George Floyd’s coffin put on view for public as Democrats introduce federal police reform legislation
Pressure grows on on Monday for lawmakers to force change
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Members of the public were allowed to view George Floyd's coffin in his hometown of Houston, Texas, on Monday as global protests sparked by his death continued over the weekend. His body was on display for six hours to allow for the public viewing.
On Tuesday, a private memorial would be held in funeral with a 500-person limit. The reasoning behind the limit was to help everyone attending maintain social distancing guidelines during the service.
In response to Black Lives Matter protests across the nation, Congressional Democrats unveiled new legislation that would directly tackle police reform across the United States. But Republicans have urged caution about passing anything on the federal level addressing police reform and brutality.
On the state and local level, Minneapolis lawmakers pledged to dismantle its police department, promising to create, instead, a new system of public safety, while New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would cut the city's $6bn police budget and spend more on social services. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also vowed to cut $100m to $150m of his city's police budget, just a few days after he planned to increase that same budget by 7 per cent.
All of this comes as Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, made a virtual appearance in court on Monday.
The judge accepted prosecutors' $1.25m unconditioned bail, which changes to $1m with conditions. These conditions include Chauvin remaining a law-abiding citizen, attending all court appearances, refraining from taking any law enforcement and security jobs, and handing over all firearms.
Whether Chauvin would be able to post bail remains to be seen.
President Donald Trump has continued his rhetoric of "law and order" amid the protests across the country. He's accused the Democrats of pushing "defund the police" rhetoric, but prominent Democrats like former Vice President Joe Biden said they did not support the movement. Instead, Mr Biden advocated for funding community policing policies and other vital programmes.
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Police chief defends decision not to intervene in statue protest
The chief constable of Avon and Somerset Police has backed officers who did not intervene when protesters pulled down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston on Sunday.
In a video statement posted on social media, Andy Marsh said his officers did not want to arrest suspects immediately because they did not want to spark a “very violent confrontation” between police and the protesters.
“We had deployed officers to respond to take appropriate action but the commanders on the ground made the decision not to intervene,” Mr Marsh said.
“To arrest suspects would likely lead to injuries to suspects, injuries to officers and people who were not involved in damaging property being thrown into a very violent confrontation with the police that could have had serious ramifications for the city of Bristol and beyond.”
He added: “Can you imagine scenes of police in Bristol fighting with protesters who were damaging the statue of a man who is reputed to have gathered much of his fortune through the slave trade?
“I think there would have been very serious implications and whilst I certainly do not condone crime or damage of any sort, I fully support the actions of my officers.
“They responded with common sense, sound judgment and in the best interest of public safety.”
You can find his full statement below:
Former police officer charged with murder over Floyd death to make first court appearance
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who has been charged with murder over the death of George Floyd, is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Monday afternoon.
Mr Chauvin has been in jail since his arrest on 29 May and last week saw a charge of second-degree murder added to his case.
He is accused of killing Mr Floyd by pressing his knee on the unarmed man's neck for almost nine minutes during an arrest last month.
ABC News has tweeted footage of Sunday's protest in Los Angeles against police violence.
A statue of Confederate soldier John Castleman has just been removed by workers in Louisville, Kentucky. The 1913 statue has long been subject to calls for it to be taken down.
Sean O'Grady: Yes, Churchill was a racist – but that’s only part of the truth
In the big scheme of things, it’s a minor piece of vandalism – but an unfortunate one as, quite unlike the defenestration of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, the wartime prime minister is an obviously revered national hero, writes Sean O'Grady after London protesters daubed graffiti on a statue of Winston Churchill.
The desecration of the monument is something that has upset and alienated some people from the worthy cause of Black Lives Matter protestors. Like the guy who tried to burn the union flag on the cenotaph, it was an act self-consciously designed to shock.
The allegation of racism was clearly done as a deliberate act of outrage, attention-seeking, a sort of punk politics, as when someone used a chunk of turf to give the old man a “Mohican” hairstyle in a previous wave of protests a few years ago.
Read more:
US president Donald Trump has begun his day on Twitter by sarcastically praising Republican senator Mitt Romney for attending a Black Lives Matter protest.
Despite Mr Trump's claim, a recent poll shows support in Utah for Mr Romney is on the up - and higher than the latest polling there for Mr Trump himself.
Donald Trump is attempting to position himself as the "law and order" candidate, despite his position as the incumbent president amid the protests.
He is also falsely attempting to cast the Democratic Party at large as in favour of abolishing police departments across the US.
Donald Trump is claiming a new CNN presidential poll showing Joe Biden with a 14-point lead is "fake".
"Same numbers, and worse", against Hillary Clinton, he adds. In fact, CNN polls never showed Ms Clinton with a lead in 2016 as large as Mr Biden's now.
Lewis Hamilton addresses toppling of Bristol slave trader statue
Prevented from doing his day job by the coronavirus outbreak, Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton is standing out during the pandemic through his passionate campaigning against racial injustice.
The Mercedes driver took to Instagram on Monday in support of demonstrators who toppled a statue of a 17th-century slave trader in the English city of Bristol during one of the many global protests in the Black Lives Matter movement.
“All statues of racist men who made money from selling a human being should be torn down!” Hamilton wrote on the social-networking site. “Which one is next?”
In a later post to his 16.5 million followers, the Briton issued a challenge to governments worldwide “to make these changes and implement the peaceful removal of these racist symbols".
Hamilton was just as vocal last week following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck even after he pleaded for air while lying handcuffed on the ground.
Hamilton said he has “felt so much anger sadness and disbelief in what my eyes have seen,” adding that “those of us who are black, brown or in between see it everyday and should not have to feel as though we were born guilty, don't belong, or fear for our lives based on the colour of our skin“.
Associated Press
Tory MP appears to defend 17th century slave trader
A Conservative MP has caused controversy by appearing to defend the actions of a 17th-century slave trader on social media.
Ben Bradley, the Tory MP for Mansfield, seemed to offer a defence of the slave trader Edward Colston in a tweet posted on Sunday.
Mr Bradley was responding to the toppling of a statue of Colston in Bristol by Black Lives Matter protesters on Sunday afternoon.
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