Over the past few days, public anger has spread across the United States by protests sparked by the "death of George Floyd, an African-American man by white police brutality" in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With the continuous fermentation of the incident, the people of the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Russia and other countries have also taken to the streets in solidarity with the demonstrations of the American people against the violent law enforcement of the police.
Police brutality in the United States has never been an isolated case
Freud's tragedy makes people regret and anger... But such a thing has never been an isolated case in the United States, and the deaths and injuries caused by violent law enforcement by police in the United States are frequently reported.
The police "locked their throats" to the tobacco dealer and caused his death
On July 17, 2014, smoke dealer Garner attempted to arrest him by selling cigarettes at a convenience store on Staten Island, New York, when several police officers suspected him of selling unpaid cigarettes. Ghana refused to comply, and one of the policemen strangled Garner's neck from behind, eventually resulting in Garner's death.
Although the "throat locking" of suspects was prohibited by the New York police, after the incident, the Grand Jury of Staten Island in New York decided not to prosecute the police officers involved, a ruling that sparked mass protests.
18-year-old shot dead More than 100 cities across the United States protested
△ Victim Michael Brown
Less than a month after the death of the tobacco dealer Garner, on August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old African-American youth in Ferguson, Missouri, was shot and killed by police. One witness said Brown was unarmed and that his hand was raised in the air when police opened fire and killed him. But police said Michael Brown deserved it. The incident sparked ongoing unrest and riots in the region.
The decision of the Missouri grand jury and the New York state grand jury not to prosecute white police officers triggered a massive demonstration and protest movement in more than 170 cities across the United States. Authorities cracked down hard, with police even aggressively arresting street citizens, and some residents of the Ferguson area were illegally arrested and detained by police on their way home.
Two people were killed by police shots for two consecutive days
In 2016, there were two consecutive deaths of police shootings of black people for two consecutive days.
On July 5, Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old hawker in Louisiana, was shot and killed by two police officers while peddling discs in front of a convenience store.
On July 6, a police officer shot four or five times in a row while interrogating 32-year-old man, Félando Castil, on suspicion of violating traffic rules. Castille's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, shocked the nation by witnessing the tragedy and taking a video and uploading it to the Internet.
On July 7, large-scale demonstrations broke out in major U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., New York, and São Paulo. From 8 p.m. that same day, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington to demonstrate.
The victims are not exclusively of African descent
The white man was shot while asleep
However, the victims of excessive law enforcement by the U.S. police are not the only African-American residents.
According to the Associated Press, in the early morning of March this year, Lepp, a 21-year-old man in Maryland, was shot by the police from outside the house while he was asleep at home, and Lepp's girlfriend was also injured.
Police said they shot and killed Lopp during a confrontation with the suspect, and police later recovered 3 rifles and 2 pistols from Lepp's home.
△ Victim Lepp, image source Associated Press
But Lopp's lawyers said the police's claims were the exact opposite of those of witnesses. According to witnesses, when the police shot into the room from outside the window, Lepp and his girlfriend were lying in bed asleep, and not only was there no need to shoot, but the police did not make any warning behavior before shooting.
The lawyer also said that there is no arrest warrant or other reason that could allow this to happen (shooting and killing) unless the police's law enforcement actions are subject to imminent threats.
When will excessive enforcement stop?
According to the statistics of relevant agencies, in recent years, the number of deaths caused by shootings in the process of police enforcement in the United States has shown an upward trend. In 2017, 988 people died at police guns, compared to 996 in 2018, rising to 1,004 in 2019, and by March 30, a total of 228 had been shot by police this year.
△ The number of people killed by police shootings in the United States in 2017-2020
In recent years, police violence has become a hot topic in the United States. In addition to violent law enforcement deaths, other law enforcement irregularities are also occurring.
△ US media reported that the New York police stole money from the person being examined
A New York police officer reportedly stole $1,300 from the person being inspected, and when the subject and his sister made accusations and asked to see his badge number, the officer sprayed pepper water on their faces, and another police officer next to them ignored it.
In the recent protests triggered by the "white police violent law enforcement caused the death of African-American men", the response methods of the Us police are still controversial
△ Video: Violent law enforcement at the protest site, this is the American police officer that Trump praised
Producer 丨 Tang Yi
Producer 丨 Zhang Qibin Fang Yiting
Planning 丨 Zhang Yuan
Edited by 丨Hu Yu Cui Zhilin
Source: CCTV news client