{"id":122033,"date":"2021-04-20T21:26:36","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T21:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=122033"},"modified":"2021-04-20T21:26:36","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T21:26:36","slug":"how-george-floyds-death-reignited-worldwide-racial-justice-movement-sparked-global-blm-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/how-george-floyds-death-reignited-worldwide-racial-justice-movement-sparked-global-blm-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"How George Floyd\u2019s death reignited worldwide racial justice movement & sparked global BLM protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE DEATH of George Floyd last May sparked months of global Black Lives Matter protests and a worldwide racial justice movement that has continued over eleven months. <\/p>\n

Activists have continued to call for justice for Floyd, 46, in demonstrations that were sparked anew in the final week of the trial of Derek Chauvin – the ex-Minneapolis police officer charged with killing him.<\/p>\n


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The jury on Tuesday found Chauvin guilty on all three charges in only its second days of deliberation. <\/p>\n

The city of Minneapolis had become a fortress in recent days as local officials prepared for protests and potential riots to kick off if Chauvin, 45, is found not guilty.<\/p>\n

Floyd died last May 25 following an arrest during which\u00a0Chauvin\u00a0placed a knee on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds while Floyd pleaded, \u201cI can\u2019t breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chauvin and three other officers had been responding to the scene after being called by an employee at a nearby Cup Foods store, accusing Floyd of having used a fake $20 bill. <\/p>\n


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Caught on video, those tragic final moments led to widespread protests and riots across the\u00a0US\u00a0against police brutality and racism.<\/p>\n

While the deaths of other black men and women while in police custody have previously caused waves of angry protests to erupt, the video of Floyd sparked a more sustained movement than any prior. <\/p>\n

Coupled with the death of 25-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor in her home in March last year and the increased impact of the coronavirus pandemic on black communities, tens of millons took to the streets worldwide. <\/p>\n

In recent years, the Me Too movement fuelled large marches in 2017 and 2018, and the Parkland school shooting led to the March of our Lives demonstration. <\/p>\n

Both paled in comparison to the numbers Floyd's death drew out. <\/p>\n


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CNN reports that before Floyd's death, the 2017 Women's March was estimated to be the highest estimate for a US protest. <\/p>\n

That saw 4.6million Americans come out to demonstrate. <\/p>\n

Polls indicated that as many as 21million Americans had attended a Black Lives Matter protest in the first two weeks of May and many contineud throughout the summer.<\/p>\n

Not only did the video of Floyd's death bring people out to march but it lead to louder calls for police accountability and defunding law enforcement than ever before. <\/p>\n

It also caused a wave of changes as companies and branded reckoned with the impact of racist names, mascots and images. <\/p>\n

These were met with backlash from Republicans as they blasted the changes as too "woke" and part of a dangerous "cancel culture."<\/p>\n

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Former President Donald Trump vigorously defended statues paying homage to the likes of Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.<\/p>\n

They had been targeted by the Black Lives Matter movement for owning slaves and mistreating native Americans respectively. <\/p>\n

Trump slammed activists calling for the removal of statues and at times, attempting to remove them themselves. <\/p>\n

While he voiced horror at the video of Floyd's death, he sharply called for "law and order" as several protests turned violent and looting began. <\/p>\n

He also continued to back law enforcement as he threatened action if local lawmakers did not end the violence in their cities.<\/p>\n

As cities were forced to introduce curfews in an attempt to calm down the wave of outrage in the weeks immediately after Floyd's, hundreds of arrest were made. <\/p>\n

"What started in 2014 in the streets of Ferguson has just spread across the country," Publisher and former St. Louis Alderman Antonio French told CNN. <\/p>\n

"Having this kind of turmoil with that many unemployed young people, with this kind of national leadership that has zero empathy … this is the makings of real conflict, and I think we should be really concerned."<\/p>\n

The outrage was not contained to the US alone. <\/p>\n

Protests began from Berlin, London, Paris and Vancouver, British Columbia, to capitals in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. <\/p>\n

In London, thousands gathered United States Embassy in defience of strict coronavirus lockdowns. <\/p>\n

They screamed \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d and \u201cNo justice, no peace\u201d before marching to \u00a0Grenfell Tower, the site of a devastating fire that killed many immigrant residents in 2017. <\/p>\n