United States: mobilization resurfaces cases of police and racist violence

Text by: Achim Lippold Follow

After the death of George Floyd, killed by Minneapolis police during a brutal arrest, racially motivated violence again dominates the debate in the United States. Thanks to social networks, older cases are coming to the surface while new examples of police violence appear in the demonstrations that have been agitating American cities in recent days.

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• The Ahmaud Arbery case 

During the protests of the past few days, we have seen signs with the name Ahmaud Arbery, an African-American killed not by the police but by two white men . This crime dates from last February. But the death of George Floyd has once again put the spotlight on this case, which was brought to justice very late. It was not until the appearance of a video that justice seized it.

Ahmaud Arbery was killed by two men, Travis McMichael and his father Gregory, while he was jogging. The two men said they acted in self-defense because they thought he was a burglar. The video which was released two months later shows that it was a real manhunt which ended in a fatal shot for the young African-American.

We learned on Thursday June 4 from the investigator in charge of the case that one of the accused, Travis McMichael, uttered racist insults against Ahmaud Arbery while the latter was already on the ground. According to the investigator, the police found numerous racist comments on Travis McMichael's phone as well as on his Instagram account. He and his father Grégory, a former police officer, are charged with murder. Recall that it happened in Brunswick, Georgia, a state with a heavy segregationist past. Ahmaud Arbery's family has said since his death that he was the victim of a racist crime, a crime then concealed by a complacent police and judicial system.

• "I can't breathe " : the last words of Manuel Ellis

This other case of violence, this time police, which we learned about this week, is similar to that of the death of George Floyd. Manuel Ellis died during his arrest, shouting, like George Floyd: "  I can't breathe  ". This African American father of two was a musician in a church in Tacoma, Washington.

The facts go back to March. According to an autopsy report obtained by the  New York Times , Manuel Ellis died of physical restraint and of oxygen deprivation during his arrest. The report says it is a homicide. The police apparently did not use the same method as during the arrest of George Floyd, that is to say put their knee on his neck. But the arrest was so muscular that Manuel Ellis, who suffered from heart problems, succumbed to it, despite medical treatment a few minutes after shouting "  I can't breathe  ". The Washington state governor has promised "a full investigation into this incident."

• Police in sight for violence against protesters

Whether it is police violence against African-Americans, racial violence against members of this community, or police brutality, the atmosphere is very electric right now in the country . It is a very explosive cocktail which mixes feelings of historical injustice on the part of a minority with indignation at the behavior of the police. In a vitriolic editorial , The New York Times  called New York police Friday "out of control."

On social networks there are indeed many videos showing cases of police violence against demonstrators. The latest example is a 75-year-old man who was violently pushed by police in Buffalo, northern New York during a demonstration. He fell back on the head and had to be transferred to the hospital. What is very shocking is to see that the police initially did not help him when he was lying on the ground and bleeding from the head. A first official statement said that the man who seemed to have lost consciousness, "tripped and fell". Following the publication of the video, filmed by a local journalist, two police officers responsible for this act were suspended from their duties.

Just about an hour ago, police officers shove man in Niagara Square to the ground (WARNING: Graphic). Video from: @MikeDesmondWBFO pic.twitter.com/JBKQLvzfET

The police are in the crosshairs for a disproportionate attitude towards peaceful protesters but especially towards African-Americans. As a reminder: 26% of those killed by the police are African-Americans, while they represent only 13% of the population. And it is also this disproportion and the repeated injustices denounced by the demonstrators who pay tribute to George Floyd.

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• United States
• Racism