REPORTAGE
"We can't just keep killing people here!". Protesters' anger in the United States continues to grow, four after the death of George Floyd during his arrest by Minnesota municipal police, and demonstrations have turned into a riot and a curfew has been declared in the city. Friday, several hundred people were present outside the White House gates to show their indignation, while the death of the young man rekindled the racial wounds of the United States. Europe 1 traveled to Minneapolis.
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"We also want the three other police officers who were there"
It was not until Friday that the police, Derek Chauvin, implicated by a viral video where we see him kneeling on Geroge Floyd, was arrested. He was "detained" by the United States criminal police, then charged with manslaughter. But this arrest is not enough for the demonstrators, who were still marching across the country. In Minneapolis, the instructions for the tanks are clear: "Go home or you will be arrested". "I am terrified," said a young protester at the microphone of Europe 1, "but if we do nothing, nothing will change. I'm really scared, but I'm staying." "We've tried everything for 200 years. Nothing changes! What else can we do?"
© Xavier Yvon / Europe 1
Tear gas explodes, rubber bullets fire. To protect his chest, Jay donned a life jacket. "The indictment of the white policeman who smothered Georges Floyd with his knee is not enough", explains this young African-American. "They just arrested him so that we stopped, but we also want the three other police officers who were there." Because Derek Chauvin was not alone when Georges Floyd was arrested. "What were the other three doing?" Said another protester. "Their job is to protect and serve. They deserve to be arrested and charged too."
Stones thrown against the police
Stones are thrown against the police, who retreat, then eventually abandon the ground. With smoke in the sky, the streets of Minneapolis still belong to the demonstrators, on the night of Friday to Saturday. And the phenomenon is not contained in the city: everywhere in the United States, the wave of indignation and the parades with cries of "Black Lives matter" or "I can't breathe" ("I can't breathe" , the last words of George Floyd) continue, sometimes leading to violence, as in Atlanta where the headquarters of CNN television was targeted.