Photo: As media from around the world watches, George Floyd’s brother stops, breaks down at spot he was killed.
Tue 02 June 2020:
The United States was gripped by a weekend of protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died last week in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and police brutality nationwide.
Autopsy finds cop suffocated black
An autopsy found Monday that an African-American man whose death has set off nationwide unrest was suffocated by a police officer, contradicting a preliminary ruling, as cities including New York imposed or toughened curfews in expectation of fresh fury.
One week after George Floyd died in Minneapolis, an autopsy blamed his videotaped death squarely on a white police officer who pinned him down with his knee for nearly nine minutes as Floyd pleaded, “I can’t breathe!”
“The evidence is consistent with mechanical asphyxia as the cause of death, and homicide as the manner of death,” Aleccia Wilson, a University of Michigan expert who examined his body at the family’s request, told a news conference.
An initial finding cited in a criminal complaint pointed to pre-existing conditions, outraging the family.
Shortly after the independent report, Hennepin County’s medical examiner released its official autopsy that called his death a homicide caused by “neck compression,” although it also said he was intoxicated and pointed to heart disease.
Tuesday, June 2
04:44 GMT – Car rams into police in Buffalo, wounding two
A vehicle plowed through a group of police officers at a demonstration on Monday night in Buffalo, New York, wounding at least two people.
Video from the scene shows the vehicle accelerating through an intersection shortly after officers apparently tackle a protester on the street and handcuff him. Officers are seen scattering to avoid the SUV as it drives off on Buffalo’s east side. Apparent gunshots are heard.
The officers were taken to Erie County Medical Center. Authorities said they were in stable condition.
01:20 GMT – Atlanta police fire tear gas
Protesters were still in the streets of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday night as curfew neared, and police officers and the National Guard used tear gas.
Protesters largely dispersed after that, though some remained, and officers were making arrests, apparently for curfew violations. A similar scene played out the night before.
01:40 GMT – DC mayor: Police actions ahead of Trump speech ‘shameful’
Late on Monday, Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed that police fired on peaceful protesters to clear the way for a Trump photo-op.
“I imposed a curfew at 7pm,” she tweeted. “A full 25 minutes before the curfew & w/o provocation, federal police used munitions on peaceful protestors in front of the White House, an act that will make the job of @DCPoliceDept officers more difficult. Shameful!”
Monday, June 1
23:50 GMT – 5,000 people arrested across US: Report
At least 5,600 people have been arrested in cities around the country since demonstrations broke out protesting the death of George Floyd, according to a tally compiled by Associated Press journalists from police department press releases, police agency Twitter activity and media.
The arrests come as protests in some cities become more violent and as police and governors are urged by President Donald Trump to take a stronger hand in quelling the demonstrations.
In Minneapolis, where Floyd died, some 155 arrests have taken place. Some of the biggest cities in the US have made a significant number of arrests, including nearly 800 in New York City and more than 900 in Los Angeles.
A memorial for Floyd will take place on Thursday in Minneapolis before a service in North Carolina and a funeral on June 9 in Houston, where he grew up, family lawyer Ben Crump said.
Trump has blamed the violence on Antifa, the loosely organized collective of far-left activists who advocate aggressive action to stop what they see as the rise of fascism and white supremacists.
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