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US Burns With Anti-Racism Rage One Week After George Floyd’s Murder

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George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in Minneapolis, Minnesota after a white police officer jammed a knee into his throat for seven painful minutes during an arrest for a non-violent crime on May 25. The video documenting the incident, when Floyd repeatedly told officers “I can’t breathe,” triggered a wave of outrage that has transformed into protests across the United States and in major cities around the world. 

Protestors chanting “I can’t breathe” and “George Floyd, say his name” filled the streets of Minneapolis, New York, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles, and 135 other cities around the US. Protests in cities like Phoenix and Albuquerque remained peaceful, while others turned violent, resulting in vandalism, burnt-out buildings, looting, and a heavy-handed police response.

Amid the anger and violence, the message from protesters has been clear: Black lives matter, and systemic racism and injustice must end. The protestors’ messages have spilled onto social media, which has been filled with calls for white people not to be silent, to recognize their privilege, respect black culture and experiences, and move from being passively non-racist to vocally anti-racist. 

Mahira Louis, a 15-year-old protestor from Boston, summed up protestors’ sentiments.  

“They keep killing our people. I’m so sick and tired of it,” Louis told the Associated Press News (AP News).  

“I hate to see my city like this but at the end we need justice,” said Jahvon Craven, an 18-year-old protestor from Minneapolis. 

Trump retreats 

On Sunday evening, as a protest in Washington, D.C. encroached on the White House, Secret Service agents rushed President Donald Trump into a secure bunker. Trump spent nearly an hour in the bunker as protesters in adjacent Lafayette Park chanted “George Floyd” and peppered the presidential mansion with rocks as police and the National Guard held them back.  

The response from US law enforcement and government has been mixed, with some lawmakers praised for their efforts to calm tensions and others including President Donald Trump accused of inflaming them further. Trump’s advisers counseled him against giving an Oval Office address to try and quell the country’s anger, according to reports from White House insiders, but he has continued to tweet about the unfolding situation. 

Police response criticized

Dozens of cities have rolled out night-time curfews, including Minneapolis, where the National Guard and military police are enforcing restrictions. Utopian scenes played out on Sunday evening as military hummers rolled through the suburban streets of Minneapolis and military police viciously ordered citizens to get inside their houses ahead of the 8 p.m. curfew.  

A number of violent police responses to the protests sparked by the police brutality that killed George Floyd have also drawn criticism. In Atlanta, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms fired two officers and placed others on desk duty for using excessive force after video emerged of officers circling a car on Saturday and stun-gunning the occupants.  

The mayor and “mother to four black children” launched a passionate plea for calm in Atlanta on Friday and has since called on Trump to “just stop talking.”  

“He speaks and he makes it worse. There are times when you should just be quiet and I wish that he would just be quiet. Or if he can’t be silent, if there is somebody of good sense and good conscience in the White House, put him in front of a teleprompter and pray he reads it and at least says the right things, because he is making it worse,” she told CNN on Sunday night.   

Pepper spray from police hit black lawmakers Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, 70, and Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin at the end of a rally in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. “Too much force is not the answer to this,” Beatty said in a Twitter video posted after the incident.  

The police response comes as no surprise to people like the Director of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, Christ White. “What’s happening, it’s the way American society has always been,” White said.

Police have arrested over 4,100 people to date in connection with the George Floyd protests. Police have repeatedly used pepper spray, batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, and driven their vehicles at demonstrators to disperse and control crowds.  

Read also: US Meets Protests Over Police Brutality With Increasing State Violence 

 

Domestic Tourists Fill Egypt’s Reopened Hotels

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Select Egyptian hotels have reopened to domestic tourists since May 15, with occupancy capped at 25% to try and revive the nation’s large and struggling tourism industry. The plan appears to be working and the hotels are nearly at full occupancy, according to one official.

The first stage of Egypt’s plan to kick-start its tourism sector, hard hit by the coronavirus crisis, is proving a success despite the country’s recent spike in new cases. An anonymous tourism ministry official told Reuters that the 78 hotels licensed to reopen are currently operating at 20-22% occupancy.

The hotels permitted to reopen are mainly along Egypt’s Red Sea coast, popular with local and international visitors, but some city hotels such as the Helnan Palestine, the Hilton, and the Four Seasons have also reopened in Alexandria but with a 10% occupancy cap. Another 173 hotels have also applied to reopen and will find out if they are permitted to do so this week.  

If hotels can respect the 25% occupancy limit and safety controls like keeping workers onsite for 60 days and COVID-19 testing, permissible occupancy rates will increase to 50%, Chairman of the Alexandria Chamber of Tourism Ali al-Manesterly told Egypt Independent on May 29. 

“If the hotel does not adhere to regulations, however, their license will be revoked and the hotel will be unable to receive guests,” Manesterly said.

International flights to Egypt have been suspended since March, and authorities have not outlined when and under what conditions foreign tourists will be permitted to return. In the meantime, Egyptians seem to be making the most of the newly opened hotels and they are nearing capacity, according to an official.

The Egyptian government and tourism operators are keen to get the sector back up and running post-COVID-19, the latest blow to an industry marred in recent years by terrorism attacks and the 2011 revolution.  

The industry was geared for a big year in 2020 as the security situation continues to improve and the country’s long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum was scheduled to open its doors to the public in October 2020. Despite struggling to stay on foreign tourists’ radars, the sector contributes around 15% of GDP and is an important source of foreign currency for Egypt.

On Friday, Egypt chalked up the grim milestone of recording over 1000 new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours. The country has recorded 23,449 cases and 913 deaths from COVID-19 to date.

Read also: Egypt’s COVID-19 Outbreak Intensifies

Worshippers Flock Back to Al Aqsa Mosque After COVID-19 Closure

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In the wake of COVID-19, the Al Aqsa Mosque and adjoining Dome of the Rock have been closed to worshippers since mid-March but reopened in the early hours of Sunday morning to welcome Muslims for dawn prayers. 

Nearly 700 Muslims gathered in the early morning darkness on May 31 to once again perform dawn prayers at Islam’s third holiest site. Many kissed the ground and chanted “God is the greatest” upon re-entering the compound, according to media reports. 

“After they opened the mosque, I feel like I can breathe again. Thanks be to God,” said an emotional resident of Jerusalem, Umm Hisham, who took part in the first prayers at Al Aqsa since its March 15 closure.  

For Jews, the area known as the Temple Mount is its holiest site and includes the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western or “Wailing” Wall. Reuters reports a group of Orthodox Jews were escorted into the compound by Israeli police to pray at the Western Wall later on Sunday morning. 

Despite the faithful’s relief and excitement at Al Aqsa’s reopening, the spectre of the novel coronavirus remains, especially after Israel experienced a fresh spike in new cases in recent days. Visitors underwent temperature tests before entering the complex, and had to wear face-masks and use their own personal prayer rugs inside shrines and in outdoor areas to prevent the disease from spreading. 

The Council of Islamic Waqf, who deemed the mosque was safe to reopen, does not appear to have imposed any limits on visitation numbers to the 35-acre (14-hectare) compound, whereas Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity is only allowing 50 visitors at a time. Social distancing measures also appeared quite relaxed as worshippers jostled at the gates before the mosque reopened on Sunday morning. 

Read also: Church of the Nativity Reopens, Boosting Spirits, Palestine’s Tourism

US Meets Protests Over Police Brutality With Increasing State Violence

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Protests across the US continued on the night of Friday, May 29. Outrage over the death of George Floyd, yet another black person that died while in police custody, has sparked large protests around the country. While most media express agreement with the main complaints of the protesters, the events are nonetheless painted as violent, destructive, and chaotic.

