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'We will not be silent': protests head into second weekend after George Floyd's killing – live 'We will not be silent': protests head into second weekend after George Floyd's killing – live
(32 minutes later)
NFL says it was wrong not to let players protest police brutalityNFL says it was wrong not to let players protest police brutality
In breaking news, the Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney has been authorised by the NSW Court of Appeals. It is now legal (it was going ahead anyway).
On the streets of Sydney. The tweeter here is the local mayor:
Good afternoon/evening/morning, wherever this coverage finds you. Ben Doherty with you in Sydney. My thanks to Maanvi Singh (and the roll-call of earlier colleagues) for their comprehensive work. I can be contacted by email ben.doherty@theguardian.com or on twitter @BenDohertyCorro.
In Australia, where your correspondent currently sits, dozens of protests in solidarity with the US Black Lives Matter movement are underway across the country.
Senior politicians, including the prime minister, have asked Australians not to “import” issues from overseas, but the movement here is seen as one not only in support of American demonstrators, but in protest at institutional racism towards indigenous Australians.
Indigenous Australians are grossly over-represented in Australia’s criminal justice system: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults make up just 2% of the national population, they constitute 27% of the national prison population.
There have been 432 Aboriginal deaths in custody since a royal commission into black deaths in custody in 1991, the Guardian’s Deaths Inside project shows.
Just this week, a NSW police constable was put on leave for slamming a teenaged indigenous boy - who was not threatening the officer - into the ground, by sweeping his legs from under him.
At the Melbourne protest today, 17-year-old Kyah Nicholson-Ward told The Guardian of the US and Australia: “it’s the same story on different soil”.
In Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, the state government went to the Supreme Court on Friday and won a late-night injunction banning a planned protest in Sydney.
The government argued a protest would be in breach of social distancing regulations imposed to halt the spread of coronavirus.
But protest organisers said they were going to march anyway, and a sizeable crowd has arrived at Sydney Town Hall in defiance of the court order.
Guardian reporter Elias Visontay is in Sydney.
In Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland.
Protests continued across the country. Medical professionals rallied in New York, demonstrators gathered at the shores of the Mississippi River in New Orleans, and knelt outside the Walgreens where police killed a 22-year-old amid protests this week in Vallejo, California.
The NFL commissioner Roger Goodell admitted that the organization was wrong for not letting players peacefully protest. Calls mounted for the orgnaization to formally apologize to Colin Kaepernick, who was sidelined after leading protests against police brutality in 2016.
Seattle has temporarily banned the use of teargas. A federal judge in Denver has blocked the police department from indiscriminately deploying chemical weapons and projectiles against peaceful protestors. And California’s governor has called for a statewide standard for law enforcement crowd control.
Minneapolis agreed to ban the use of police chokeholds in response to the killing of Floyd. The Minneapolis city council approved an agreement today with the state’s department of human rights, which also requires officers to intervene anytime they seen an unauthorized use of force.
The DC mayor renamed the section of 16th Street in front of the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” as tensions escalate between the administration and the DC government. Mayor Muriel Bowser has also asked Trump to remove all “extraordinary” law enforcement officers. But Black Lives Matters called on Bowser to do more to address the issue of overpolicing — her current proposed budget increases funding for traditional policing and cuts funds from community programs to reduce violence.
The entire Buffalo police department’s emergency response team has reportedly resigned from the team after two colleagues were suspended without pay for pushing a 75-year-old man who was protesting the killing of Floyd. The 57 officers will still by employed by BPD but will no longer serve on the emergency response team. The elderly protester has been hospitalized and is said to be in stable condition.
Trump’s comment that this is a “great day” for George Floyd sparked outrage. Trump made the comment during a nearly hour-long event in the Rose Garden this afternoon, which mainly consisted of him boasting about the new jobs report. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said the remark, which came less than two weeks after Floyd was killed while in police custody, was “despicable.”
The US unemployment rate surprisingly dropped to 13.3% in May, according to the jobs report released this morning.But the actual number may be higher due to an error.
