Justice For George

Protests and riots rock America after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a policeman

- Jane Voster

Buildings up in flames, cars burning, shop windows smashed, city streets engulfed in a haze of tear gas and smoke, stun grenades and rubber bullets flying – to the outside eye America looked like a warzone.

And that’s exactly what it is. But it’s not at war with another superpower – it’s at war with itself. From coast to coast, tens of thousands of Americans recently surged out onto the streets, taking their protest right up to the gates of the White House in Washington DC. And their message was clear: they’d had enough.

Holed up in the mansion with an angry mob outside, President Donald Trump dismissed the protesters as “thugs”, “looters” and “anarchists”.

But the rest of the world wasn’t buying it. After seeing the shocking footage of George Floyd (46) pinned under a white police officer’s knee, begging in vain for his life, most people can completely understand the fury of the crowds.

In the viral video, Minnesota cop Derek Chauvin (44) can be seen jamming his knee into the side of George’s neck, as the unarmed man lies face down on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Despite George’s repeated cries of “I can’t breathe”, Chauvin refuses to budge while his three colleagues look on. For almost nine minutes Chauvin remains in this pose – and when he finally lifts his knee, George is no longer capable of saying anything because he’s dead.

It’s happened before and now it’s happened again.