Systemic racism and widening inequality in the United States appears to have reached a tipping point as civil disobedience and protest are the only tools left for a black community seemingly under siege. But the protests are not being treated as a legitimate form of expression and productive outrage. Instead, the media paint the events as violent disruptions of American society.

State violence

The main complaint of the protestors is the excessive violence exercised by American law enforcement on people of color. The continued disregard for and distrust of America’s black communities by those that are tasked with protecting them has created a state in which a certain section of society has to fear those that police them.

With decades of political inaction, the only recourse left for the embattled community is to take to the streets and perform that most American of all values by freely protesting the government.

State officials are not channeling the understandable outrage into productive events. Instead of granting permits to protests and creating venues for free expression, protesters have met police in riot gear, tear gas, and rubber bullets.

Over half a century since the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dared to dream that one day his children might live in a nation where they would “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” that dream still appears elusive.

Press attacked

Even the press covering the events have faced police repression. A camera crew in Louisville, Kentucky was pelted with pepper-infused non-lethal ammunition. As is common in US policing, the individual officer shooting at the camera crew was not corrected by his colleagues, forcing the local television staff to retreat.

In Minneapolis, state troopers arrested Omar Jimenez, a black reporter for CNN during his live broadcast after repeatedly expressing his team’s willingness to cooperate with police instructions. The governor of Minnesota has since apologized to CNN, but the event remains an example of the distrust and intimidation commonly applied by local law enforcement.

Media framing

US media have covered the protests primarily by first briefly recognizing the grievances of the crowd, before spending the rest of coverage with sensationalist footage of looting and violence.

The Washington Post spoke of “absolute chaos” in its headline, the New York Times similarly called the events a “night of chaos,” while MSNBC emphasized “clashes with police.” Governors, mayors, and state officials around the country have told protesters to “go home” as the media has effectively turned the narrative away from George Floyd’s tragic murder and onto a projecting of chaotic and unruly largely black protesters.

Fox News has been the worst offender as it has disproportionately broadcast footage of looting and violence in an apparent attempt to discredit the protests and reinforce stereotypes of the black community being disruptive and violent.

Black and white contrast

The police and media responses stand in stark contrast to the protests against COVID-19 measures over the past weeks. Heavily armed, mostly white protesters faced no police barricades, tear gas, or rubber bullets, but instead enjoyed a pleasant afternoon as they exercised their unimpeded constitutional right to free speech.

Even when protesters “stormed” the capitol building in Michigan they faced little to no resistance or police response. These protestors were able to enter the government building carrying rifles and pistols and organize rallies with not a single armed police officer in sight.

Systemic racism

The contrast between the protests could not be more clear. Unarmed black protesters with genuine grievances face tear gas and rubber bullets while heavily-armed white protesters disregarding public health advice are treated with “kid gloves.”

The COVID-19 crisis has added even more evidence of the systemic and structural racism that people of color in the United States face on a daily basis. Black Americans are arrested disproportionately, face longer prison sentences, are on average ten times poorer than white Americans, and even die in much greater numbers from COVID-19 infections.

And much more injustice is ahead. As a moratorium on evictions is set to soon expire, a “tsunami of evictions” is coming, which will, again, affect the black community to a much greater extent.

With no political recourse left, a long-unanswered question remains. Americans are left to ponder what black communities are supposed to do to achieve justice and equality in the eyes of law enforcement if merely exercising their constitutional rights to protest their government is met with state violence, media sensationalism, and continuing systemic oppression.

US authorities would be wise to heed the words of Michel Foucault, who said “justice must always question itself, just as society can exist only by means of the work it does on itself and on its institutions.”

36 Countries Have Already Signed Up for G-20 Debt Relief

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Countries around the world are facing the intertwining of a health crisis and an economic crisis caused by containment measures. Rich countries have been able to borrow vast amounts of money from their own citizens, but circumstances have forced most developing nations to borrow on the international market.

For these countries, debt repayment already presents a challenge that costs a significant chunk of their GDP every year, continuing to keep poor countries poor.

