![]() The handling of the demonstration, which was tolerated but not authorized by burgomaster Philippe Close despite coronavirus lockdown measures, was criticized by various politicians. During and after the demonstration, 239 arrests were made, including 7 judiciary arrests. 28 police officers were injured, one of them seriously. Similarly, various public and private organizations, institutions, and groups took to renaming buildings, streets, and brands due to public pressure or on their own initiative.Įvents outside the United States In Belgium ĭuring a demonstration in Brussels on June 7, police officers were assaulted, and protesters broke the windows of several shops, which were subsequently looted. Outside of the U.S., monuments and symbols associated with European colonialism and the Atlantic slave trade were also vandalized or removed. In the U.S., renaming and removal efforts mostly surrounded monuments, relics, and memorials to the Confederacy and historical figures often associated with racism, segregation, or slavery, such as Christopher Columbus, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Pike. Many monuments were simply vandalized by protesters as well. The social unrest surrounding the protests resulted in reinvigorated efforts by activists and sympathetic institutions to physically relocate or remove controversial monuments and memorials across the world associated with colonialism and slavery, or otherwise deemed racially or culturally insensitive. It was temporarily replaced with a new sculpture (bottom) by activists. ![]() The Thompson Elk Fountain in Portland, Oregon (top) was damaged and removed during protests in July 2020. Amnesty International issued a press release calling for the police to end excessive militarized responses to the protests. There have also been numerous reports and videos of aggressive police actions using physical force including " batons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on protesters, bystanders and journalists, often without warning or seemingly unprovoked." These incidents have provoked "growing concern that aggressive law enforcement tactics intended to impose order were instead inflaming tensions." The police responded that such tactics are necessary to prevent vandalism and arson, and that police officers have been assaulted with rocks and water bottles. Clashes and other forms of violence were at various times initiated by protestors, by counterprotestors, and by police, and were usually driven by opportunistic criminals rather than organized extremist groups. However, police made arrests in about 5% of protest events (deploying chemical irritants in 2.5% of events) 3.7% of protest events were associated with property damage or vandalism (including damages by persons not involved in the actual demonstration) and protesters or bystanders were injured or killed in 1.6% of events. The majority of the George Floyd protests, a series of protests and unrest which began in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 26, 2020, in response to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin, were peaceful an estimated 93%–96.3% of demonstrations were peaceful and nondestructive, involving no injuries or no property damage. Property damage estimates resulting from arson, vandalism and looting ranged from $1 to $2 billion, eclipsing the highest inflation adjusted totals for the 1992 Los Angeles riots. There was police brutality against protesters and journalists. Demonstrations in many other cities also descended into riots and widespread looting. In Minneapolis, destruction of property began on May 26, 2020, with the protests involving vandalism and arson. Local protests in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area quickly spread nationwide in more than 2,000 cities and towns, as well as over 60 countries internationally in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |