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Floyd Outrage Goes Global

Protestas e indignación por el caso Floyd rebasan fronteras

 

PARIS (AP) — Tear gas choked Paris streets as riot police faced off with protesters setting fires Tuesday, June 2, amid growing global outrage over George Floyd’s death in the United States, racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics around the world.

French protesters took a knee and raised their fists while firefighters struggled to extinguish multiple blazes as a largely peaceful, multiracial demonstration degenerated into scattered tensions. Police said at least 20,000 people joined the demonstration, defying a virus-related ban on protests to pay homage to Floyd and Adama Traore, a French black man who died in police custody.

Electric scooters and construction barriers went up in flames, and smoke stained a sign reading “Restaurant Open” — on the first day French cafes were allowed to open after nearly three months of virus lockdown.

Chanting “I can’t breathe,” thousands marched peacefully through Australia’s largest city, while thousands more demonstrated in the Dutch capital of The Hague and hundreds rallied in Tel Aviv. Expressions of anger erupted in multiple languages on social networks, with thousands of Swedes joining an online protest and others speaking out under the banner of #BlackOutTuesday.

Diplomatic ire percolated too, with the European Union’s top foreign policy official saying the bloc was “shocked and appalled” by Floyd’s death.

Floyd died last week after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. The death set off protests that spread across America — and now, beyond.

As demonstrations escalated worldwide, solidarity with U.S. protesters increasingly mixed with local worries.

“This happened in the United States, but it happens in France, it happens everywhere,” Paris protester Xavier Dintimille said. While he said police violence seems worse in the U.S., he added, “all blacks live this to a degree.”

As the Paris demonstration wound down, police fired volley after volley of tear gas and protesters threw debris. Police were less visible than usual at the city’s frequent protests. Tensions also erupted at a related protest in the southern city of Marseille.

The demonstrations were held in honor of Traore, who died shortly after his arrest in 2016, and in solidarity with Americans demonstrating against Floyd’s death.

The Traore case has become emblematic of the fight against police brutality in France. The circumstances of the death of the 24-year-old Frenchman of Malian origin are still under investigation after four years of conflicting medical reports about what happened.

Traore’s family says he died from asphyxiation because of police tactics — and that his last words were “I can’t breathe.”

“I can’t breathe” were also the final words of David Dungay, a 26-year-old Aboriginal man who died in a Sydney prison in 2015 while being restrained by five guards.

A woman holds a sign as protesters gather in Sydney, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, to support the cause of U.S. protests over the death of George Floyd and urged their own governments to address racism and police violence. Floyd died last week after he was pinned to the pavement by a white police officer who put his knee on the handcuffed black man’s neck until he stopped breathing. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

As 3,000 people marched peacefully through Sydney, many said they had been inspired by a mixture of sympathy for African Americans and to call for change in Australia’s treatment of its indigenous population, particularly involving police. The mostly Australian crowd at the authorized demonstration also included protesters from the U.S. and elsewhere.

“I’m here for my people, and for our fallen brothers and sisters around the world,” said Sydney indigenous woman Amanda Hill, 46, who attended the rally with her daughter and two nieces. “What’s happening in America shines a light on the situation here.”

Even as U.S. President Donald Trump fanned anger by threatening to send in troops on American protesters, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refrained from directly criticizing him and said the protests should force awareness of racism everywhere.

“We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States,” he said after pausing 21 seconds before answering. “But it is a time for us as Canadians to recognize that we, too, have our challenges, that black Canadians and racialized Canadians face discrimination as a lived reality every single day. There is systemic discrimination in Canada.”

More protests in various countries are planned later in the week, including a string of demonstrations in front of U.S. embassies on Saturday.

The drama unfolding in the U.S. drew increasing diplomatic concern.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s remarks in Brussels were the strongest to come out of the 27-nation bloc, saying Floyd’s death was a result of an abuse of power.

Borrell told reporters that “like the people of the United States, we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd.” He underlined that Europeans “support the right to peaceful protest, and also we condemn violence and racism of any kind, and for sure, we call for a de-escalation of tensions.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said peaceful protests in the U.S. following Floyd’s death are “understandable and more than legitimate.”

“I can only express my hope that the peaceful protests do not continue to lead to violence, but even more express the hope that these protests have an effect in the United States,” Maas said.

More African leaders are speaking up over the killing of Floyd.

 

A man holds a skateboard bearing George Floyd’s name above his head as thousands of people gather for a peaceful demonstration in support of Floyd and Regis Korchinski-Paquet and protest against racism, injustice and police brutality, in Vancouver, on Sunday, May 31, 2020. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

SPANISH:

 

Argentine leader Celeste Fierro leads a march in central Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, that has led to protests in many countries and across the US. A few hundred people defied the mandatory lockdown imposed since March 20th to march in solidarity with U.S. protests over the killing of Floyd. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

 

PARÍS (AP) — Gases lacrimógenos ahogaron las calles de París mientras policías con equipo antimotines se enfrentaban el martes, 2 de junio, con manifestantes que provocaron incendios en medio de la indignación global por la muerte de George Floyd en Estados Unidos, la injusticia racial y las tácticas de fuerza excesiva por parte de los cuerpos policiales de todo el mundo.

Los manifestantes franceses se arrodillaron y levantaron los puños, y los bomberos combatían varios incendios, mientras las protestas, en su mayor parte multirraciales y pacíficas, se tornaban en enfrentamientos aislados. Varios miles de personas ignoraron las prohibiciones relacionadas con la pandemia del coronavirus para rendir tributo a Floyd y a Adama Traore, un francés de raza negra que murió en custodia de la policía.

Patinetes eléctricos y barricadas de construcción fueron incendiados, y el humo manchó un letrero que decía “Restaurante abierto”, en el primer día en que se permitió la operación de cafeterías en Francia después de casi tres meses de cierre por la pandemia.

En la ciudad más grande de Australia, miles marcharon pacíficamente y gritando consignas de “No puedo respirar”, mientras que miles más se manifestaron en La Haya, Holanda, y una protesta similar atrajo a cientos de inconformes en Tel Aviv, Israel.

People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday, June 1, 2020, to protest against the recent killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, U.S.A., after being restrained by police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Las expresiones de enojo estallaron en varios idiomas a través de las redes sociales, donde miles de suecos se unieron a una protesta en línea y otros levantaron la voz a través del hashtag #BlackOutTuesday.

También hubo filtraciones de indignación diplomática, después de que el máximo funcionario de relaciones exteriores de la Unión Europea señalara que el bloque está “consternado y escandalizado” por la muerte de Floyd.

Floyd falleció la semana pasada después de que un policía lo inmovilizó colocándole la rodilla en el cuello durante varios minutos, incluso después de que dejó de moverse y que se quejaba de no poder respirar. Su muerte desató protestas en todo Estados Unidos, y ahora también más allá de sus fronteras.

A medida que las protestas se intensifican en todo el mundo, la solidaridad con los manifestantes en Estados Unidos cada vez se mezcla más con asuntos locales.

“Esto sucedió en Estados Unidos, pero sucede en Francia, sucede en todas partes”, dijo el manifestante parisino Xavier Dintimille. Aunque la violencia policial parece ser más grave en Estados Unidos, añadió, “todas las personas de raza negra sufren de esto hasta cierto punto”.

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