In order to provide a lifeline to free up money for COVID-19 containment, treatment, and economic stimulus, the G-20, a group of the world’s richest nations, has proposed a temporary debt service suspension plan.

DSSI

The Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) would allow the world’s most indebted countries to defer loan payments for the rest of 2020, with the missed interest spread over later years.

For countries in the greater MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region such as Afghanistan, Libya, and Yemen, this could mean that millions of dollars are freed up for COVID-19 mitigation and providing economic support to struggling citizens.

It took the G-20 weeks to get the private sector on board with the initiative, but in that time it has already received requests from 36 countries that need debt relief as soon as possible.

The rapid response by indebted nations highlights the imminent threat that crushing debt repayments pose to these countries: African nations alone are expected to pay $44 billion in debt-servicing in 2020.

Alms for the poor?

The 77 eligible “poorest” countries in the world will have to spend a combined $140 billion to service debts in 2020 alone.

Some of the most indebted countries need not apply, as countries such as Eritrea, Syria, and Zimbabwe are “in arrears” with the IMF and World Bank and are therefore “disqualified” for DSSI assistance, even as they are the countries most in need of help.

David Malpass, president of the World Bank, has already warned that much more debt relief is needed. “Alleviating crushing debt cannot be limited to the Least Developed Countries,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said about the matter.

“Overall, the G20 agreement in April and IIF proposal today go nowhere near responding to the unprecedented nature of the coronavirus debt crisis,” Tim Jones, head of policy at Jubilee Debt Campaign told Reuters.

It appears the initiative will bring minimal relief in a time when large, sweeping, collaborative action is required. If the world’s richest countries wanted to, they could easily forgive all debt payments this year.

Paying off the entire $140 billion debt for 2020 would cost a fraction of what the US and EU alone have spent merely trying to keep their airlines and hotels afloat.

Egypt’s COVID-19 Outbreak Intensifies

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On Friday, Egypt recorded a grim and troubling milestone with 1,127 new cases of COVID-19 identified and 29 new deaths. That takes Egypt, the most populous Arab country, to a total number of confirmed cases of 20,793, and 845 fatalities.

Egyptian authorities have taken a relatively casual approach to coronavirus and failed to impose strict lockdown measures for any legitimately effective period of time. This distinguishes Egypt from other countries in the region such as Morocco, where citizens have been in confinement since March 20. 

Egypt’s large population and high population density make managing its coronavirus outbreak difficult. On Thursday, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli moved to increase Egypt’s night-time curfew from 9 to 13 hours per day for 15 days, from Saturday, in response to the high number of new cases.

With the virus showing no signs of abating, Madbouli has been forced to push back plans to gradually reopen the country, and the cabinet decided all eateries, entertainment venues, shopping malls, and retail outlets must remain closed for the foreseeable future. The Health Ministry has updated its coronavirus tracking app that now allows people to self-report if they believe they are infected.  

Gold market still shining 

Like all countries across the MENA region, COVID-19 has hit the Egyptian economy hard. A rare bright spot in Egypt’s recession is the strong gold price, which has spiked as investors seek to put their money into “safe” options such as the precious metal.  

Gold sales themselves have decreased, with one gold shop owner from Giza, Mostafa Mikkawy reporting an 85% drop in sales since Egypt introduced COVID-19 curbs in mid-march.  

“Since March, the gold market is almost frozen, because people are afraid to leave their homes because of the highly infectious virus,” Mikkawy said.  

“Since the appearance of the novel coronavirus in Egypt, the gold market has been suffering a massive recession and sales have fallen by more than 80 percent,” secretary of the Gold Division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce Nady Naguib concurred.

Even though sales are down, the price of Egyptian gold has followed international markets and spiked. 

“The gold price hikes are expected to continue amid the collapse of the economies of some countries because of the coronavirus crisis, and vice versa,” according to Head of the Metallurgical Chamber’s Gold Manufacturers Division at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, Rafik Abbasi.

“Some countries feared the devaluation of their local currencies and the collapse of their economies. As a result, they resorted to buying tons of gold as a safe and global commodity that they can sell after the crisis is over,” his colleague Naguib explained. 

It remains to be seen if gold merchant Mikkaway’s prediction that the price rise is only “temporary” will ring true, or if the gold market will continue to hold as the uncertainty and economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis continues.

Read also: Egyptian Coronavirus Denier Dies From Disease, Infects Family

Kuwait Plans $1.4 Billion Patriot Missile Upgrades

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The US State Department on May 28 approved a possible Kuwaiti purchase of upgrades to its Patriot missile systems. The sale would include 84 interceptor missiles which its producer, Lockheed Martin, describes as small, agile kinetic “kill interceptors” for defense against ballistic and cruise missiles, together with associated equipment and “MSEs,” which extend the range of the anti-air defense system.

The upgrades to Kuwait’s air defense also come with maintenance contracts to repair current installations and install upgrades. The sale has not been completed but the Pentagon assessment means the US is considering the request for military hardware.

What are Patriot missiles?

The Patriot missile system is an anti-air missile defense system that shoots missiles at oncoming ballistic or cruise missiles in an effort to terminate them before they reach their target. The missile system has long been an industry standard but in recent years has faced competition from the European SAMP/T air defense system and the controversial Russian S-400 system.

In the Middle East, US allies Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE currently use the American missile system. The system was originally designed to shoot down planes but during its deployment in the 1991 Gulf War, it became used as an anti-missile system, a feature that Lockheed Martin has made its main selling point as more countries now own ballistic and cruise missiles.

Kuwait’s economy

The $1.4 billion arms purchase comes at a time when Kuwait is facing major economic hardships. Plummeting oil prices and stimulus spending during the pandemic have left the country facing a large deficit that will reach 40% of the country’s overall annual GDP. Almost half of all Kuwaiti businesses have either suspended or closed their business since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, with a further 26% on the verge of collapse, according to Zawya business news.

The trouble with Kuwait’s economy lies in budgeting based on wishful thinking. Government income is almost completely dependent on oil revenue, and Kuwaiti officials had planned their budgets while counting on oil prices to hover around $81 per barrel. The slump in oil demand means oil prices are closer to $30 per barrel, meaning that for every $81 dollar Kuwait was expecting to receive, it is actually receiving less than half.

Anticipating conflict?

The military expenditure in the midst of an economic crisis could be a sign that Kuwait’s government is seeing conflict on the horizon. Wedged in between Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran, the country could be anticipating a major destabilization of the region, with Jordan having committed to a “massive conflict” with Israel if it chooses to invade and annex swaths of the occupied West Bank.

An escalation of hostilities between the US and Iran could also mean Kuwait could stand to benefit from increased anti-missile defense systems as any potential conflict would likely be fought near its borders.

The move could also be purely diplomatic. By purchasing the missile system upgrades, especially as there are other more advanced systems available, could mean the country is simply reconfirming its defensive alliance with the US.

UAE Sends More Food, COVID-19 Aid to Support Sudan

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A plane carrying 11 tons of vital medical aid from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) touched down in Sudan’s capital Khartoum today. According to the UAE’s WAM news agency, the fresh batch of medical supplies will help 11,000 Sudanese medical professionals as they work to fight COVID-19 in the troubled northeast African nation.  

The United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Sudan, Hamad Mohammed Humaid Al Jneibi, said the delivery is further evidence of his country’s commitment to helping Sudan fight the novel coronavirus.

“The UAE stands with Sudan as it confronts one of the most pressing global challenges to public health and security,” Al Jneibi told WAM. 

“With today’s delivery of aid, it is our concrete aim that the frontline healthcare workers of Sudan will be better equipped to fight the pandemic and overcome this crisis,” the ambassador emphasized. 

