What's new

BlackLivesMatter protests | Updates, News & Discussion


I think that's an optical illusion. His shotgun muzzle is further to her left and aimed more in the space between her and her left side and probably at someone further behind her.

The interesting thing is that us here in the Northeast -- and probably in the entire east coast and even midwest US -- aren't really hearing a lot about what is going on with these protest and craziness. For someone who doesn't know anything about the US and how big it is and how far the east coast is from the west coast that there's a 3 hour difference in the time, even, would think that this is happening in the capital and the first thing everyone hears about etc. When that really isn't the case. It's pretty much isolated in Portland, Oregon and that's really about it. Besides the black lady that flipped out with the paint on the Black Lives Matter road mural was in Harlem I think. Other than that, most of this stuff has actually tapered down considerably from the earlier riots.
 
upload_2020-7-27_19-56-57.png
 
Protests spark battles across the US: Antifa and Proud Boys brawl in Michigan, cops clash with BLM marchers in Chicago and pro-police demonstrators fire gunshots in Portland as rallies turn violent
  • Saturday marked 80th day of unrest across the US since George Floyd's death in Minneapolis on May 25
  • In Kalamazoo, Michigan, far-right Proud Boys fought anti-racism protesters at a rally organized by a church
  • In Portland, Oregon, two gunshots were fired after pro- and anti-police rallies clashed in the troubled city
  • Chicago on Saturday night was tense as BLM protesters squared off with police and skirmished broke out
  • Earlier on Saturday supporters of the Confederate flag confronted BLM activists at Stone Mountain, Georgia
By HARRIET ALEXANDER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 22:20 EDT, 15 August 2020 | UPDATED: 08:17 EDT, 16 August 2020

Brawls between Antifa and far-right Proud Boys broke out on the streets of a Michigan city on Saturday, as protests turned violent across the United States this weekend.

From Portland in the west to Miami in the east, via Michigan, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Chicago, Americans took to the streets on Saturday to demand change.

In Michigan, a rally by the far-right group Proud Boys turned violent in downtown Kalamazoo, with demonstrators clashing with anti-racism protesters at a vigil organized by the First Congregational Church.

'The Proud Boys, they not only have hatred for Jewish people and Muslim people, but they're also very hateful of anybody who doesn't look like them or act like them,' said The Rev. Nathan Dannison, the church's pastor.

Addressing the gathered crowd, Dannison urged those present to commit themselves to non-violence and non-aggression, MLive reported.

31999902-8631821-image-m-20_1597549552343.jpg

Kalamazoo, Michigan, saw street fights between rival rallies on Saturday as Proud Boys clashed with anti-racism activists

32002330-8631821-image-a-30_1597552455002.jpg

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, anti-racism protesters attending a church-organized rally fought with Proud Boys in the streets

32002328-8631821-image-a-32_1597552491932.jpg

Members of the far-right Proud Boys group clash with anti-racism protesters in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Saturday

31999742-8631821-image-a-67_1597544820518.jpg

Police did not arrive to separate the rival warring factions until almost 2pm, by which time downtown Kalamazoo was chaotic

31999748-8631821-image-a-69_1597544862493.jpg

Punches were thrown and people were being shoved and kicked to the ground in the Michigan city on Saturday

'Let's work together to remain peaceful and manifest positive energy with each other, to take care of each other, to take care of our own selves and our own safety, and to defend one another,' Dannison told the crowd.

Shortly thereafter, chanting, mostly mask-less Proud Boys marched toward the park's entrance, waving American, Trump, and Gadsden flags and other symbols.

Violence broke out soon after, with Proud Boys attacking counter-protesters with fists, kicks, and shoves.

Police arrived around 2pm to try and separate the rival protests.

In Chicago, police used pepper spray and batons to repel hundreds of demonstrators, who took to the streets calling for the defunding of police.

One protester was seen apparently bashing an officer over the head with a skateboard.

Officers then ripped umbrellas and bikes from protesters' hands and sprayed the crowd with a chemical irritant, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The demonstrations began at Chicago's iconic Bean before the group traveled to Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive.

Multiple arrests were witnessed at the scene, NBC 5 said.

