the season to listen and heal,” Biden said. “Now is the time for racial justice. That’s the answer we must give to our children when they ask why. Because when there is justice for George Floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America.”
- In New York, state lawmakers repealed a law that keeps police disciplinary records secret. The move is one of several police reform measures that state legislators are undertaking.
- Georgia voters encountered equipment malfunctions and long waits to vote. The secretary of state announced an investigation but drew criticism for skirting the blame after overseeing the purchase of new voting equipment that poll workers said was failing.
- Top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci, warned that the coronavirus pandemic was far from over, calling Covid-19 his “worst nightmare”. He said he had known that an outbreak like this could occur but was surprised by how “rapidly it just took over the planet”.
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Trump was severely criticized for peddling the baseless claim that a Buffalo protester shoved by police officers was an Antifa plant. The 75-year-old man was hospitalized after the incident, and the two police officers involved have been charged with assault.
- Trump said he may hold a campaign rally as soon as “next week.” The rallies have been halted due to the still-raging coronavirus pandemic, but some of the president’s allies have suggested the Floyd protests, which have attracted thousands of people, could shield the rallies from potential criticism.
Opinion: I grew up facing attack after attack on myself and others. Today each of us has a role in the fight for Black lives
Alex M Johnson writes for The Guardian:
We are our brother’s and sister’s keeper and each of us has a role in this fight for Black lives. Here are a few ideas for what you can do to join the fight:
- Demilitarize the police. Decrease law enforcement budgets and reinvest those resources to fund schools, libraries, quality healthcare, parks, childcare, jobs, interventionists and a youth development system. Community safety does not come from cops – strong institutions ensure communities can thrive.
- Support organizations led by, serving and in service to Black people. Support those who organize, agitate, resist, disrupt, demonstrate and advocate to ensure that Black lives are not expendable. The people have the power – fund organized action.
- Interrogate what being an ally truly means. Use your voice. Be bold and take a stand: equivocation fuels inequity. If you have privilege, use it, leverage it. There is nothing revolutionary about recognizing your power and doing nothing with it to advance social change and end systemic racism.
- You are either for Black lives or you are not. Systemic racism permeates every system – law enforcement, education, health, transportation, housing, the economy, the environment and even philanthropy, the system in which I work. Are you hiring Black people? Are they tokenized or in leadership positions? It’s not complicated. Oppression is operational. Disassemble it and undo the status quo.
- Stop tiptoeing around race, slavery, racial injustice, racial bias, systemic racism, white supremacy, nationalism, anti-Blackness or racial equity. It’s real. We’ve studied and debated it long enough. Act. End of discussion.
- Vote for an agenda at the local, state and federal levels that prioritizes Black lives and demolishes the insidious pillars of white supremacy in every form. For those whose electoral existence is predicated upon the domination of Black lives, we must dominate the ballot box. If you are registered to vote and someone you know is not, help them register. Vote. Vote. Vote.
New York state lawmakers repealed a law that kept officers’ disciplinary records secret. The measure is one of several police reform bills in the state legislature including one that bans police chokeholds. Lawmakers are also planning to vote on whether to provide all state troopers with body cameras and require that all officers provide medical and mental health attention to those in custody.
New York City’s legislature is also revisiting a bill to criminalize chokeholds. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who threatened to veto such legislation in 2014 after Eric Garner was killed, is facing increasing pressure to support the bill. Even without de Blasio’s approval, the legislation now has enough support to overcome a veto.
Updated
Philadelphians gathered in the city’s Fishtown neighborhood and painted “End Racism Now” in bright yellow letters onto the street.
“End Racism Now” in bright yellow on Girard in Fishtown. Organizers had to get permission and this won’t be here for long. Could be gone by as early as tomorrow morning. @NBCPhiladelphia at 11pm pic.twitter.com/UsoBYOyCaB
— Aaron Baskerville (@ABaskerville10) June 9, 2020
Fishtown protests. pic.twitter.com/BVwXt0PWCy
— Eric Smith (@ericsmithrocks) June 9, 2020
The message is unlikely to last long, according to NBC Philadelphia, as the city is likely to remove it. Organizers are reportedly looking for a site where they can permanently paint the slogan.
The event, which drew hundreds, was organized by a local pastor. The neighborhood was shaken recently after a group of armed white men took to the streets amid Black Lives Matter protests, saying they were there to protect businesses from looting.
Protests are continuing around the country. Here are some scenes from California.
In Berkeley:
#GeorgeFloyd and #BlackLivesMatter protest and march from San Pablo Park to Berkeley High School organized by #Berkeleyhigh students @EastBayTimes pic.twitter.com/PgGSSPW4jo
— Ray Chavez (@rayinaction) June 10, 2020
In San Francisco:
In Los Angeles:
Updated
In San Francisco, bus drivers halted service for eight minutes and 46 seconds — the amount of time that an officer had a knee on George Floyd’s neck. Soon after, Muni, the local transportation agency, announced it would no longer transport officers to the protests.
“The idea for the memorial was suggested by one of our transportation controllers in our Transportation Management Center,” said Erica Kato, a spokesperson for Muni. “We’ve been engaged in conversations with our staff, and that has given us the opportunity to reflect on what we can do to support our staff and black and brown community, and turn words into action.”
Updated
In Louisiana, a recently uncovered video shows police officers repeatedly punching and tasing a Black man, who died shortly afterward.
Video on KSLA, obtained from a bystander, shows police officers in the northern Louisiana city of Shreveport wrestling Tommie Dale McGlothen, 44, to the ground and hitting him repeatedly. After cuffing McGlothen, officers are captured walking him to the police vehicle, and pushing him against it so that his head hits the hood.
According to the coroner, McGlothen was exhibiting signs of mental distress when officers apprehended him. Four officers involved have been placed on administrative leave.
The coroner, Todd Thoma, said, “McGlothen had underlying heart disease and clearly was suffering from excited delirium. The combination of these factors caused his death.” But the autopsy also confirmed multiple blunt forced injuries and noted that his death could have been prevented as it should have been obvious “that he needed medical care”.