On April 22, the UAE sent seven tons of food and COVID-19 aid to Sudan. Since the coronavirus crisis began, the UAE has sent 668 metric tons of aid to 58 countries and facilities to countless other crucial aid deliveries through its International Humanitarian Centre. 

The United Nations World Food Programme predicts that “the COVID19 crisis could put nearly 265 million people at risk of acute hunger by the end of 2020.” The UN warns countries like Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan, which already have weak health systems and poor food security, are at high risk of devastating COVID-19 outbreaks and famine, and has called on wealthy nations to double their aid efforts. 

Read also: New UAE Virtual Art Exhibition Privileges Gender Equality 

 

Part 2 – Who are George Floyd and Christian Cooper?

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George Floyd died after a police officer jammed a knee into his throat for seven painful minutes during an arrest for a non-violent crime, until 46-year-old Floyd suffocated. 

Christian Cooper was caught up in an ugly incident in a wild part of New York’s Central Park, where a white woman called the police on him after he politely requested that she leash her dog, as per park rules. 

They both led very different lives, in different parts of America. One is now quietly getting on with life, while the other lies dead, mourned by friends, family, America, and the world. 

Both of them are African-American men.

Part 2 – Who is Christian Cooper?

Christian Cooper is a 58 year old Harvard graduate and former Marvel comic writer who now works as biomedical editor for Health Science Communications. Cooper, a keen birder, spends a lot of his spare time in a semi-wild, protected part of Central Park called the Ramble, where he came across Amy Cooper (no relation) at the weekend. 

A video of the encounter, and the verbal altercation that followed, filmed by Christian has gone viral. Amy Cooper was walking her dog off-leash in the Ramble, a clear contradiction of park rules. 

Christian asked her to leash it then used some dog treats to lure the dog towards him, in an attempt to encourage Amy to leash it. Instead, she lashed out and he started filming the ensuing argument. 

In the clip, after Amy Cooper asks Christian to stop filming, while holding her dog by the collar‒ effectively choking it ‒she pulls out the phone and threatens to call the police if he does not stop videoing. 

“I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” an angry Amy Cooper tells Christian before dialing the police.

“Please call the cops,” Christian calmly responds.

“There’s an African American man, I’m in Central Park, he is recording me and threatening myself and my dog. … Please send the cops immediately!” an increasingly distressed sounding Amy yells into her phone at the police operator, who believed her and dispatched a patrol to the area. 

Christian Cooper walked away before the police arrived and has since been hailed by some as a ‘survivor’ of an incident that, in the light of George Floyd’s death, could also have ended in tragedy. What is clear, is that Amy Cooper knew exactly how to use her white privilege against a black man.

The incident has been costly for Amy, who despite apologising has lost her job and surrendered her dog to the charity she adopted it from. She has been publicly shamed, and the subject of a social media pile-on that has become all too familiar in the last decade. For his part, Christian accepts her apology but told the New York Times (NYT) he had no desire to meet with her and reconcile face to face. 

“Any of us can make – not necessarily a racist mistake, but a mistake,” he told NYT.

“And to get this kind of tidal wave in a compressed period of time, it’s got to hurt. It’s got to hurt. I’m not excusing the racism, but I don’t know her life needed to be torn apart,” Christian added. 

In an interview on May 26, Christian told National Public Radio (NPR)  he was “100%” alert to the fact his bird watching activities could be easily misconstrued due to his skin colour.

“It has occurred to me many times that I, as an African American, crouching down and peering through a shrub with a metal object in my hand will be perceived by authorities likely completely differently than a white birder doing exactly the same thing when we’re both trying to do the same thing, which is see that rare bird that’s, you know, hidden in that shrub,” he acknowledged.

“You know, the simple fact of my skin color means that I run the risk of being perceived as a menace or a threat despite the fact that I’m doing the exact same thing as anybody else in that park.”

