George Floyd killing: Washington expecting biggest march yet as mourners prepare for second memorial service – live

The sheriff of Hoke county, where today’s memorial service for George Floyd will take place, has spoken to CNN about the difficulties of being a black law enforcement official while protests against racial injustice and police brutality take place across the country.

“We’re [being] questioned from the black community: How can you be a part of all this mess,” said Hubert Peterkin.

Peterkin added that Floyd’s family had reached out to ask him to help in arranging Saturday’s service.

“I didn’t know how Bridget, the sister, was going to receive me as a law enforcement person,” he said. “There are people who are mad with law enforcement, who’ve never had an incident. Or they just don’t like what’s going on and they should not like what’s going on. But when I walked in front of this woman, and that family, and they embraced me like they did, and hugged me and said thank you. It was tears. I can’t express the feeling. I left there that day saying, wow, you know, that means there’s some hope.”

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has attacked China’s “obscene propaganda” over the killing of George Floyd.

In a statement released on Saturday, Pompeo criticized “the Chinese Communist Party’s callous exploitation of the tragic death of George Floyd to justify its denial of basic human dignity exposes its true colors yet again.”

Pompeo said there was a stark contrast between the way China and the US treat their own citizens. “In China, when doctors and journalists warn of the dangers of a new disease the [Chinese Communist Party] silences and disappears them … in the United States, we value life and transparent systems.”

Some may argue Pompeo’s boss does not exactly value those transparent systems and the press holding the government to account.

There will be a public memorial service for George Floyd today in Fayetteville, North Carolina, close to where he was born. Members of the public will be able to view Floyd’s casket between 11am and 1pm at a local church before a private service for family later in the day. Mourners will be allowed in 10 at a time, and will be asked to wear masks.

There will be another memorial for Floyd in Houston, where he spent much of his life. Many members of his extended family still live in North Carolina and will attend today’s service.

On Friday night, hundreds of people marched down Fayetteville’s Main Street to mark the killing of Floyd by police in Minnesota. “This is important to do because this is something that is ongoing,” LaToya Gordon of Hoke County Peacemakers, a group that organized the march, told the Fayetteville Observer. “Everybody felt that we wanted people to know that we can be peaceful and be heard.”

The Charlotte Observer has details of the scenes in the town as people start to gather for the memorial:

People set up chairs along the busy highway as police dogs scanned the conference-center parking lot. Vendors set up across the highway, giving out Black Lives Matter buttons and selling Floyd shirts that read, “I can’t breathe.”

Gregg Packer took an overnight train from Long Island in New York, arriving in Fayetteville at 3 a.m.

“I felt like I needed to come down here to support the protests and the family of George Floyd,” he said, placing an emphasis on the slain man’s name. “I hope that we can all get along with each other, that we can start treating each other the way we all should.”

Some locals found meaning in a global event arriving at their door, feeling compelled to represent their corner of the world.

“With Fayetteville being a small town, it’s a military town but it’s still small, and Raeford is even smaller,” said Gracie Howard. “All eyes being on this community, it’s opened up a lot of eyes to racial injustice. This has been going on too long. And George, he changed the world.”

The NFL, which has willingly acquiesced to Donald Trump’s opposition to peaceful protesting since Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016, changed tack last night. The league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, put out a statement admitting the league had been wrong not to listen to its players’ opposition to racism (although, significantly, Goodell did not mention Kaepernick, who has been effectively exiled from the league).

Melissa Jacobs has written on the significance of Goodell’s statement:

Goodell hardly deserves a parade for his change of tone. After all, his NFL is the one that tossed aside its moral compass and turned its back on Kaepernick four years ago and every day since. Goodell’s statement would have been far more powerful had he mentioned Kaepernick by name. Either way, the NFL’s banishment of Kaepernick is a permanent stain on the NFL. Nothing can change that now.

Goodell’s statement was not proactive but reactive to a litany of players who drew a line in the sand. But it was quick and decisive and achieved the unthinkable: The NFL gave Donald Trump the middle finger. It finally detached itself from Trump and his crazy, dangerous strategy of exploiting the flag and national anthem to suppress and demonize peaceful protest.

You can read the full article below:

The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh has filed a grievance after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette pulled an African American reporter from its coverage of this week’s protests because they believed she lacked objectivity.

