all four police officers who were
present when George Floyd was arrested
in the u.s. city of Minneapolis are now
facing charges in connection with his
death Derek Chauvin the officer who was
filmed kneeling on his neck has had his
charge elevated to second-degree murder
the three other police officers who were
there have all been charged with aiding
and abetting murder
George Floyd's death has sparked huge
protests in cities across America the
vast majority of demonstrations over the
past eight days have been peaceful but
some have turned violent today the US
defense secretary mark s per distance
himself from President Trump's
suggestion that the military could be
deployed to end protests over George
Floyd's death on North America
correspondent Barbara pleasure is in
Minneapolis for us tonight Robert well
it's been quite a day here I'm at the
memorial site for George Floyd and
earlier his son Quincey and their lawyer
passed through and flagged up that they
were expecting new charges and one of
the key ones that they've been demanding
as you said is that all four officers be
charged and that has happened now the
son has welcomed that and as we were
here we were hearing that the people
chant we got all four we got all four
that has been one of the key rallying
cries for the protests throughout the
week this is how things played out for
the past week protestors have been
demanding justice for George Floyd
tougher action against the police
officers who arrested him there's been
frustration sadness and pain but today
finally some news the very fact that we
have filed these charges means that we
believe in them but what I do not
believe is that one successful
prosecution can rectify the hurt and
loss that so many people feel the
solution to that pain will be slow and
difficult work of constructing justice
and fairness in our society these are
the four officers who arrested George
ployed the one who pinned him to the
ground with a knee to his neck while he
struggled to breathe was charged but not
the others who are now formally accused
of playing a role
in his death today the family returned
to the memorial on the street corner
where mr. Floyd took his last breath
speaking through their lawyer they've
been calling for the authorities to
carry out a thorough investigation into
the actions of the police force systems
in America one for black America and one
for white America we must have equal
justice for the United States of America
protests that began on the streets of
Minneapolis spread across the country in
demonstrations not seen since the civil
rights unrest of the 1960s hundreds of
thousands of people marched defying
curfews clashing with the police
chanting I can't breathe and black lives
matter
the term wall provoked a threat from the
President to deploy the military a
scenario that so alarmed the defense
secretary today he publicly opposed it
the option to use active duty forces in
a law enforcement role should only be
used as a matter of last resort and only
in the most urgent and dire of
situations we are not in one of those
situations now I do not support invoking
the insurrection act the mother of
George Floyd six-year-old daughter said
he'd been a good father
who provided for them graduate you'll
never walk down the charges announced
today may bring justice for mr. Floyd
but they won't be enough to quell the
demands for radical reform of the way
America police's black people this feels
different from previous protests against
police brutality it has galvanized more
people across more divides than ever
before a movement against racial
injustice that will not be easily
silenced
the Attorney General admitted that the
justice system has failed he said in
investigating and bringing to justice
other cases like this in Minnesota but
also across America which is quite an
extraordinary statement but George
Floyd's family are looking for justice
they're hoping that this will play out
in a way that does bring a fair
accountability to what happened and the
prosecution will be closely watched but
what will also be watched is what
happens on the street whether cases of
police brutality continue and how they
are handled so the gore wants this to be
a pivotal moment a tipping point he
called it but it will depend on what
happens going forward Barbara thank you
well George Floyd's name is the latest
in a long list of black Americans to die
as a result of police brutality over
many decades
Clive Murray now looks at how a toxic
mix of racism and bad policing has led
to the most serious racial unrest in the
u.s. for many years his report contains
images you may find disturbing
America's original sin perpetuates the
notion of the supremacy of whiteness
over blackness as enshrined in slavery
where the Negroes have come up against
determined white resistance fighting has
often broken out it helps underpin the
brutality of summing the police
[Applause]
it helps underpin the poverty of the
inner city and it fundamentally
underpins the racial inequality of a
land where all are meant to be equal
I've been reporting from the United
States for almost a quarter of
essentially clive mayer ii BBC News Los
Angeles it's a generous nation but for
some the original sin is still a rule to
live by a slavery morphed into
segregation and civil war battle flags
became proud emblems of identity perhaps
inevitably the institution charged for
centuries with enforcing discrimination
is the one having the toughest time
changing policing in America is opaque
there's little transparency powerful
unions can protect bad cops and the
principle of qualified immunity means
officers accused of misconduct are
almost always given the benefit of the
doubt I think that there are bad apples
among many good police officers in most
departments but the fact that they don't
get outed quickly and dismissed is a
problem the fact that a lot of these
people who do get dismissed because of
misconduct quickly find themselves
recruited by other police departments
and neighboring communities that just go
from one place to another it also
doesn't help that America's policing
system is fragmented to the point of
farce with around 18,000 different
forces in California training can last
24 to 48 weeks while in North Carolina
it's just 16 weeks half the length of
time it takes to become a licensed
barber in the state whatever the
training the real-life fear of stopping
a suspect who may be armed in a country
awash with guns can lead to bad
decisions
this is Atlanta in Georgia it's after
curfew
during protests over the death of George
Floyd police stop a car with two college
students inside who protests they simply
got stuck in traffic and didn't mean to
break the curfew the officers aren't
convinced the students are tasered you
can hear the tension and fear in the
officers for the students six officers
now face misconduct charges rogue cops
inadequate training and week oversight
or a toxic mix then add racism a scourge
in America that sleeps lightly when it
sleeps at all to wake all it needs is
the slightest provocation has happened
on a Minneapolis Street one day in May
Clive Meyer E BBC News hear thousands of
people have taken to the streets of
London to join in the protests at the
death of George Floyd the event was
organized by the black lives matter
groups and began in Hyde Park ciccio's
and it was there the gesture of a
generation a protest against needless
death thousands gathered at London's
Hyde Park to march against racism in
solidarity with the protests in the
United States just because the way of
all this is Louise hammer Margaret and
her son Jay go Louie says she dreads the
day she'll have to sit her son down and
explain why he may face discrimination
the truth of the matter is I will have
to have that difficult conversation and
I will have to say that there are
certain things that you should do and
certain things you should say and be
mindful of who you are your race and how
people might see you and judge you and
treat you judgment and treatment felt by
Star Wars actor John boyega
[Applause]
people here are angry they say that this
has been a long time coming and that the
death of Deloitte in the United States
is just a catalyst to express how
they're feeling they say that the UK is
no different when it comes to racism it
was a largely peaceful protest but
towards the end this was a Downing
Street and after the protest was
officially over more clashes organizers
thought only up to a thousand people
would walk with them today so this is a
turnout of support they didn't expect
[Applause]
this is a demand for change occurring
around the world and the voices from the
UK also want to be heard
chi Chi's ndu BBC News