The group then continued to Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street, heading toward Chicago's Loop as city bridges remained lifted, preventing them from crossing the Chicago River.

A heavy police presence was seen in the area with several officers both in front and behind the marching demonstrators and other lines of officers blocking streets.

The group chanted things like 'no justice, no peace' as they called for defunding the police, removing police from the city's public schools, and abolishing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

32004110-8631821-Police_pepper_spray_Black_Lives_Matter_protesters_in_Chicago_on_-a-1_1597580219408.jpg

Police pepper spray Black Lives Matter protesters in Chicago on Saturday evening at the end of a day of rallies

32004108-8631821-image-m-117_1597558783147.jpg

Large numbers of Chicago police officers, many on bicycles, swarmed the center of the city to kettle protesters

32004106-8631821-image-m-120_1597558841508.jpg

Protesters were forced to run for cover as the Chicago police and SWAT teams unleashed pepper spray at them

32004098-8631821-image-m-124_1597558915504.jpg

BLM activists ran away from officers down LaSalle street, as Chicago police tried to enact mass arrests

32000320-8631821-image-a-73_1597545707642.jpg

Chicago police prevent demonstrators from marching towards the freeway, raising their batons to keep the crowd at bay
 
Continue....

32000330-8631821-Activists_calling_for_an_end_to_police_presence_in_Chicago_s_sch-a-5_1597580219495.jpg

Activists calling for an end to police presence in Chicago's schools, among other things, confronted officers on Saturday

32000352-8631821-image-a-71_1597545636649.jpg

About 200 anti-police brutality protesters marched in the neighborhood of Bronzeville, in Chicago, on Saturday

32004102-8631821-Drawbridges_to_the_downtown_of_Chicago_were_raised_to_prevent_pr-m-127_1597559013605.jpg

Drawbridges to the downtown of Chicago were raised, to prevent protesters from entering the central areas

In Portland, day 80 of protests against systemic racism and police brutality saw gunshots fired.

Saturday began with a noon counter-protest, as around 30 right-wing demonstrators gathered in front of the Justice Center to support police.

A seemingly equal number of protesters arrived there to oppose them, Oregon Live reported, and skirmishes broke out between the opposing demonstrations.

The pro-police protesters maced and fired some kind of pellet guns toward counter-protesters, the site reported.

31998770-8631821-A_fight_breaks_out_between_Black_Lives_Matter_protesters_and_dem-a-130_1597556991577.jpg

A fight breaks out between Black Lives Matter protesters and demonstrators with the Open Up Oregon Rally protest

31999486-8631821-image-a-34_1597543952321.jpg

A man holds aloft a sign in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday during the 80th day of demonstrations in the city

31999480-8631821-Members_of_the_Proud_Boys_an_alt_right_pro_Trump_group_face_off_-a-4_1597580219492.jpg

Members of the Proud Boys, an alt-right, pro-Trump group, face off with activists in Portland, Oregon on Saturday

31998746-8631821-With_his_Proud_Boy_tattoo_proudly_on_display_an_alt_right_counte-a-6_1597580219498.jpg

With his Proud Boy tattoo proudly on display, an alt-right counter-protester aims his paint ball gun at anti-racism protesters

31999478-8631821-The_Proud_Boys_face_off_against_Black_Lives_Matters_protesters_u-a-7_1597580219512.jpg

The Proud Boys face off against Black Lives Matters protesters using mace and a paint ball gun in Portland on Saturday

One of their number then fired a gun twice from a car as they left a parking garage counter-protesters chased them into, the site said.

A witness on the KOIN live stream said a protester had thrown a bottle at the car carrying right-wing protesters before the shots were fired.

In Georgia, supporters of the Confederate flag argued and tussled with Black Lives Matter activists at Stone Mountain, just outside Atlanta.

Inside the park is a huge rock featuring the Confederate Memorial Carving, which depicts Civil War generals Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, plus Jefferson Davis.

The park was closed on Saturday after several far-right groups, including militias and white supremacists, announced plans to rally, and a broad coalition of leftist anti-racist groups organized a counter-demonstration.

The militia-backed protesters were met by hundreds of counter demonstrators eager to shout them down. That group included mainline civil rights organizations like the NAACP but also far-left anarchists and socialists, some of whom arrived with assault weapons and were as heavily armed as the militia.