Updated
The CEO of CrossFit gyms stepped down after telling staff on a Zoom call, “We’re not mourning for George Floyd.”
Several gyms associated with CrossFit had already ended their association with the brand after the CEO, Greg Glassman, tweeted, in response to a statement from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that racism was a public health issue, “It’s FLOYD-19.”
On a private call with staff, which was obtained by BuzzFeed, Glassman said, “We’re not mourning for George Floyd – I don’t think me or any of my staff are.”
“Can you tell me why I should mourn for him?” Glassman reportedly said on the call, which was recorded. “Other than that it’s the white thing to do – other than that, give me another reason.”
UPDATE: Greg Glassman is stepping down as CEO of CrossFit https://t.co/cgfb3Ur6HT pic.twitter.com/cq3VmzOUfD
— Ryan Brooks (@ryanbrooks) June 9, 2020
Updated
The show Cops has been canceled by the Paramount Network. The network removed the long-running show from its schedule amid protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. Now, the network has announced it’s fully dropping the reality show, which documents police chasing down and apprehending suspects.
Officers would sometimes coerce suspects into signing releases to be filmed, according to a podcast called Running From Cops.
“Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return,” a network spokesperson said, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The A&E network has also pulled last week’s episodes of Live PD – which also follows officers in real time, though the show is not yet canceled outright. In March 2019, Javier Ambler, a Black man, was killed in Austin as the Live PD cameras were rolling. The 40-year-old postal worker and father of two had his brights on while driving home after a poker game.
Officers held Ambler down and used tasers on him even as he pleaded “I have congestive heart failure. I can’t breathe”, according to the Austin American Statesman, which along with KVUE-TV uncovered police video of the incident. The Live PD footage was not aired.
Updated
The US’s top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, warned on Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic was far from over, calling Covid-19 his “worst nightmare”.
“In a period of four months, it has devastated the whole world,” Fauci said, speaking to executives at a conference of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. “And it isn’t over yet.”
About 7 million people have been infected with the coronavirus and 400,000 people are known to have died. Many countries, including the US, where more than 110,000 have died, are now relaxing quarantine rules despite rising rates of infection in some areas.
“That’s millions and millions of infections worldwide. And it isn’t over yet. And it’s condensed in a very, very small time frame,” said Fauci.
In a videotaped discussion Fauci said he had known that an outbreak like this could occur but he was surprised by how “rapidly it just took over the planet”. Fauci attributed the rapid spread to the contagiousness of the virus and extensive world travel by infected people.
Updated
Opinion: The toll of police violence on disabled Americans
Dominic Bradley and Sarah Katz write for the Guardian:
What do Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Tanisha Anderson, Deborah Danner, Ezell Ford, Alfred Olango and Keith Lamont Scott all have in common? They were all black Americans who died at the hands of the police or in police custody. And they were all also disabled.
Sandra Bland, 28, had epilepsy and depression and was found hanged in a jail cell in Texas after being arrested for an alleged lane change violation. Eric Garner, 43, had asthma, diabetes and a heart condition and died after an NYPD officer put him in a chokehold while arresting him for allegedly selling cigarettes without tax stamps. Freddie Gray, 25, had a developmental disability due to being exposed to lead at an early age and died from a severe spinal injury after police officers reportedly gave him a “rough ride” in the back of a police van. Tanisha Anderson, 37, died while having a mental health crisis and being restrained by police officers with her face down in front of her Cleveland, Ohio, home.
Deborah Danner, 66, had schizophrenia and died after being shot by an NYPD officer, who was responding to her neighbor’s call that she had been behaving erratically. Four years earlier she had written an essay about mental health stigma that predicted, chillingly, the circumstances of her own death. “We are all aware,” she wrote, “of the all-too-frequent news stories about the mentally ill who come up against law enforcement instead of mental health professionals and end up dead.”
Ezell Ford, 25, who had bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia, was shot dead by LAPD officers during an alleged struggle. Alfred Olango, 38, was shot dead after his sister called the police for help while he was having a crisis related to his mental illness. Keith Lamont Scott, 43, had a traumatic brain injury from a prior accident and died after police shot him for not following orders to exit his car. Even George Floyd, whose killing by a Minneapolis police officer sparked the nationwide protests, had a heart condition, hypertension and sickle cell trait.
These deaths are part of a disturbing pattern in police killings. While the numbers of disabled people killed by police are not systematically tracked in the United States, the Ruderman Family Foundation has estimated that between a third to half of all Americans killed by police have a disability. (Their study defines disability broadly, “inclusive of physical, developmental, intellectual, psychiatric, emotional, and any other form of disability that might fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)”.) To put that into perspective, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that disabled American adults make up a quarter of the population, making them the largest minority group.
Los Angeles county district attorney Jackie Lacey announced that an officer has been charged with the assault of a 28-year-old man in April.
Responding to a call about a tresspasser, officer Frank Hernandez, 49, hit a man on the head, neck and body more than a dozen times while screaming expletives. A bystander caught the incident on camera.
Hernandez, who has served the Los Angeles police department for more than two decades, has been involved in three on-duty shootings, according to the Los Angeles Times.
District Attorney Jackie Lacey Files Assault Charge Against LAPD Officer https://t.co/8inYbDm69X #LADAOffice
— Jackie Lacey (@LADAOffice) June 9, 2020
“This is a disturbing case of the illegal use of force at the hands of a police officer,” Lacey said. “In this case, we believe the force was neither legally necessary nor reasonable.”
Updated
My colleague Vivian Ho reports from Houston:
Officials shut down the roads from the church to the cemetery, including a section of major toll road, to make way for the procession. Along the route, groups of supporters waved “Black lives matter” signs and cheered for Floyd.
About a mile to the cemetery entrance, where the family planned to have a horse-drawn carriage bring Floyd’s casket the rest of the way to the burial site, hundreds lined the streets, holding up umbrellas and makeshift tents to protect themselves from the unrelenting sun.
They doodled chalk messages of “rest in power” and “be the change” along the sidewalk, and periodically broke out in chants: “Say his name! George Floyd!” A sweating man walked down the line, wearily reading his double-sided sign to people he passed: “We will breathe. I see greatness in you.”
