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.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS