From Washington to Philadelphia via New York, tens of thousands of Americans demonstrated on Saturday June 6 in a peaceful atmosphere against racism and police brutality on a day marked by a new ceremony in memory of George Floyd.

Under a blazing sun, sometimes stopping to put a knee on the ground, a dense crowd invaded the streets of the American federal capital, near the White House, the Capitol or the Lincoln Memorial.

To read: dama, Théo, Zyed and Bouna… Why didn't these cases trigger a French-style "Black Lives Matter"?

"I have a dream"

It was in front of this imposing monument that Atlanta pastor Martin Luther King had, on August 28, 1963, in front of nearly 250,000 people, launched "I have a dream" in a speech that had become a reference in the fight for civil rights .   

"We are back here, with a new message of hope," said AFP Deniece Laurent-Mantey, 31-year-old African-American.

Unlike this iconic movement of the 1960s, or the other rallies that the capital used to host, the demonstrations on Saturday were not centered on an event or a speech.

More than a dozen collectives, several of whom formed spontaneously on social networks after the death of George Floyd, called to invade the streets of the capital.

On the imposing fence erected in front of Donald Trump's residence were hung the heads of George Floyd, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, African-Americans all dead at the hands of the American police in recent years.

"No racist Police"

From the White House, where he spends the weekend, Donald Trump continued his intense activity on Twitter without mentioning the demonstrations. Until Saturday evening at least. 

When he tweeted that the crowd had been "much smaller than expected in Washington", after having advocated a little earlier "law and order".

In a very family atmosphere, the demonstrators alternately sang classic souls and political slogans like "No Justice, No Peace, No racist Police", taking advantage of the bottles of ice water distributed by many associations.

Present on the spot, the mayor of Washington Muriel Bowser, target of the mocking tweets of the American president, judged that it was time to say "To the following" in November, in reference to the presidential election planned in 150 days.

"I have the impression that we fought, fought, fought and that all of a sudden, it all came to light" welcomes Patricia Thompson, 55 years old, in reference to all the American companies and organizations that have according to her, she took a public stand "against institutional racism" for the first time after this deadly arrest.

Driven by a massive mobilization on social networks, the movement has spread to London, Pretoria, Paris and even Sydney, where at least 20,000 people demonstrated on Saturday.  

Choke plugs

After a first moving ceremony in Minneapolis on Thursday, the relatives of this 46-year-old African-American who was asphyxiated by a white police officer during an arrest, paid him a new homage in family intimacy in Raeford, in his native state of Caroline North. His funeral is scheduled for June 9 in Houston.

New examples of police violence, especially during the repression of these sometimes violent protests, fuel the anger that has fueled the protests that have rocked the United States since the death of George Floyd.

Several videos showing muscular police interventions against peaceful protesters have emerged in recent days. 

In anticipation of the new protests, the Seattle police chief has announced a 30-day ban on the use of tear gas.

Minneapolis police also announced Friday that they are now banning "choke", a dangerous technique used in 2014 in New York on Eric Garner, another black man who died at the hands of the police, whose cries of "I can't not breathe "were also spoken by George Floyd before his death.

But the marches now go beyond this single case, to denounce systemic racism and demand real change.

They have remained peaceful in recent days and several cities, including Washington, Seattle and Los Angeles, have now lifted their curfew. But not New York, where it is kept until Sunday evening. 

With AFP

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