The Police Are Investigating More Attacks against Black Demonstrators in the United States

Published in Jyllands-Posten
(Denmark) on 9 June 2020
by Berit Ertmann (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Benedicte Nielsen. Edited by Elizabeth Cosgriff.
In many states, there are reports about verbal or physical attacks on "Black Lives Matter" demonstrators.

The protests against police brutality and racism following George Floyd’s death have entered their third week.

The demonstrations against the police treatment of George Floyd and police brutality against Black people in general have entered their third week, and every day large crowds have been on the streets in numerous American cities.

The protests have also sparked some counter-demonstrations and attacks against demonstrators, which police in several states are investigating. On Monday, a man who police assume is a high-ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan was arrested and charged with driving a truck into a crowd of protesters in Richmond, Virginia, on Sunday.

Among other charges, the 36-year-old man is charged with assault and battery on demonstrators who protested in favor of the "Black Lives Matter" cause.

According to investigators, it is being investigated whether the man attacked the demonstration based on the demonstrators' ethnicity or skin color, and therefore should also be charged with hate crimes.

Elsewhere, similar episodes have been reported. In Seattle, a man drove his car at top speed directly toward the protesters. According to The Seattle Times, when some demonstrators tried to stop the car, the man shot one demonstrator in the arm.

In Texas, Utah, New York and California, there have also been episodes where "Black Lives Matter” demonstrators have been threatened and verbally assaulted with racist slurs. In Suffolk, New York, a 22-year-old man reported an assault by what he describes as "supporters of white supremacy."

"They truly started attacking us with no warning," reads the demonstrator's explanation on the social media platform Instagram.

Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone announced Monday at a news conference that Suffolk police have received the report and are investigating the incident.

"We take hate crimes very seriously in this county," he said.

In several media outlets in the United States, some of the people behind the attacks have been identified as members of the "Boogaloo" movement and other groups that, according to experts in extremism and terrorism, can be both white supremacists and people who are against those in power and the authorities in general.

They “hope to set off a series of chain reactions, with violence fomenting violence, and more and more people join the fray," according to an analysis on the blog Lawfare by counterterrorism researcher Daniel Byman.

Floyd died May 25 in police custody following a rough arrest in which a police officer knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, despite Floyd repeatedly saying he could not breathe. The officer who was responsible is now charged with murder.

The incident has triggered global protests and has become a symbol of structural racism in the United States and across the world.


Politiet undersøger flere angreb mod sorte demonstranter i USA

I flere stater er der meldinger om verbale eller fysiske angreb på "Black Lives Matter"-demonstranter.

Play Video

Protesterne mod politibrutalitet og racisme efter George Floyds død er gået ind i sin tredje uge. Video: Reuters

BERIT ERTMANN

Demonstrationerne over politiets behandling af George Floyd og politibrutalitet mod sorte generelt er gået ind i sin tredje uge, og store menneskemængder har hver dag været på gaden i talrige amerikanske storbyer.

Protesterne har også affødt enkelte moddemonstrationer og angreb mod demonstranter, som politiet i flere stater er ved at undersøge. Mandag blev en mand, som politiet antager er et højtstående medlem af Ku Klux Klan, således anholdt og sigtet for at køre en bil ind i en gruppe af mennesker, som søndag demonstrerede i Richmond, Virginia.

Den 36-årige mand er bl.a. sigtet for overfald samt legemsbeskadigelse på demonstranter, der protesterede til fordel for "Black Lives Matter"-sagen.

Ifølge efterforskerne er man ved at undersøge, om manden angreb demonstrationen på baggrund af demonstranternes etnicitet eller hudfarve og derfor tillige skal sigtes for hadforbrydelser.

Andre steder er der rapporteret om lignende episoder. I Seattle kørte en mand i høj fart sin bil direkte mod de protesterende mennesker. Da nogle demonstranter forsøgte at stoppe bilen, skød manden ifølge Seattle Times den ene demonstrant i armen.

I Texas, Utah, New York og Californien har der også været episoder, hvor "Black Lives Matter"-demonstranter er blevet truet og overfaldet verbalt med racistiske tilråb. I Suffolk, New York, har en 22-årig mand anmeldt et overfald fra, hvad han selv betegner som »tilhængere af hvidt overherredømme«.

»De angreb os bare uden varsel,« lyder demonstrantens forklaring på det sociale medie Instagram.

Politiet i Suffolk har modtaget anmeldelsen og undersøger hændelsen, meddelte politichefen i distriktet, Steve Bellone mandag på et pressemøde.

»Vi tager hadforbrydelser meget alvorligt i vores kreds,« sagde han.

I flere amerikanske medier er nogle af personerne bag angrebene blevet identificeret som medlemmer af "boogaloo"-bevægelsen og andre grupper, der ifølge eksperter i ekstremisme og terrorisme både kan være hvide supremacister og personer, der er imod magthaverne og myndighederne generelt.

»De håber at starte en kædereaktion, hvor vold avler vold, og flere og flere går ind i kampen,« lyder det bl.a. i en analyse fra antiterrorforskeren Daniel Byman på bloggen Lawfare.

George Floyd døde den 25. maj i politiets varetægt efter en hårdhændet anholdelse, hvor en betjent holdt knæet på Floyds hals i knap ni minutter, på trods af at George Floyd flere gange sagde, at han ikke kunne få luft. Den ansvarlige betjent er nu sigtet for drab.

Hændelsen har sat gang i globale protester og er blevet et symbol på strukturel racisme i USA og over resten af verden.
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