Saturday’s demonstration drew a large police presence from around the metro area and the Georgia State Patrol, but they stayed on the periphery of the protests, and there were no arrests.

In Minneapolis, crowds gathered to remember George Floyd at the spot where he was killed, on May 25.

The four white police officers involved in the death of the black man are due to go on trial next year.

31998710-8631821-Women_pray_in_front_of_a_large_portrait_of_George_Floyd_in_front-a-2_1597580219444.jpg

Women pray in front of a large portrait of George Floyd in front of Cup Foods, where he died, at the George Floyd Memorial

32000318-8631821-image-m-28_1597550692777.jpg

A vigil was held commemorating the life of Floyd and calling for the pressure to be maintained, for police to reform

On the other side of the country, in Miami, a protest was held to demand justice for a man who died in ICE custody.

Kuan Hui Lee, 51, from Taiwan, had been held by ICE since January and died on August 5 at Kendall Regional Medical Center, where he had been in critical condition with a diagnosis of a massive intercranial hemorrhage.

Activists held a vigil for Lee, demanding the abolition of ICE and waving placards reading: 'Detention is Death'.

And in Virginia, heavily-armed Black Lives Matter supporters, who also proclaim their defense of the Second Amendment, marched through Richmond.
 
Continue.....


31999474-8631821-A_Black_Lives_Matter_affiliate_which_calls_for_the_defense_of_th-a-3_1597580219479.jpg

A Black Lives Matter affiliate, which calls for the defense of the Second Amendment, protests on the streets of Richmond, VA

31999462-8631821-Demonstrators_pose_for_photo_during_an_open_carry_rally_in_Richm-a-132_1597556991702.jpg

Demonstrators pose for photo during an open carry rally in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday afternoon

31999468-8631821-image-a-45_1597544265139.jpg

Demonstrators in Richmond, Virginia promote the defense of the Second Amendment
 
The public quickly reached its verdict: Minneapolis police killed George Floyd.

Video seen around the world shows him on the pavement, his neck pinned beneath the knee of Officer Derek Chauvin, pleading for his life — "I can't breathe" — until his body goes limp. Two autopsies concluded the death was a homicide.

Chauvin was charged with murder and three other officers — Thomas Lane and Alexander Kueng, who both helped hold down Floyd, and Tou Thao, who kept onlookers at bay — were charged as accomplices.

In an interview with The Times, a lawyer for Lane laid out what he said would be a central argument for the defense.

“None of these guys — even Chauvin — actually killed him," said the attorney, Earl Gray. "He killed himself."

Free to speak publicly since a judge lifted a gag order on all parties in the case, Gray said he plans to argue that Floyd died from an overdose of the powerful opioid fentanyl and an underlying heart condition. “We are going to show that my client and the other cops were doing their jobs," he said. The veteran criminal defense attorney said he will base his case on toxicology and autopsy reports as well as recently released police body camera footage that offers a fuller picture than the cellphone videos taken by people on the street.

The body camera videos show that well before Floyd was pinned to the ground, he told the officers at least six times: "I can't breathe."

Legal experts said that defense strategy is not as far-fetched as it may seem, especially given that juries have been reluctant to convict police in on-duty killings. “This is not a slam dunk for the prosecution and not an easy case, especially for the higher-degree homicide charges,” said Philip Stinson, a Bowling Green State University criminologist and former cop who studies police misconduct. “If this case goes to trial and an officer testifies on his own behalf, it is possible there is reasonable doubt there for jurors.”

Last month, Gray filed a motion seeking dismissal of the case against Lane. The filing included transcripts of the video from his body camera and from the one worn by Kueng, opening the door to making the recordings public. The footage, which was released last week and covers 37 continuous minutes, starts when the officers arrive at a convenience store in response to a call that a customer had presented a counterfeit $20 bill.

Lane rapped his flashlight on the window of a Mercedes-Benz SUV parked near the store.

"Let me see your hands," he said to Floyd, who sat in the driver's seat.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Floyd said.

Lane, on his fourth day as a police officer, demanded to see both hands. "Put your ... hands up right now!" he said to Floyd, who asked, "What we do, Mr. Officer?"