Herman Bell, 37, was on his way with his family to the eye doctor when he decided to stop to watch the procession. “We lost a great man from the third ward,” Bell said.
“I want my kids to understand that when they go to school, they need to go to school and better themselves,” he said. “This man went out and bettered the world.”
There’s a sense in Houston that in times like these, you come out to support the family even if you didn’t know the family. Schon Carter, 40, came out on Tuesday to show not just her support for the family, but to show that “we’re all standing in one accord.”
“It feels good, that despite the heat, the weather, that people actually took the time out to show their respect for the family,” Carter said.
Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, has been tasked by Mitch McConnell to lead a Republican police reform effort.
Scott, of South Carolina, has released a plan that proposes cutting federal funds to police departments that don’t use body cameras and de-escalation training.
Use of force review boards aren’t in the proposal – though they are in the “discussion/development” section.
Tim Scott circulating 10-part plan called the Justice Act. Scott, the lone African-American Senate R, was tasked by McConnell to lead the effort and he presented at GOP lunch today. He also met with WH officials. It comes as House Dems, led by CBC, offered their plan yesterday pic.twitter.com/YizIjpXh6G
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 9, 2020
Updated
'He would dance badly to make people laugh': How George Floyd's friends remember him
Before he was killed, George Floyd was suffering the same fate as millions of Americans during the coronavirus pandemic: out of work and looking for a new job.
Floyd moved to Minneapolis from his native Houston several years ago in hopes of finding work and starting a new life, said Christopher Harris, Floyd’s lifelong friend.
“He was looking to start over fresh, a new beginning,” Harris said. “He was happy with the change he was making.”
Floyd, who was 46, grew up in Houston’s Third Ward, one of the city’s predominantly black neighborhoods, where he and Harris met in middle school. At 6ft6in, Floyd emerged as a star football player, positioned as the tight end for Jack Yates’ high school team, and played in the 1992 state championship game in the Houston Astrodome.
Donnell Cooper, one of Floyd’s former classmates, said he remembered watching Floyd score touchdowns. Floyd towered over everyone and earned the nickname “gentle giant”.
“Quiet personality but a beautiful spirit,” Cooper said.
Harris, Floyd’s childhood friend, said he and some of their mutual friends had moved to Minneapolis in search of jobs around 2014 — and convinced Floyd to join. Floyd landed a job working security at a Salvation Army store in downtown Minneapolis. He later started working two jobs, one driving trucks and another as a bouncer at Conga Latin Bistro, where he was known as “Big Floyd”.
“Always cheerful,” Jovanni Tunstrom, the bistro’s owner, said. “He had a good attitude. He would dance badly to make people laugh. I tried to teach him how to dance because he loved Latin music, but I couldn’t because he was too tall for me. He always called me ‘Bossman’. I said, ‘Floyd, don’t call me Bossman. I’m your friend.’”
Updated
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho is in Houston, where members of Congress, members of Floyd’s family and members of the public have all gathered to pay their respects to George Floyd, before he is buried.
Mourners chanted Floyd’s name as his casket left the church, where Al Sharpton had delivered a eulogy.
George Floyd’s casket leaves the church to chants of his name pic.twitter.com/m3tQX1GuIZ
— Vivian Ho (@VivianHo) June 9, 2020
Georgia’s secretary of state has announced an investigation after poll workers have reported issues with new voting machines and long lines.
The primary election today was already delayed from 24 March due to the coronavirus pandemic and voting, even as the state faces extra scrutiny after its handling of the 2018 elections when then-secretary of state Brian Kemp was in charge of overseeing an election in which he was also a candidate for governor.
The current secretary of state Brad Raffensperger oversaw the purchase of the machines that are now causing issues, for $104m. Poll workers have voiced concern about the equipment, but Raffensperger has blamed workers for not knowing how to work the machines.
Updated
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- George Floyd’s family held a memorial service for him in Houston. Floyd, who was killed in police custody late last month, is now on his way to his final resting place. He will be buried alongside his mother, who he called out for while a police officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck.
- The Rev Al Sharpton sharply criticized Trump’s response to recent protests in his eulogy for Floyd. “You take rubber bullets and teargas to clear out peaceful protesters, and then take a Bible and walk in front of a church, and use a church as a prop. Wickedness in high places,” Sharpton said.
- Joe Biden addressed mourners via livestream during Floyd’s service. “Today, now is the time, the purpose, the season to listen and heal,” Biden said. “Now is the time for racial justice. That’s the answer we must give to our children when they ask why. Because when there is justice for George Floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America.”
- Trump was severely criticized for peddling the baseless claim that a Buffalo protester shoved by police officers was an Antifa plant. The 75-year-old man was hospitalized after the incident, and the two police officers involved have been charged with assault.
- Trump said he may hold a campaign rally as soon as “next week.” The rallies have been halted due to the still-raging coronavirus pandemic, but some of the president’s allies have suggested the Floyd protests, which have attracted thousands of people, could shield the rallies from potential criticism.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Trump’s chief of staff said the president would like to overhaul police laws “sooner rather than later,” according to a Politico reporter.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows made the comment while visiting Capitol Hill with senior White House adviser Jared Kushner and Ja’Ron Smith, the deputy director of the office of American innovation.
Congressional Democrats unveiled their sweeping police reform bill yesterday, but Trump is very unlikely to endorse that piece of legislation.
It is unclear what reforms the president would support, but White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said yesterday that Trump did not support ending qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that makes it difficult to hold police officers accountable for civil rights violations.
The memorial service for George Floyd has concluded, and his casket is now on its way to his final resting place in Houston, where he grew up.
Pallbearers carry George Floyd's casket out of Fountain of Praise church in Houston after his funeral. https://t.co/OQuQWI86pi pic.twitter.com/cGwXXRgxJU
— ABC News (@ABC) June 9, 2020
Many people waited outside of the Fountain of Praise church, where the service was held, in order to see Floyd’s casket and accompany it to his cemetery plot.
The Rev Al Sharpton has just concluded his eulogy at George Floyd’s memorial service in Houston.
Moments ago, the civil rights activist celebrated the protests that have spread across the country and around the world in response to the police killing of Floyd.
Rev. Al Sharpton: “All over the world I’ve seen grandchildren of slave masters tearing down slave master statues.” https://t.co/PeN6Eke5X4 pic.twitter.com/WanUN8kRjo
— ABC News (@ABC) June 9, 2020
“All over the world I’ve seen grandchildren of slave masters tearing down slave master statues,” Sharpton said.
Sharpton specifically referenced the statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, England, which was torn down and thrown into Bristol Harbour by Black Lives Matter protesters.
Updated
Sharpton condemns Trump's 'wickedness in high places'
The Rev Al Sharpton sharply criticized Trump’s response to the George Floyd protests, describing the president’s recent actions as “wickedness in high places.”
While delivering a eulogy at Floyd’s memorial service in Houston, Sharpton said Trump was more focused on how to stop the protests than how to stop police brutality.
The civil rights activist accused the president of being fixated on how the protests would affect his re-election bid and putting American lives in jeopardy as a result.
“You take rubber bullets and teargas to clear out peaceful protesters, and then take a Bible and walk in front of a church, and use a church as a prop. Wickedness in high places,” Sharpton said.
Updated
In his eulogy at George Floyd’s memorial service, the Rev Al Sharpton criticized NFL commissioner Roger Goddell, who said last week that the league was “wrong” in its handling of players’ protests against police brutality.
“Don’t apologize, give Colin Kaepernick his job back,” Sharpton said to applause.
Kaepernick was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality, and he has since struggled to get picked up by a team, which his supporters have described as retaliation from management over his activism.
Sharpton: 'Lives like George will not matter until somebody pays the cost for taking their lives'
The Rev Al Sharpton is delivering a eulogy at George Floyd’s memorial service in Houston, demanding justice for Floyd and others killed by police.
Rev. Al Sharpton delivers the eulogy at George Floyd’s funeral: “Lives like George will not matter until somebody pays the cost for taking their lives.” https://t.co/PeN6Eke5X4 pic.twitter.com/7CNspCAjY6
— ABC News (@ABC) June 9, 2020
“Lives like George will not matter until somebody pays the cost for taking their lives,” Sharpton said. “There is an intentional neglect to make people pay for taking our lives.”
Shapton said any four police officers who killed a white person would be sent to jail, arguing the police officers charged with Floyd’s murder should receive the same punishment.
The civil rights activist promised Floyd’s family he would “be here for the long haul.” “When the last TV truck is gone, we’ll still be here,” Sharpton said.
He later added, “We are fighting an institutional, systemic problem.”
Updated
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports from Houston, Texas:
Meet Sharon Harry. This 64-year-old Houston nurse took time off work to attend not just Monday’s public viewing, but on Tuesday to stand outside the church where George Floyd’s memorial service is being held.
Meet Sharon Harry. 35 years ago, her 22yo brother was shot and killed by police in San Antonio. “This is so very different. I’ve watched all the past police brutality but never anything like this. I just had to be here and say thank you to Mr Floyd.” pic.twitter.com/KREM6PXrm6
— Vivian Ho (@VivianHo) June 9, 2020
For Harry, Floyd’s death - and the deaths of all killed by police - have personal meaning to her. Thirty-five years ago, her 22-year-old brother was driving home in San Antonio when he got pulled over by the police. He went to open the passenger-side door. Police thought he was reaching for his gun. And Harry’s baby brother Michael Haskins entered into a long legacy of unarmed black men killed by police in this country.
“It’s very emotional for me,” she said. “I now have three grandsons that range in ages from 18 to 3 years old. As I’m growing older, it would be a solace for me to know that there’s been a change. It would be a comfort to me to know that with all of this with Mr Floyd’s death, we can now see a united front, in all rainbows of color, of all nationalities, that people can now become aware of some of their unbiased prejudices.”
Thirty-five years later, it doesn’t get any easier. With each police killing, the heartache is renewed, Harry said, her voice cracking. “You know what the Floyd family feels,” she said. “You know the loss. You know the pain.”
But this time feels different.
“I’ve watched all the past police brutality but never anything like this,” she said. “I just had to be here and say thank you to Mr Floyd, for giving his life to those who don’t have a voice anymore, who didn’t have a voice then because there weren’t any cameras.”
The Senate has unanimously confirmed General Charles Brown as the next chief of staff of the Air Force, making him the first African American chief of a military service branch.
Vice President Mike Pence presided over the vote for Brown’s nomination, which all 98 senators who were present supported. Announcing the final vote, Pence described Brown’s nomination as “historic.”
Trump celebrated Brown’s confirmation about an hour before the vote was finalized, praising the general as “a Patriot and Great Leader” in a tweet.
Brown’s confirmation came as George Floyd’s memorial service took place in Houston, with many speakers demanding that racial injustice be addressed after Floyd was killed in police custody.
Trump nearly fired Esper over dispute about protests - report
Trump was reportedly on the brink of firing Mark Esper last week, when the defense secretary voiced opposition to the president’s idea of sending active-duty troops to states with George Floyd protests.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
The president consulted several advisers to ask their opinion of the disagreement, intent that day on removing Mr. Esper, his fourth defense secretary since taking office in January 2017, according to [several] officials. After talks with the advisers, who cautioned against the move, Mr. Trump set aside the plans to immediately fire Mr. Esper.
At the same time, however, Mr. Esper, aware of Mr. Trump’s feelings, was making his own preparations to resign, partly in frustration over the differences regarding the role of the military, the officials said. He had begun to prepare a letter of resignation before he was persuaded not to do so by aides and other advisers, according to some of the officials.
Last Wednesday, Mr. Esper said that he didn’t think using federal troops in American streets was warranted at that time. The comments, made in an opening statement at a news conference at the Pentagon, weren’t vetted beforehand by the White House, and the statement caught officials there off guard, two officials said.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany signaled Esper’s job might be in trouble shortly after the cabinet secretary said he was against sending active-duty troops to the protests.
“As of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper, and should the president lose faith, we will all learn about that in the future,” McEnany told reporters on Wednesday.
