Protesters yesterday were to take to the streets again across the US, one day after the funeral of George Floyd, whose death in police custody has ignited the biggest surge of anti-racism activism since the civil rights era of the 1960s.
Into early yesterday, hundreds of protesters filled the city hall in Seattle, Washington, calling for the mayor to resign and for police reforms.
More protests were expected from Atlanta to New York City and Los Angeles in what would be the 16th straight day of demonstrations.
Photo: AFP
In the US capital yesterday, one of Floyd’s brothers was due to speak to a Democratic-led congressional panel, as lawmakers take on the twin issues of police violence and racial injustice.
At the funeral in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday, civil rights advocate the Reverend Al Sharpton told mourners that Floyd is the “cornerstone of a movement that is going to change the whole wide world.”
Sharpton said that the Floyd family would lead a march on Washington on Aug. 28 to mark the 57th anniversary of the 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech given from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, who was assassinated in 1968.
Floyd, 46, died on May 25 after a police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while he was face down in a Minneapolis street.
During a four-hour service broadcast live from a church in Floyd’s boyhood hometown of Houston, relatives, clergy and politicians exhorted Americans to turn grief and outrage at his death into a moment of reckoning for the country.
About 2,500 people attended the funeral after more than 6,000 people had filed past Floyd’s open casket on Monday.
Two columns of Houston police officers saluted the golden casket as it was wheeled from the hearse into the church before the service. A horse-drawn carriage later bore the coffin to the cemetery in Pearland, Texas, where Floyd was buried.
Among those attending were relatives of several other black men killed by white police or white civilians, including the family of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Georgia man who was shot and killed in February while jogging. Three white men were charged in his death.
Sharpton called Floyd “an ordinary brother” who grew up in a housing project, but left behind a legacy of greatness, despite rejections in jobs and sports that prevented him from achieving all that he once aspired to become.
Democratic US presidential candidate Joe Biden was among politicians embracing police reforms.
“We need to root out systemic racism across our laws and institutions, and we need to make sure black Americans have a real shot,” Biden wrote in an opinion piece published in USA Today yesterday.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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