I’m signing off, but my colleague Ben Doherty will continue providing live updates.
Earlier, it seemed the unemployment rate in the US had dropped to 13.3% in May according to the jobs report released this morning, which seemed to be a hopeful sign. But the actual rate may be higher.Earlier, it seemed the unemployment rate in the US had dropped to 13.3% in May according to the jobs report released this morning, which seemed to be a hopeful sign. But the actual rate may be higher.
The official jobs report included a note at the bottom saying there had been an “error”.The official jobs report included a note at the bottom saying there had been an “error”.
“BLS and the Census Bureau are investigating why this misclassification error continues to occur and are taking additional steps to address the issue,” the note reads.“BLS and the Census Bureau are investigating why this misclassification error continues to occur and are taking additional steps to address the issue,” the note reads.
Donald Trump appears to have crossed a new milestone in his presidency:Donald Trump appears to have crossed a new milestone in his presidency:
In the ruling, judge R Brooke Jackson called the actions of some law enforcement officers in Denver and across the nation “disgusting”.In the ruling, judge R Brooke Jackson called the actions of some law enforcement officers in Denver and across the nation “disgusting”.
“The Denver Police Department has failed in its duty to police its own,” Jackson wrote.“The Denver Police Department has failed in its duty to police its own,” Jackson wrote.
The order asks law enforcement to warn protesters to disperse before firing teargas and pepper spray and ceasing the indiscriminate use of non- or less-lethal projectiles.The order asks law enforcement to warn protesters to disperse before firing teargas and pepper spray and ceasing the indiscriminate use of non- or less-lethal projectiles.
Among the most striking lines in the order: “If a store’s windows must be broken to prevent a protestor’s facial bones from being broken or eye being permanently damaged, that is more than a fair trade. If a building must be graffiti-ed to prevent the suppression of free speech, that is a fair trade.”Among the most striking lines in the order: “If a store’s windows must be broken to prevent a protestor’s facial bones from being broken or eye being permanently damaged, that is more than a fair trade. If a building must be graffiti-ed to prevent the suppression of free speech, that is a fair trade.”
The ruling came after protesters filed a lawsuit asking for a temporary restraining order against aggressive police crowd control.The ruling came after protesters filed a lawsuit asking for a temporary restraining order against aggressive police crowd control.
In Vallejo, California, where a police officer shot and killed Sean Monterrosa, an unarmed 22-year-old, amid protests this week, demonstrators gathered at the Walgreens where Monterrosa died.In Vallejo, California, where a police officer shot and killed Sean Monterrosa, an unarmed 22-year-old, amid protests this week, demonstrators gathered at the Walgreens where Monterrosa died.
Read more about Monterrosa, and the Vallejo police department, which activists have long described as out of control, from my colleague Sam Levin:Read more about Monterrosa, and the Vallejo police department, which activists have long described as out of control, from my colleague Sam Levin:
Joe Biden’s statement as he clinches the nomination:Joe Biden’s statement as he clinches the nomination:
The spat between Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and the president continues, with the president claiming that it was illegal for the social media company to take down a Trump campaign video. Twitter said the video was taken down due to copyright infingement issues.The spat between Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and the president continues, with the president claiming that it was illegal for the social media company to take down a Trump campaign video. Twitter said the video was taken down due to copyright infingement issues.
DC’s Muriel Bowser had this tweet, quite clearly aimed at Trump:DC’s Muriel Bowser had this tweet, quite clearly aimed at Trump:
For days, Bowser said she opposed the stationing of federal law enforcement and the military in and around the district.For days, Bowser said she opposed the stationing of federal law enforcement and the military in and around the district.
This morning, local artist Rose Jaffe joined city work crews to paint a giant Black Lives Matter slogan across two blocks. Later, Bowser watched as a city worker hung a sign at the street corner just north of the White House: Black Lives Matter Plz NW.This morning, local artist Rose Jaffe joined city work crews to paint a giant Black Lives Matter slogan across two blocks. Later, Bowser watched as a city worker hung a sign at the street corner just north of the White House: Black Lives Matter Plz NW.