The Guardian’s Vivan Ho reports from Houston, Texas:
Supporters of George Floyd stood outside the church in the punishing Houston humidity, waiting for the procession to Floyd’s final resting place.
Many in the crowd were friends of the family. Shereka Burton‘s mother grew up in the third ward, just like Floyd. The 32-year-old asked for time to think over the words she wished to express, unwilling to let anger and frustration take over the moment.
“We prayed for unity for so long that we did not know how it would come,” she said. “If it took this, I hope that we can all be at once in unity, in peace, on our knees in prayer, and I pray for strength for the family and the entire nation.”
Her mentor, Dr Edna L Kingsley, smiled at Burton’s words. Kingsley said she feels hope in this moment. “A change is going to come,” she said.
“George Floyd’s life was not in vain,” Kingsley added. “It was an unfortunate situation, but a knee has been on our necks for a long time. However if we give up the fight, that knee will continue to be on our neck. So we’re going to continue to fight this good fight, and we will prevail.”
Joe Biden expressed support for the Buffalo protester who was shoved to the ground by police officers, after Trump suggested the 75-year-old man might be an Antifa plant.
My Dad used to say there's no greater sin than the abuse of power.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 9, 2020
Whether it's an officer bloodying a peaceful protester or a President defending him with a conspiracy theory he saw on TV.
I'm a Catholic – just like Martin. Our faith says that we can't accept either.
“My Dad used to say there’s no greater sin than the abuse of power,” Biden said in a tweet. “Whether it’s an officer bloodying a peaceful protester or a President defending him with a conspiracy theory he saw on TV.”
Noting that he and the protester, Martin Gugino, were both Catholic, Biden added, “Our faith says that we can’t accept either.”
Gugino was hospitalized after being shoved while protesting the police killing of George Floyd, and the two officers involved have now been charged with assault.
Updated
Some Republican lawmakers are offering cautious words of criticism for Trump’s tweet about the Buffalo protester, who was shoved to the ground by police officers and has been hospitalized.
The president peddled a baseless claim that the 75-year-old protester was an Antifa plant, which was first suggested in a report from the far-right One America News Network.
“It’s a serious accusation which should only be made with facts and evidence, and I haven’t seen any yet,” Senate majority whip John Thune said of the tweet.
Senator Mitt Romney, who participated in a protest against police brutality this weekend said, “I saw the tweet. It was a shocking thing to say, and I won’t dignify it with any further comment.”
However, some senators, such as Cory Gardner, claimed they had not seen the tweet and refused to read it when congressional reporters presented them with a printed version of it.
Sen. Gardner has not seen the tweet and didn’t want to look at it. Says he’s focused on his outdoors bill on the Senate floor and was in a rush to get up there
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) June 9, 2020
Biden at Floyd service: 'Now is the time for racial justice'
Joe Biden delivered remarks at George Floyd’s memorial service in Houston, appearing via livestream a day after meeting with Floyd’s family.
Presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden delivers a video message at George Floyd's funeral: “Unlike most, you must grieve in public and it’s a burden. A burden that is now your purpose to change the world for the better, in the name of George Floyd” https://t.co/bQsoh2b52k pic.twitter.com/OjCqCiiaMN
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 9, 2020
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, whose son Beau died of brain cancer five years ago, said he connected with the family’s grief.
“As I’ve said to you privately, we know. We know you will never feel the same again,” Biden said to the Floyd family, going on to describe “the burden” of having to grieve in public.
The former vice president then directly addressed Floyd’s daughter, Gianna. “Little Gianna — as I said to you when I saw you yesterday, you are so brave. Daddy is looking down and he is so proud of you,” Biden said.
The presidential candidate concluded his remarks with a call for change. “Today, now is the time, the purpose, the season to listen and heal,” Biden said. “Now is the time for racial justice. That’s the answer we must give to our children when they ask why. Because when there is justice for George Floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America.
“And then, as you said, Gianna, your Daddy will have ‘changed the world.’”
Takedown of Confederate statue blocked
A judge in Virginia has put a block on the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from the state capital Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue.
Virginia governor Ralph Northam had announced plans for the divisive statue to be removed. But the court granted a 10-day injunction after a lawsuit was filed.
It was in Charlottesville, Virginia, that neo-nazi, white supremacist and related far-right crowds paraded in 2017 for a “Unite the Right” rally, tied to previous demonstrations aimed at preserving another statue of Lee in the college town. The August rally descended into chaos and violence when counter-protesters arrived and later turned fatal when a man drove a car into anti-rightist marchers.
In Richmond, a 1890 deed was cited in court that prevents the statue there from being removed, including an agreement in which the state agrees to “faithfully guard and affectionately protect it.”
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- George Floyd’s final memorial service is underway in Houston, Texas. After the private service, a large procession of mourners is expected to accompany Floyd’s casket to his final resting place alongside his mother. Floyd cried out for his mother while a police officer kept a knee on his neck.
- Trump was severely criticized for peddling the baseless claim that a Buffalo protester shoved by police officers was an Antifa plant. The 75-year-old man was hospitalized after the incident, and the two police officers involved have been charged with assault.
- Trump said he may hold a campaign rally as soon as “next week.” The rallies have been halted due to the still-raging coronavirus pandemic, but some of the president’s allies have suggested the Floyd protests, which have attracted thousands of people, could shield the rallies from potential criticism.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports from Houston, Texas:
American flags lined the road leading up to the Fountain of Praise church in Houston, where George Floyd’s final funeral service was being held Tuesday.
The funeral was for family and friends only, but dozens still gathered outside the church to pay their respects to Floyd, wearing shirts reading “I can’t breathe” and “black lives matter”.
Tamecia Dogbe, 41, drove two and a half hours from Austin with her sister and 12-year-old niece to stand outside the church in the sweltering humidity.
“It feels like a part of history, something I want my niece to witness,” she said. “Ten years from now, she might be able to see this in a history book.” She can only pray that in 10 years, these sort of funerals -- services for victims of police killings -- will be a thing of the past as well.
Among the line of buses and cars at the front of the church, Savant Moore, 35, shared a sentiment he posted on Facebook in the aftermath of the killing: “It really took a global pandemic with no sports, no concerts, no vacations to get the world to sit down and have no choice but to watch what’s really happening to Black people in America with zero distractions.”
Moore was an Army ranger who had been deployed four times, once in Afghanistan and another time in Iraq. Yet it’s here in his home country that he is scared. “I have a college degree from Howard University. I’m an entrepreneur. And this is my America,” Moore said.
“Every day, I still have to worry about whether people will not like me because of the color of my skin, or if I might not make it back home to my children because I encounter a police officer for a routine traffic stop.”
Updated
Floyd's memorial service gets underway
George Floyd’s memorial service is now underway at the Fountain of Praise church in Houston, Texas, where he will be laid to rest.
The Rev Al Sharpton will lead the memorial service, which is private. Mourners are singing hymns to honor Floyd’s life, which ended late last month after a Minneapolis police officer put his knee on Floyd’s neck.
After the private service, a large procession of mourners is expected to accompany Floyd’s casket to his final resting place alongside his mother.
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho is in Houston, Texas, where George Floyd’s memorial service is expected to begin at any moment.
The service for Floyd, who was killed in police custody late last month, is private, but people have still gathered at the church where mourners are convening.
One woman told Ho that she decided to come with her 12-year-old niece because “it feels like a part of history,” expressing hope that police brutality will soon be a thing of the past.
Services are private, but people have still gathered. Tamecia Dogbe drove from Austin w/ her 12yo niece bc “it feels like a part of history”. “10 years from now, she might be able to see this in a history book.” She prays in 10 years, such killings will be a thing of the past too
— Vivian Ho (@VivianHo) June 9, 2020
A large procession is expected to accompany Floyd’s casket to his final resting place once the service concludes.
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports from Houston, Texas:
The Rev Al Sharpton will lead George Floyd’s memorial service today, after leading the Minneapolis service for Floyd last week.
In Minneapolis, Sharpton delivered a rousing eulogy calling for white America to “get off our necks”, a reference to Floyd’s last moments.
Floyd, an African American, struggled to call out for his late mother and beg a police officer for mercy as he lay dying, pinned down by now-former officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on his neck. Today, Floyd will join his mother when his family inters his body next to hers in Houston, where he grew up.
Shaprton said last week, “The reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck. ... It’s time for us to stand up in George’s name and say: get your knee off our necks.”
Updated
Floyd family to soon hold memorial in Houston
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports from Houston, Texas:
The family of George Floyd is preparing to lay his body to rest in his home town of Houston, following weeks of protest over his killing by police in Minneapolis and a public viewing attended by thousands who waited for hours in the hot sun the day before.
The memorial is set to begin in about 20 minutes at 11 am CT, and it will be led by the Rev Al Sharpton. He reminded the mourners outside the church on Monday that none of the victims’ families who traveled to Houston had wanted to become activists, and that it would take work to change policing and racism in the country.
Thousands attended Monday’s public viewing, traveling into the city from across the US, and thousands more attended a candlelight vigil after viewing hours ended.
Though Tuesday’s funeral and burial are for invited guests and family only, officials expect a large turnout of mourners wishing to pay their respects to follow the funeral procession to Floyd’s final resting place.
The Brooklyn district attorney said a New York City police officer has been charged with assault, after a now-viral video showed the officer shoving a protester to the ground.
NYPD officer just called a female protester a “stupid fucking bitch” and threw her to the ground pic.twitter.com/18YUHYmqQa
— Jason Lemon (@JasonLemon) May 30, 2020
Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said officer Vincent D’Andraia, 28, would be charged with assault, criminal mischief, harassment and menacing for shoving 20-year-old Dounya Zayer to the ground during a George Floyd protest.
“I fully support the long-held American tradition of non-violent protest,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “As District Attorney I cannot tolerate the use of excessive force against anyone exercising this Constitutionally guaranteed right.
“This is especially true of those who are sworn to protect us and uphold the law. I am deeply troubled by this unnecessary assault. We will now seek to hold this defendant accountable.”
Newsweek reporter Jason Lemon first shared a video of the incident and said D’Andraia called Zayer a “stupid fucking bitch” as he shoved her. The NYPD previously said it was reviewing the matter.
Two law enforcement agencies acknowledged that police officers in Minneapolis cut some drivers’ tires as the George Floyd protests played out across the city.
Mother Jones previously shared videos showing police officers slashing tires in a K-Mart parking lot on May 30 and a highway overpass on May 31, both of which became police staging grounds near the protests.
The Star Tribune reports:
Images from S. Washington Avenue at Interstate 35W also showed officers with knives deflating the tires of two unoccupied cars with repeated jabs on May 31. Department of Public Safety spokesman Bruce Gordon confirmed that tires were cut in ‘a few locations.’
‘State Patrol troopers strategically deflated tires … in order to stop behaviors such as vehicles driving dangerously and at high speeds in and around protesters and law enforcement,’ Gordon said. ...
Deputies from Anoka County followed state orders and joined the patrol and also cut the tires on vehicles on Washington Avenue, said Anoka County Sheriff’s Lt. Andy Knotz.
Knotz said the deputies got their directions from the state-led Multiagency Command Center [MACC], which was coordinating law enforcement during the protests[.]
Trump says rallies may resume 'next week'
Trump said he may resume holding campaign rallies, which have been halted because of the coronavirus pandemic, as soon as next week.
“BIG DEMAND! Starting up again soon, maybe next week!” the president wrote in response to a tweet about resuming the rallies.
BIG DEMAND! Starting up again soon, maybe next week! https://t.co/ToNLAGl5Fz
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2020
Politico reported yesterday that the president planned to restart the rallies, which have become a defining aspect of his campaigning style, in the next two weeks.
There are still concerns about holding massive in-person events amid the coronavirus pandemic, but some of the president’s allies have argued the recent George Floyd protests, which have attracted thousands of people, make it harder for critics to question the safety of the rallies.
Trump has clearly missed holding rallies, where he has been known to go on extended tangents about his many accomplishments in office, often creating a lot of work for news outlets’ fact-checkers.
On Friday, the president held a celebratory press conference after the jobs report showed the US unemployment rate had slightly dropped to a still-high figure of 13.3%. Trump’s boasts about his accomplishments gave the event the feeling of a rally, particularly because the president took no questions from reporters at the “press conference.”
Trump was later criticized for saying during the event that it was a “great day” for Floyd, who was killed while in police custody late last month.
Georgia is holding its primary today, three weeks after the election was originally supposed to take place. Governor Brian Kemp delayed the primary because of the coronavirus pandemic.
State officials had encouraged voters to vote by mail in order to limit the potential spread of the virus at polling places, and 943,000 absentee ballots had been returned as of Sunday.
However, Georgians attempting to vote in person are already running into issues, with Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms complaining of long lines and broken machines in her city.
Now being told line is out to the street at Sandtown Recreation Center and their machines are not working either @gasecofstate. Is this happening across the county or just on the south end? https://t.co/szO7srzpWs
— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) June 9, 2020
Georgia attracted scrutiny for its handling of the state’s 2018 gubernatorial race, with Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams alleging voter suppression by her opponent, Kemp, who was then Georgia secretary of state.
Abrams and her allies have argued that she would have won the race, which she lost by 1.4 points, if the vote had not been suppressed.
Trump’s baseless claim that the 75-year-old Buffalo protester who was shoved to the ground by police was an Antifa plant appears to have been sparked by this segment from the far-right One America News Network.
Here's the absolutely insane OAN report that Trump is referencing: "The latest tensions in the Buffalo police department could be the result of a false flag provocation by far left group antifa" pic.twitter.com/d709XfSj8U
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) June 9, 2020
The segment was done by OAN’s Kristian Rouz, who has previously written for the Kremlin-owned outlet Sputnik. The US intelligence community has concluded that Sputnik played a role in Russia’s election interference efforts during the 2016 presidential race.
Rouz did a report last month peddling the theory that the coronavirus pandemic was “a globalist conspiracy to establish sweeping population control” backed by George Soros.
Former Republican senator Jeff Flake accused Trump of “trafficking in conspiracy theories” after the president suggested a 75-year-old protester who was shoved to the ground by police might have been an Antifa plant.
This was a 75 year-old-man shoved to the ground, left bleeding from head wound. Trafficking in conspiracy theories like these are beneath your office, Mr President. https://t.co/MchjWvsZZp
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) June 9, 2020
George Conway, who is married to senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, responded to the president’s tweet by resharing a less-than-flattering anecdote about another time when Trump saw someone in physical pain.
.@realDonaldTrump has never really cared much for helpless people bleeding out from their skulls on the ground. https://t.co/5LkRb3J4IW pic.twitter.com/68bl4VMIKk
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) June 9, 2020
Trump is now threatening to release dirt on former defense secretary James Mattis, who released a scathing statement last week criticizing the president’s response to the George Floyd protests.
“Mattis was our Country’s most overrated General,” Trump wrote in a tweet. “He talked a lot, but never ‘brought home the bacon.’ He was terrible! Someday I will tell the real story on him and others - both good and bad!”
In his statement last week, Mattis said Trump was further dividing the country as it wrestled with how to crack down on police brutality.
Directly addressing the forcible removal of peaceful protesters near the White House last week, Mattis said, “We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Park. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our constitution.”
This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.
The Buffalo man who Trump claims was an Antifa plant is actually a “longtime peaceful protester and human rights advocate,” according to a statement from his lawyer released over the weekend.
The Washington Post reported that 75-year-old Martin Gugino, who was shoved to the ground by two police officers while he was protesting, is a member of PUSH Buffalo, which advocates for affordable housing, and the human rights organization Western New York Peace Center.
His lawyer said he was in serious but stable condition after the incident and is now “alert and oriented.” The two officers who shoved him have been charged with assault.
Trump claims pushed 75-year-old may be Antifa plant
Donald Trump has just rather unexpectedly tweeted the claim that Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old pushed to the ground by police in Buffalo, New York state, last week may have been an “ANTIFA provocateur” who was trying to scan equipment and black out police communications.
Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2020
Two police officers – Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32 – have pleaded not guilty to felony assault after a video emerged which showed the officers shoving Gugino as he was protesting outside City Hall on Thursday night.
One of our New York reporters is looking further into this claim from Trump, which seems to have originated from coverage of the incident on OANN, the small far-right news channel which Trump has recently taken to promoting.
Here’s the video clip of the incident that Trump is referring to.
Updated
Georgia is holding a combined state and presidential primary today, after votes earlier in the year were postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Voting doesn’t seem to have got off to a great start, with reports of long lines and broken voting machines. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who was talking only yesterday about her fears for her children’s safety with the police, has been tweeting urging people to stick with the voting process.
If you are in line, PLEASE do not allow your vote to be suppressed. PLEASE stay in line. They should offer you a provisional ballot if the machines are not working. https://t.co/1lVu3rEsCg
— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) June 9, 2020
The row over Arkansas senator Tom Cotton’s New York Times op-ed column has claimed a high profile casualty at the paper in the form of James Bennet’s resignation.
But that’s certainly not the last we will hear about the matter - or Cotton. Arwa Mahdawi has written about him for us today.
Cotton’s moment in the spotlight has passed – but he will almost certainly be back there soon. Despite having the charisma of a soggy bag of lettuce, the senator is hugely powerful: Cotton has influenced many of Trump’s decisions, including cuts to legal immigration and the banning of commercial flights between the US and China during the early days of Covid-19. He is also the guy who told Trump it would be a great idea to buy Greenland. When not urging the acquisition of the world’s largest island, Cotton can often be found fanning the flames of racism and xenophobia. He has repeatedly used the phrases “China virus” and “Wuhan virus”…he is a dangerous man with dangerous ambitions. Indeed, a number of experts believe he is angling to be the heir to Trumpism.
You can read Arwa Mahdawi’s full piece here: Think Trump is bad? President Tom Cotton would be even more terrifying
There’s no denying the international impact that the #BlackLivesMatter movement has been having on urban landscapes across the world. As well as Confederate monuments being taken down in the US, and the toppling by protesters of a statue of a slave-trader in Bristol, England, this morning has seen the removal of a statue of King Leopold II in Antwerp, Belgium.