In a tweet that went viral, Alexis Johnson compared the looting that has taken place at some protests over the police killing of George Floyd to the damage caused by fans at a concert by country singer Kenny Chesney.

Members of the Pittsburgh guild subsequently sent identical versions of Johnson’s tweet along with the hashtag #IStandWithAlexis.

“We feel taking a black woman off the most monumental national story about civil rights in the last 50 years is punishment,” the guild’s president, Michael A Fuoco, told the Associated Press. “We have very few black journalists. Someone who has the contacts and the insights for this story, that is what you want.”

The Post-Gazette is yet to comment on the matter.

On Friday, Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto praised Johnson’s reporting. “I have first account knowledge of her reporting,” he wrote on Twitter. “She has been fair in questioning all sides. She has been critical of me & our administration- when it was necessary. Most importantly, she has been professional in journalistic accepted practices & integrity.”

Johnson said on Friday she has been touched by the support she has received. “Okay. Now I’m crying thank you @PGNewsGuild for going to bat for me,” he wrote. “Thank you everyone for your support and your words of encouragement, your actions. I am just … wow. Thank you.”

General Charles Q Brown Jr, a nominee to become the US Air Force’s first-ever black service chief, has posted a video to Twitter talking about his experiences as an African American military member.

“I’m thinking about how full I am with emotion, not just for George Floyd, but the many African Americans who have suffered the same fate as George Floyd. I’m thinking about protests in my country … The equality expressed in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that I’ve sworn my adult life to protect and defend,” he said. “I’m thinking … about my own experiences, that didn’t always sing of liberty and equality. I’m thinking about living in two worlds, each with their own perspective and views.”

Brown logged 130 combat hours as a fighter pilot but said he had to work harder than others in the Air Force to prove himself. “I’m thinking about the pressure that I felt to perform error free, especially for supervisors that I perceived expected less of me as an African American,” he said. “I’m thinking about having to represent, to work twice as hard, to prove that their perceptions of African Americans were invalid.”

A report last week detailed racial disparities in the Air Force’s justice system. Brown talked in the video how he hopes he can change the service if he is appointed as the service’s new head.

“I’m thinking about how my nomination provides some hope but also comes with a heavy burden,” he said. “I can’t fix centuries of racism in our country, nor can I fix decades of discrimination that may have affected members of our Air Force.”

Reports last week indicated the US attorney general, William Barr, had ordered law enforcement to use gas and horses to clear a group of peaceful protesters who had gathered near the White House so that Donald Trump could hold a photo opportunity outside a local church. Now Barr, like so many Trump allies, is in damage limitation mode and says he did not personally issue any such command – even if he agreed with it.

“I’m not involved in giving tactical commands like that,” Barr told the Associated Press on Friday. “I was frustrated and I was also worried that as the crowd grew, it was going to be harder and harder to do. So my attitude was get it done, but I didn’t say, ‘Go do it.’”

Guardian columnist Lloyd Green has had a deeper look at Barr, and his influence in Trump’s administration:

Where Trump has been a bumbling, self-interested and ideologically erratic leader – a weak man’s strongman – Barr is smart, dedicated and disciplined. He understands how to wield power and holds a consistent worldview. He’s an aggressive advocate for executive power and the police – who happens to be America’s top law enforcement officer at the same time as unrest roils the country.

You can read the full article here:

I’m handing over to my colleague Tom Lutz in New York now, thank you to everyone for reading along and sending in your comments and suggestions.

Guardian US reporter Kenya Evelyn explains why the unrest sparked by the police killing of George Floyd could be a defining moment for racial politics in America, and how the coronavirus pandemic set the backdrop for the protests.

Despite warnings from the government to avoid mass gatherings due to Covid-19 restrictions, Parliament Square in London is already full of protesters today.

Other protests are planned for around the country, including in Manchester, Leicester, Sheffield and Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The home secretary, Priti Patel, urged people not to join the Black Lives Matter protests because “we must put public health first at this particular time”. She said:

I completely understand people’s desire to express their views and have that right to protest, but the fact of the matter is we are in a health pandemic.

I’d say that those who want to protest, please don’t.

Videos have shown hundreds of protesters kneeling in silence – a gesture used to protest against police brutality and racism.

Meanwhile, some people are handing out free personal protective equipment (PPE) to demonstrators – hand sanitiser, gloves and masks.