Following the death of Jacob Blake, a new victim of police violence in the United States, thousands are protesting to urge politicians to get things done.
Between weariness and anger, thousands of people gathered Friday in the heart of Washington to demand an end to police violence against the black minority after a series of blunders.
57 years to the day after the emblematic speech by civil rights leader Martin Luther King, “I have a dream,” Americans were invited to march again on the federal capital to demand equality for all.
Wearing t-shirts with the words “Black Lives Matter” or “What will it take?” on them. Hundreds of people waited until dawn to have their temperatures taken before entering the rally area, a measure designed to minimize the risk of spreading the new coronavirus.
Entitled “Take your knee off our necks,” the protest refers to George Floyd, an African-American who was asphyxiated by a white police officer on May 25 in Minneapolis, whose death sparked a decades-long protest movement in the United States.
Handcuffed in hospital
Family members of George Floyd, as well as several other African Americans killed by police officers, will speak. Relatives of Jacob Blake, who was seriously wounded Sunday in Kenosha, in the north of the country, will also speak as the officer who fired seven bullets into the father’s back has not yet been arrested or charged.
The latest outrage, according to his father, is that the 29-year-old is handcuffed to his hospital bed after he lost the use of his legs. “He can’t go anywhere, so why handcuff him,” Jacob Blake, also known as Jacob Blake, told the Chicago Sun Times.
The drama, the latest in a long series, reignited the embers of protest, and led to violent demonstrations for three nights in Kenosha, where two people were shot, apparently by a 17-year-old who, armed with an assault rifle, had joined militias supposedly defending local businesses. The wounds inflicted on Jacob Blake also sparked an unprecedented protest movement in the sports world.
After Milwaukee Bucks basketball players decided to boycott a game, the NBA had to postpone several games on Wednesday and Thursday. However, the NBA hoped to resume play on Friday or Saturday. Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka declined to play in the semifinals of the Cincinnati tournament, whose organizers postponed all scheduled matches by one day on Thursday. Soccer and baseball matches were also postponed.
Source: Sud Ouest