Apart from being an avid twitcher, Christian is a trailblazer who worked as an editor and comic writer at Marvel, where he created Yoshi Mishima, “Star Trek’s” first gay human character.  

In many ways, Cooper and Floyd’s lives could not be more different, but throughout both of their lives they have been subject to harassment and racism for being black men in America. It is shocking that it has taken a fatal incident, in George Floyd’s death, to reignite the anger and national conversation around racism in America. All we can hope is that the story of Cooper and Floyd can help pave a path towards equality and safety for African Americans.  

Read also: Part 1 – Who are George Floyd and Christian Cooper?

Part 1 – Who are George Floyd and Christian Cooper?

Posted on by webmaster

George Floyd died after a police officer jammed a knee into his throat for seven painful minutes during an arrest for a non-violent crime, until 46-year-old Floyd suffocated.  

Christian Cooper was caught up in an ugly incident in a wild part of New York’s Central Park, where a white woman called the police on him after he politely requested that she leash her dog, as per park rules.

They both led very different lives, in different parts of America. One is now quietly getting on with life, while the other lies dead, mourned by friends, family, America, and the world. 

Both of them are African-American men. 

Part 1 – Who was George Floyd?

George Floyd was a quiet man whose friends described him as a “gentle giant” and a “beautiful spirit.” Originally from Houston, Floyd moved to Minneapolis in 2014 on the hunt for a job and a fresh start after a stint in jail.

Floyd’s brother, Philonise told CNN “knowing my brother is to love my brother.”

“He’s a gentle giant, he don’t hurt anybody,” a sad and angry Philonise said, in an interview on Tuesday, where he called for the four officers involved in his brother’s death to be charged with murder. 

Floyd was raised in Houston’s Third Ward, a predominantly black neighbourhood, and excelled in high school football thanks, in part, to his athletic 6 foot 6 inches frame. Childhood friend Donnell Cooper fondly remembers Floyd’s football days at the Jack Yates High School, and explained that, after some trouble with the law, his friend moved to Minneapolis in search of a fresh beginning. 

“He was looking to start over fresh, a new beginning,” Harris told the Associated Press. “He was happy with the change he was making.”

Retired NBA player Stephen Jackson, another childhood friend said Floyd “knew he had to relocate to be his best self.”

“The difference between me and bro was I had more opportunity than he did,” Jackson wrote on Instagram following Floyd’s death.  

“Two things we have in common both from the bottom and both of our names will live forever.” 

Floyd died with a police officer’s knee jammed on his neck, pleading for him to stop, saying “I can’t breathe.” Minneapolis Police say he tried to resist arrest for an attempted forgery at a local grocery store, but a video filmed by onlookers shows a helpless Floyd struggling to breath before losing consciousness under the weight of the policeman’s hold. 

“It breaks my heart, he was murdered by a helper,” Dr. Waynel Saxton, Floyd’s second grade teacher told US news channel ABC13.

“As teachers, we teach our children to find helpers when we are in trouble, to find the policeman. I wonder now, as I have been for some years, what do we teach our young black men? Who are the helpers for the young black men?”

Floyd’s death has sparked a wave of violent riots and protests in Minneapolis, and other cities across the United States.

 In the early hours of this morning (local time), a police station, and half a dozen other buildings in Minneapolis’ Third Precinct were torched by protesters who riot police dispersed using pepper spray and batons. A CNN news crew, including black reporter Omar Jiminez was also arrested and detained for a short period, an act the news channel called “a clear violation of their (the news crew’s) First Amendment rights.”

The shocking incident has reignited the 2015 Black Lives Matter campaign started after unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a police officer in Sanford, Florida. It sparked protests in Louisville, Kentucky over the fatal police shooting of black woman Breonna Taylor in March, and comes weeks after a video emerged showing two white men shot and killed unarmed black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. 

Click the link below to read Part 2 – Who is Christian Cooper?

Read also: Part 2 – Who are George Floyd and Christian Cooper?