Alex Walinski and Michael Janora
Staff Writers
There have been riots across the country. Americans of all backgrounds have been protesting and rioting in response to the death of George Floyd. He was killed by a policeman after a deli owner called the police on him, accusing him of attempting to use a counterfeit $20 bill. After the recent murders by police of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arberry, Americans from coast to coast have been joined by people around the world--London, Berlin, Amsterdam--in protesting these murders, that were driven by race.
Cities across America are reeling from two weeks of unrest. George Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes despite cries from Floyd that he could not breathe. Hundreds of people were arrested over the weekend as protesters and police clashed in cities across America after the killing of George Floyd. Hundreds of protests, rallies and vigils have been held across the country, according to NBC News.
Mayors of major cities from Los Angeles to Philadelphia to Atlanta imposed curfews and at least 12 states, as well as Washington, D.C., activated National Guard troops in an effort to keep the peace, but protests in several cities descended into violence again as tensions boiled over. Derek Chauvin, the officer filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck, was arrested and charged with murder and manslaughter. The social unrest over police brutality comes in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 100,000 Americans and led to the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. The unemployment rate hit 14.7% in April, a post-WWII record, and is likely to rise above 20%.