But activists said Bowser needed to to more than rename a street. The mayor’s proposed budget increases funding for policing and cuts funds for community-based interventions to reduce violence.But activists said Bowser needed to to more than rename a street. The mayor’s proposed budget increases funding for policing and cuts funds for community-based interventions to reduce violence.
In Brooklyn, a reporter filmed police officers hitting a man with batons and shoving a journalist.
Later, a man who said he was a staffer for a state senator Julia Salazar or Brooklyn was arrested after he filmed officers.
Some more scenes from around the country:
In Columbia, South Carolina, protesters gathered outside the governor’s mansion.
In Washington, DC, hundreds marched in the rain, in the area near the White House that Mayor Muriel Bowser today renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza.
Although Biden has been the presumptive nominee since Bernie Sanders dropped out of the primaries in April, the former vice-president had yet to win the 1,991 delegates needed to formally claim the nomination.
Biden now has 1,993 delegates, according to the Associated Press.
Demonstrations continued on Friday in San Francisco. A major rally earlier in the week drew thousands of participants who marched from the Mission District to City Hall. Many walked on foot, others on horseback.
This time, it appears many have arrived on two wheels ...
A coalition of criminal justice activists and homeless advocates have sued Los Angeles over how the police have responded to protesters following the killing of George Floyd.
The suit accuses the police of shooting a homeless man in the eye with rubber bullets and detaining people for more than 12 hours for curfew violations, the Los Angeles Times reports.
From the LA Times:
In New Orleans, demonstrators have gathered at the banks of the Mississippi River, as depicted here by a reporter for the city’s public radio station:
Although many local governments have lifted curfews ahead of this weekend, curfews remain in place in cities across the US in an attempt to quell the unrest over the killing of George Floyd in police custody.
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports:
The selective enforcement of the curfew orders only underscores the demonstrators’ message about law enforcement abuses, civil liberties experts warn.
The vague, broad language in these orders gives law enforcement leeway to pick and choose when to arrest someone for violating curfew, allowing for situations that are ripe for abuse, experts said. In some cities, this has worked in protesters’ favor when police chose not to arrest them. But when police enforce an order in some cases and not others, the order becomes an arbitrary tool of control that often appears to violate protesters’ constitutional rights to assembly and free speech.
“The amount of discretion and the ways these laws are written are perpetuating the same injustices that our communities are out there protesting right now,” Shilpi Agarwal, a senior attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of northern California, told the Guardian. “The thing that has inspired these protests and triggered this pain in folks is this flagrant abuse of power by police. The response to that should not be to further empower the police.”
In some locations, police have appeared to give certain people a free pass. In Salem, Oregon, the police chief was forced to issue a public apology after an officer was filmed Monday telling armed white men to duck into businesses or vehicles once curfew hits so “we don’t look like we’re playing favorites”.
Elsewhere, police have treated curfew deadlines as a “flexible tool”.
Here are some images of demonstrations around the country.
Medical professionals rallied in New York’s Union Square.
In Los Angeles, activists displayed the names of 1,000 people killed by LA county law enforcement since 2000. Protestors placed roses next to the posters, which were placed in front of thr Hall of Justice.
At least 100 cars joined a “Caravan for Justice” in Racine, Wisconsin, and protestors gathered near the county courthouse for a rally against police brutality.
In Washington, DC, demonstrators sang happy birthday to Breonna Taylor, who would have turned 27 today if she had not been killed.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said officers who taped over their badges or turned off their body-worn cameras would be stripped of their police powers.
At a news conference, she said:
Her message to officers who use excessive force: “Shame on you, shame on you.”
Prior to being elected mayor, Lightfoot served as chair of the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force.
Lightfoot also announced that Chicago would open the city’s Grant Park and Union Park to accommodate demonstrators, and deploy 300 trucks to provide traffic support.