A memorial march was held in Minneapolis ahead of the anniversary of the death of African American George Floyd.

Hundreds of people gathered in front of a courthouse in downtown, where the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, accused of Floyd's murder, ended a month ago.

Many marchers carried posters of the deceased and other black men killed by the police.

According to the American radio station NPR, Minnesota Governor Tim Walls, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, along with a dozen of Floyd's relatives, watched speakers call for justice for the families of those blacks who were killed by law enforcement officers.

At the same time, the protesters chanted the slogans "There will be no justice, there will be no peace!"

and "Say his name."

The event was organized by the George Floyd Memorial Fund.

The protests included Floyd family lawyer Ben Crump, late Bridget's sister, and TV host and civil rights activist Al Sharpton, who called on the US Senate to pass the George Floyd Police Act.

In addition to Minneapolis, commemorative events were held in New York.

According to media reports, about 200 activists gathered in the Brooklyn area with placards in their hands, calling for the fight against racial discrimination and police abuse.

At the end of the meeting, George Floyd's brother Terrence addressed the audience.

According to him, public attention should remain focused on resolving issues of racial inequality.

“This is just the beginning.

The change has begun.

This year, many negative moments turned into positive ones, but we still have a long way to go, ”CBS TV channel quoted Terrence as saying.

An action in memory of the deceased was held on May 23 in Houston, where Floyd was born.

There, a park in the Third Ward district was named in his honor, located across the street from the school where he studied.

In addition, during the ceremony, a monument was unveiled with the image of Floyd and the words "I can't breathe, Mom."

  • Funeral ceremony for George Floyd

  • Reuters

  • © David J. Phillip / Pool

During the event, speakers included, among others, District Attorney Kim Ogg, Congressman Sheila Jackson Lee and George Floyd's sister Latonia.

Earlier, a series of actions in different cities were announced on the website of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and on the fund's Twitter.

“We have absolutely no time to remain silent about the injustices our communities and the world are being subjected to!

This rally and march, hosted by the George Floyd family and Al Sharpton, will demonstrate our proactive position on the need for comprehensive structural change.

Get ready to come now, ”the BLM movement said.

The time is too critical for us to remain silent on issues on injustice affecting our communities and world!

This rally and march convened by George Floyd's family and @TheRevAl will demonstrate our advocacy for comprehensive and structural change.

Prepare to attend now ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/6bkZqywOt1

- Justice For George Floyd (@GFMFoundation) May 16, 2021

Recall that in 2020, after the death of 46-year-old African American George Floyd, the United States was engulfed in mass protests.

A black man died after a police officer first detained him, then pressed him to the asphalt and held the arrested man's throat with his knee for several minutes.

Video from the scene made it to the Internet, causing a wave of public outrage in the United States and several other countries.

Protesters against police violence took to the streets under the slogan Black Lives Matter.

The movement itself arose long before Floyd's death - it was founded after the events of 2012-2013 and the case of patrolman George Zimmerman, who shot and killed a black teenager Trayvon Martin.

The policeman was put on trial, but the jury acquitted him.

The wave of protests in 2020 coincided with the presidential campaign in the United States, and candidates from the leading parties could not ignore this topic.

But if Donald Trump in his speeches criticized the insufficiently harsh actions of local authorities against the demonstrators, then Joe Biden and the Democratic Party in general supported the activists.

Biden even spoke during a memorial service during Floyd's funeral - the politician made a speech via video link.

Social aspect

On the anniversary of the death of Floyd, Biden invited the relatives of the deceased to the White House.

The president announced his plans to meet with family members of the deceased after the jury's verdict against the accused, ex-policeman Derek Chauvin, was announced.

The final verdict in the case will be handed down in mid-June.

“You are incredible, you are an incredible family.

I would like to be next to you now, to hug you.

I look forward to meeting you.

I'm really looking forward to it.

We will do much more, we will do a lot.

We will hold our ground until we finish, ”Biden said in a telephone conversation with Floyd's relatives.

In early May, the US President pledged to implement "smart police reform" and eradicate racism in the US criminal justice system.

  • Capitol

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © uschools

Earlier, Biden called May 25 the deadline for passing the George Floyd Police Fairness Act.

The document includes a whole list of measures aimed at eradicating illegal practices by the police.

So, if the law enters into force, the police will be ordered to abandon harsh suffocation techniques during arrest.

In addition, a register will be created in the country, where cases of abuse by police powers will be entered. 

The bill was introduced to Congress on February 24, 2021 - a month after Joe Biden's inauguration.

The House of Representatives approved it back in March, but the consideration of the document in the Senate was delayed.

The main stumbling block was the clause on the limitation of conditional immunity for police officers.

This is a rule of American law that protects civil servants from lawsuits in a number of cases.

As noted by NBC, negotiators from both parties of both houses of Congress - Senators Corey Booker (Democratic Party), Tim Scott (Republican Party), and Karen Bass (Democratic Party) - made it clear that a complete lifting of conditional immunity is highly unlikely.

Earlier, the organizer of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, Jim Cliburn, supported possible concessions on this issue.

“You need to get rid of the chaff and adopt a good, meaningful program.

If you now have to do without conditional immunity, you can return to this issue later and accept it.

But I don’t want us to abandon a good bill in an attempt to come up with an ideal one, ”the democrat said.

In turn, White House spokesman Jen Psaki said that the adoption of the document is still being postponed.

“Fruitful discussions continue.

This is a good sign.

We will not slow down our efforts to accept it.

But we also need to be honest about the fact that it will take a little longer.

Sometimes it happens, and that's okay, ”she said.

According to analysts, Joe Biden made difficult promises during the election campaign, and now his administration is facing serious difficulties.

As the expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research Vladimir Bruter noted in the RT commentary, the problems accumulated in American society cannot be solved by reforming the police alone.

The expert links the current situation with deep social stratification in the country.

“The society is deeply split, and primarily in terms of socio-economic parameters.

In the United States, there is a high percentage of socially disadvantaged strata of society, entire neighborhoods and areas.

It is this inequality that gives rise to both crime and police violence.

If you just impose restrictions on the police, they will start quitting - no one wants to substitute themselves and work at a risk for themselves, ”says Bruter.

In his opinion, the Democrats, led by Biden, are trying to replace one problem with another.

  • Demonstration of the Black Lives Matter movement, Minnesota

  • Reuters

  • © Nicholas Pfosi

Dmitry Abzalov, President of the Center for Strategic Communications, adheres to a similar point of view.

The expert agrees that the root of the problem lies in the socio-economic area.

“The problem of police violence cannot be solved without solving the problem of social stratification - this is the most important thing.

Police reform alone cannot fix the situation, "the expert said in an interview with RT.

Small blood

As noted by the American media, the active support of the BLM movement by democrats at the height of the presidential election campaign has not yet been converted into real deeds.

Activists of the movement against racial discrimination and police violence were not even invited to discuss the reform, Politico notes.

The situation on the streets has not changed either: African Americans and Hispanics continue to be killed by police more often than whites.

As one of the organizers of the BLM movement, the national director of the Party of Working Families, Maurice Mitchell, noted, the proposed "reforms will not create conditions under which George Floyd would have avoided death."

“We need the essence.

We need real justice, "- quoted by NBC.

However, according to experts, the Biden administration is not ready to fulfill all the promises made earlier to the activists.

“Not even all Democrats are positive about the BLM movement.

Yes, the overwhelming majority of African Americans vote for Democrats, and they are interested in their votes.

However, the Democratic Party cannot focus only on this stratum.

Rather, the Democrats are simply using the theme of combating racism to collect votes, rather than are ready to seriously fight for the interests of African Americans, ”says Vladimir Bruter.

Dmitry Abzalov adheres to a similar point of view.

“Biden used the Black Lives Matter agenda during the elections, but now he has clearly decided to pay with little blood.

He is ready to support activists in words, to meet with Floyd's family, even to initiate some laws.

But he does not systematically solve the problem, ”the expert believes.

According to Abzalov, over time, Black Lives Matter activists and those who sympathize with them will realize that their expectations have been deceived.

Then protest activity will start to grow again.

  • Joe Biden

  • Reuters

  • © Jonathan Ernst

“Now Biden is in a political deadlock between the radical left electorate and the moderate segment of the Democratic Party. Therefore, he tries to get rid of the problem with statements and loud words. However, people voted for him not so that he would stand in front of the cameras next to Floyd's relatives, but for the sake of real change. And the credit of trust that Biden received from the left political wing is already beginning to be exhausted, ”the expert summed up.