When Floyd did not immediately comply with instructions, Lane pointed a gun at him.

"Please don't shoot me, man," Floyd said.

"I'm not shooting you, man," Lane said, holstering his gun once Floyd raised his hands.

Asked whether he was "on something," Floyd said he'd been "hooping," or taking drugs. The officers directed him to a police car and ordered him to get inside. He resisted, repeatedly saying he was claustrophobic and couldn't breathe. They tried to shove him into the backseat. Lane offered to stay with him, roll down the windows and turn on the air conditioning. Finally the officers decided to lay him down on the street. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for nine minutes and 30 seconds — 44 seconds longer than prosecutors initially alleged.

In his July 7 motion, Gray included Minneapolis police training material on how to deal with an uncooperative suspect in handcuffs. A restraint position illustrated in a photograph closely resembles the method the officers used.The instruction material also includes a warning: "Sudden cardiac arrest typically occurs immediately following a violent struggle."

The defense does not have to prove that Chauvin didn't kill Floyd. It only has to create reasonable doubt by persuading jurors that there are other plausible explanations.

Writing this month in the conservative magazine the American Spectator, Parry focused on Floyd's erratic behavior, his early complaints of breathing problems and the findings that he suffered from coronary artery disease and had a potentially fatal concentration of fentanyl in his blood.

“So, who killed George Floyd?" Parry wrote. "He did."

But Carl Hart, a Columbia University neuroscientist, said that human response to psychoactive drugs is far too complex to draw conclusions solely based on fentanyl concentrations, which fluctuate rapidly and can increase after death as the drug breaks down in the body. ”If the officer didn't put his knee on George Floyd's neck, he would most likely be alive today," Hart said.

That opinion is consistent with the autopsy conducted by the county medical examiner’s office, which found that the death was caused by "cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s)."

A second postmortem examination, led by Dr. Michael Baden, an expert hired by the Floyd family, concluded that he was killed by asphyxiation.

In an interview, Baden said that regardless of anything Floyd said about breathing trouble, or drugs or underlying health problems, “He died because of the way he was restrained, period.”

Asked whether he believed the officers meant to kill Floyd, Baden said: “I don’t think they intended to kill him, no.”

Proving intent is a key part of the case prosecutors must make.

Suzanne Luban, a Stanford Law lecturer, said that a minimum the evidence suggests that Chauvin behaved recklessly. He repeatedly rejected suggestions by Lane — who was concerned that a condition called “excited delirium” could be setting in — to move Floyd.

"Just leave him," Chauvin said. Gray noted that the officers showed concern for Floyd early in the encounter, calling an ambulance because his mouth was bleeding from a scrape sustained when they tried getting him the squad car — and that they upped the urgency of the call.

"If these cops had the intent to kill this guy or seriously injure him, why the hell did they call the ambulance?" he asked.
 
Last edited:
Muhammad Muhaymin Jr, who died in 2017 after being held down by Phoenix officers, is seen screaming ‘I can’t breathe’ in video

7072.jpg


The family of Muhammad Muhaymin Jr, an unarmed black Muslim man who died in police custody in 2017, has issued a renewed plea for justice as video footage was released showing him screaming “I can’t breathe” and calling “Please Allah” in the minutes before he died.

The 43-year-old died after being held down by at least four Phoenix police officers – one of whom put their knee on his neck – for nearly eight minutes as he cried out in pain.

The incident started after Muhaymin, who was homeless at the time and suffered from mental illness, tried to bring his chihuahua, a service dog, into a public bathroom at a community centre in Maricopa county in Arizona and an employee called 911. Minutes later, he was dead.

Advertisement
None of the officers have faced any disciplinary measures or been charged and they all still work for Phoenix police.

His sister Mussalina Muhaymin, 48, told the Guardian of her family’s struggle knowing that the officers have not been held accountable.

She said: “They haven’t had to answer to any of their actions, there were zero consequences. It’s impacted our family very much. As individuals we all have our different ways that we deal with it but the issue is that here it is and we continue to deal with it, we can’t heal from it.”

Mussalini Muhaymin, who works at a community health centre and lives in Phoenix, added: “They should be fired from their job, lose any opportunity to go and work for another police department, ultimately face legal consequences with an opportunity to be prosecuted and convicted for murder, because that’s what it was.”

An internal investigation by Phoenix police found officers “did not commit any act that warrants criminal prosecution”, CNN reported. The Maricopa county medical examiner said the death was a homicide – listing the primary cause of death to be cardiac arrest aggravated by “coronary artery disease, psychiatric disease, acute methamphetamine intoxication and physical exertion during law enforcement subdual”.

A report by Dr Bennet Omalu, the family’s expert witness, found he died from “asphyxiation due to compression of his trunk and body” and that “if Muhammad did not encounter the police on Jan. 4, 2017, he would not have died”.

The family is in the process of a civil lawsuit for which they expect to have a trial date in early spring. Their lawyer, David Chami, managing partner of litigation at Price Law Group, called for the investigation to be reopened.

He said: “If the investigation was reopened based on what we’ve now uncovered in our civil lawsuit, we do believe that some of the officers, not all of them, but that some of the officers would warrant criminal prosecution.”

Muhaymin hopes that in light of the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd, the case will be given renewed attention.

She said Floyd’s death brought out a combination of emotions. “From anger to extreme sadness, to know that these men and women have experienced these behaviors from an organisation that’s vowed to protect and serve your community.”

Police tried to arrest her brother after discovering a warrant on his record while he was in the bathroom for not appearing in court for a charge relating to possession of a marijuana pipe after he was stopped for jaywalking in 2016.

Harrowing body-camera footage, released in full for the first time, captures the physical and verbal abuse that Muhaymin underwent in the last moments of his life.

Police take him outside the community centre where Muhaymin sees his dog and cries out “my child”. They bring him to the car park, next to a police car, where Muhaymin asks: “Why are you doing this?”

They appear to pin him against the car then bring him to the ground where he screams out and says: “I cannot believe this.” An officer replies: “Fucking relax, dumbass.” One of the officers is heard asking: “Where is the Taser?”

His pleas for help, pained cries and request to “stop” are repeatedly met with abusive language including “dumbass” and “motherfucker” while heavily panting officers placed their weight on his neck, back, arms and legs.

He says several times that he “can’t breathe”. When he cries “Please Allah”, an officer responds: “Allah? He’s not going to help you right now.”

His sister said: “It needs to be brought to the attention of the public that Muhammad was pretty much begging for his life. And that his death, it was slow. And he experienced the pain of everything that was happening to him.”

She described her brother – who had two children and three sisters – as “gentle and loving with us. He was a spiritual person, he was fun, he liked to joke, he had a lot of personality, and because of that a lot of people really liked him.”

She said for his daughter it was especially tough. “We’re adults, we almost can process it a little better, but to know the experience that a child will have from not having their father. As a daughter and a father that’s heartbreaking to see that.”

Civil rights advocates released the footage on Thursday as they called on Phoenix’s mayor, Kate Gallego, and the Maricopa county attorney, Allister Adel, to fire, charge and arrest the officers responsible for his death and appoint a special criminal prosecutor.

A letter, arranged by the organising collective Poder in Action and national civil rights group Muslim Advocates and signed by 61 organisations, said: “Muhaymin was a family man, a Black man, a Muslim man and a disabled man. The footage and subsequent news reporting shows officers either mocked or disregarded all of these aspects of his identity before they killed him.”

Petitions by Muslim.co, the Grassroots Law Project and Muslim Advocates has attracted more than 73,000 signatures and on Wednesday 26 August there will be a protest outside Phoenix city hall.

Jennifer Liewer, a spokeswoman for Maricopa county attorney’s office, said the county attorney does not have authority to fire a member of law enforcement and that the decision over the death of Muhaymin was made by Adel’s predecessor, Bill Montgomery.

But, she added: “Should a law enforcement agency submit the case to our office for a second review, we would then review any new facts and evidence and determine if criminal charges are warranted.”

The Guardian has contacted Phoenix police, the mayor’s office and the city of Phoenix for comment.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...aymin-jr-death-phoenix-police-custody-footage
 

Pakistan Defence Latest Posts

Pakistan Affairs Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom