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Members of Black Lives Matter protest on the fifth anniversary of the death of Eric Garner, a day after federal prosecutors announced their decision not to prosecute NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo or other officers for charges related to his death, in New York, U.S., July 17, 2019.

REUTERS/Michael A. McCoy

Eric Garner’s ‘I Can’t Breathe’ and its echo through time

Tomorrow marks 10 years since the tragic death of Eric Garner at the hands of police violence. His death sparked mass protests in New York City and other US cities, significantly influencing the Black Lives Matter movement.

On July 17, 2014, in Staten Island, New York, police officers approached Garner, a Black man, for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes. The situation escalated as police moved to arrest him. Officer Daniel Pantaleo placed Garner in a chokehold – violating NYPD policy – which ultimately led to Garner’s death.

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Fallout from riots in France
Fallout from riots in France | Quick Take | GZERO Media

Fallout from riots in France

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi, everybody, and a happy Fourth to you. Just a couple of days in Nantucket. Very enjoyable. And wanted to talk a little bit about a place that is a little less enjoyable right now, which is France.

You've seen massive riots across the country over almost a week, the worst in nearly 20 years in France, which is really saying something for that country. Social protest is basically taken as sport and riots are frequent. But even in that context, this has been notable and exceptional. What what sparked it off has nothing to do with extending pensions from 62 to 64. Those were major demonstrations across the country, but basically just shut down the economy for a period of time. Not so much violent protests. No, these violent riots and lootings and the like were set off by the French police gunning down a 17 year old French boy about Algerian descent. He was trying to get away from the police. They were trying to stop him. The police immediately said that he was killed in self-defense, that he was trying to run the police over. That turned out very quickly to be a lie because there was video capturing the French gunning at him as he was trying to get away and that it's kind of a George Floyd type situation in France. The response is deeply political. In other words, what you believe about who is responsible depends very little on the facts of the case and overwhelmingly on where you happen to stand politically. On the one hand, you've got Muslims that are seen by the right in France as taking over French identity, as not really being French. Big structural problems in France, in the suburbs outside of the wealthier French cities where most of the Muslim population lives. A lot of drug trafficking there, a lot of violent crime, a lot of poverty. If you ask the average French citizen what percentage of the population is Muslim, on average, they respond by saying a third, which is insane. It's actually some 10%. But that sensibility gives you a sense of how this is played on the right politically in France.

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A protester holds up a sign as law enforcement personnel look on during a rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Washington, DC.

REUTERS/Jim Bourg

Hard Numbers: US police brutality payout, Indian building boycott, GDPR’s birthday billions, Russian Gold Rushin’

80 million: American cities will pay out at least $80 million to settle lawsuits brought by people injured by police during the racial justice protests that roiled the country in the summer of 2020. Experts say the amount — paid to people who were teargassed, shot with projectiles, or beaten — is “unprecedented” in the history of settlements for police brutality.

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Nikole Hannah-Jones blames backlash against 1619 Project, CRT on the myth of US "exceptionalism"
Hannah-Jones Blames Backlash Against 1619 Project on the Myth of US "Exceptionalism" | GZERO World

Nikole Hannah-Jones blames backlash against 1619 Project, CRT on the myth of US "exceptionalism"

Why is there such a strong conservative reaction to the 1619 Project and critical race theory?

For Nikole Hannah-Jones, the New York Times journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for her work as creator of the 1619 Project, a big part of the problem is that we, "as Americans, are deeply, deeply invested in this mythology of exceptionalism.

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A world of George Floyds, one year later

A year ago, the police murder of George Floyd galvanized a new generation of protest and advocacy for racial justice and police reform in the United States. But it also energized activists in other countries, who for decades had been waging their own fights for social and racial justice.

Here we take a look at three places where the Floyd rallies struck a chord and ask: what's happened in the year since?

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Paige Fusco

The Graphic Truth: Do European cops target ethnic groups?

The murder of George Floyd last summer in the US sparked a global anti-racism movement. Since then, racism and police discrimination against minority groups in Europe have gained wider attention. There's evidence that that non-white Europeans are disproportionately stopped by police compared to the majority white population — and new research shows that many believe they are regularly singled out by police based solely on their ethnicity. We take a look at ethnic groups' perceptions of being targeted by police in various European countries.

US global reputation a year after George Floyd's murder; EU sanctions against Belarus; Olympics outlook
title placeholder | World In :60 | GZERO Media

US global reputation a year after George Floyd's murder; EU sanctions against Belarus; Olympics outlook

Ian Bremmer shares his perspective on global politics on World In 60 Seconds (aka Around the World in 180 Seconds) with help from Moose the dog:

On the anniversary of George Floyd's murder, have race relations in the United States tarnished its reputation globally?

Sure it doesn't help. There's no question in the United States is one of the most racially divided and violent countries among advanced industrial democracies. And to the extent that the United States attempts to talk about human rights globally, it has a harder time doing that than other G7 countries would. And the Russians historically, and increasingly the Chinese, are trying to propagandize pretty hard by pointing out American hypocrisy. So I think it matters, but I would still argue that what the United States does internationally probably matters a lot more in terms of the way the US is perceived by those countries. So, no question it's important. And the legacy one year in, so far in the United States in terms of improving race relations, the state of that trajectory does not look great right now.

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What We're Watching: A year since George Floyd, G7 corporate tax, Samoa's political crisis

Marking a year since George Floyd's murder: May 25 marks one year since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which galvanized the biggest anti-racism movement in America in generations – and inspired a global reckoning with racial inequality and policing in dozens of countries around the world. Since then, former police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with Floyd's murder, a historic development after decades of near-total impunity for police who use excessive force against Black Americans. But many say that Chauvin's' conviction is not enough and are calling for the passage of broad police reform legislation in the US Congress. While the House of Representatives passed the George Floyd Police Reform Act, the bill in its current form doesn't appear to have sufficient support to pass in the Senate. One of the biggest sticking points in the bill is over "qualified immunity," which protects government officials and law enforcement from being held personally liable for constitutional violations. Republicans oppose this structural reform, but even if they come to an agreement in the Senate, progressive House Democrats say they will not accept a watered-down version that does not eliminate this provision in at least some instances. Meanwhile, President Biden will host the Floyd family at the White House on Tuesday.

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