#Antwerp authorities have removed a statue of colonial Belgian King Leopold II after the weekend’s #BlackLivesMatter protest. The campaign to remove all of them continues. #DRC #KingLeopoldII #Belgium pic.twitter.com/7Io5uAfcMK
— Jack Parrock (@jackeparrock) June 9, 2020
Leopold II ruled viciously over the Congo Free State as a personal fiefdom between 1885 and 1908, and millions perished under his rule. His monuments in Belgium have been a target for anti-racism protesters in the last fortnight.
Houston’s police chief Art Acevedo has been on television this morning, talking about George Floyd’s funeral, which will take place later today. He talked about how the police in Houston has been supporting Floyd’s family since his death, and said:
Our message to them is, first we extended our condolences, we wanted them to to know that we feel their pain, but the most important thing is, that this is different. The nation has united against police misconduct, and some of the other social, economic challenges in this country. [Floyd’s] death will not be in vain. I really believe we’re at a watershed moment, and I am very hopeful that we’re going to see some, some real change, systemic change, in our country.
He also discussed proposals for police reform and the “Defund the police” movement. You can watch the full clip here:
“I’m hopeful that the best days of our nation are in front of us.” Watch Houston Police Chief @ArtAcevedo’s full interview with @craigmelvin about the city’s response ahead of George Floyd’s funeral today, what he thinks about new police reform legislation and much more. pic.twitter.com/GYs8kKnDQc
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 9, 2020
Lawrence Douglas has written for us today about something that may have escaped your attention with all the news that has been around in the last few days - Trump’s former personal lawyer, John Dowd, describing citizens engaging in peaceable protest as “terrorists”.
Trump’s presidency has largely inured us to overheated rhetoric. We’ve grown accustomed to Trump and his allies vilifying journalists as “enemies of the people” or characterizing officials trying to hold him to account as treasonous criminals. All the same, Dowd’s brandishing of the term “terrorist” represents a frightening rhetorical escalation at a perilous time in the life of our nation.
Douglas goes on to argue this key point about the use of the word:
In labeling protesters as terrorists, Dowd engages in something far more ominous and shocking than mere rhetorical overkill. He is effectively erasing the difference between Americans peaceably exercising their constitutional rights and Isis insurgents laying down roadside explosives.
You can read the piece in full here: In case you missed it, Trump’s former lawyer compared protesters to terrorists
Away from the #BlackLivesMatter protests and coronavirus outbreak, there is still some business as usual politics going on in DC. This morning the Senate permanent subcommittee on Investigations has released a bipartisan report which states that three Chinese telecoms firms were allowed to operate in the US without appropriate oversight for nearly two decades.
The report calls on the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a full review of China Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas and ComNet USA - claiming that there has not been an adequate assessment of what national security threats they might pose.
Republican Ohio Senator Rob Portman is quoted by The Hill as saying: “The Chinese Communist Party uses its state-owned enterprises to further its cyber and economic espionage efforts against the United States, and they’ve been exploiting our telecommunications networks for nearly two decades while the federal government historically put in little effort to stop it.”
You can read the full Senate report here.
The killing of George Floyd sparked a wave of protest that has put police reform back in the spotlight - but much of the moderate action being proposed doesn’t meet activists more radical aims for changing the way law and order is enforced in the US.
My colleagues Victoria Bekiempis and Adam Gabbatt have been having a look at how different the approaches of some cities and states have been to reform, with an overview of the measures being enacted not just in New York City, but in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Portland among others.
You can read their report here: New York police budget to be cut as debate rages over reforms
The Houston Chronicle has some more details of what is expected at George Floyd’s funeral today. He will be laid to rest at Houston Memorial Gardens in Pearland, where his mother is buried.
Police will escort Floyd’s body into Pearland following a private funeral at the Fountain of Praise Church, and the procession will finish with Floyd’s body carried in a horse-drawn carriage.
The public are allowed to view the procession, but they are not allowed into the services. There are expected to be road closures to ease the procession, and mourners are being encouraged to wear face-coverings and to practice social distancing.
Updated
One thing that will have been in the back of many people’s minds when they were out standing for the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the last fortnight - with coronavirus around, how much of a risk is this?
An Axios-Ipsos survey has tried to measure people’s attitudes. It says that one in ten of the people surveyed knew “someone in their immediate family or close circle of friends who attended an in-person protest or demonstration in the last week”.
That in itself is an incredible statistic speaking to sheer volume of people who have engaged in the protests.
Perhaps not surprisingly, younger people (20%), people who describe themselves as Democrats (16%), and residents of urban areas (14%) are more likely to have told the survey that they knew someone who attended a demonstration.
And there is a perceived widespread health concern - almost all respondents (86%) see going to protests or demonstrations to be a large or moderate risk, and half of those surveyed say they are extremely or very concerned about a spike in coronavirus cases as a result of these protests.
There’s more detail here: One in ten Americans have a protest attendee in their family or close friends
Hi, and welcome to our US politics and protest live blog, on the day of George Floyd’s funeral. Thousands have attended his memorials in the last few days, and today there will be a final family ceremony in Houston to say farewell to the 46 year old whose death at the hands of the police on 25 May has sparked a global wave of grief and protest.
Here are some of the key stories and developments from yesterday and overnight:
- Congressional Democrats unveiled their police reform bill. It would ban chokeholds but many criminal justice activists have said reforms do not go far enough
- Economists say the US entered a recession in February as businesses started to close down in response to coronavirus
- New Coronavirus cases are accelerating again in more than a dozen US states
The president’s diary is empty for today, save a meeting with secretary of state Mike Pompeo this afternoon. His diary wasn’t empty yesterday though. In a bit of symbolism that couldn’t be stronger, Joe Biden met privately with members of George Floyd’s family in Houston. Donald Trump met with police.
I’m Martin Belam, and I’ll be live blogging more reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement protests and US political developments for a couple of hours until my colleagues in New York pick up the baton. You can email me on martin.belam@theguardian.com
