Thread by @pleasesaveour

The world is watching in horror

Millions of people around the world watched footage filmed Monday of a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, as he cried out that he couldn’t breathe. He later died.
washingtonpost.com/world/2020/05/…

The video — and scenes from the chaotic protests against police brutality that have unfolded over the ensuing week — found purchase and provoked responses across the globe.

Some leaders took the opportunity to express solidarity with marginalized communities in the United States

Canadian PM Trudeau ended a coronavirus news conference Friday morning by addressing the Canadians who are watching “the news out of the United States with shock and horror.”

“Racism is real. It’s in the United States, but it’s also in Canada,”

In Britain, Labour lawmaker Claudia Webbe urged Britons to “show solidarity” with Floyd’s community and loved ones.

“We cannot ignore yet another death of a Black man in police custody. This is how racism works; the regulation and control of Black people,”

David Lammy of the Labour Party

“When I see that a man has put his knee on a black man’s neck, it feels like I’ve been hit. There’s no sense of justice. I keep seeing my people hit, and then when I see them hit, it makes me angry and it makes me irate.”

“Journalists all around the world must be free to do their job and hold authorities to account without fear of retribution,” Britain’s Foreign Office said in response to the incident.

Leaders who often come under criticism from the US gov were quick to seize on the moment

This one is ridiculously ironic

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a “racist and fascist” approach led to Floyd’s killing and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. “We will be monitoring the issue,” he tweeted.

On his English-language Twitter account, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, retweeted a tweet that read, “If you’re dark-skinned walking in the US, you can’t be sure you’ll be alive in the next few minutes.”

“The images are tragically familiar,” read an article in Le Monde. “The death of an African-American at the hands of the police; demonstrations of anger that turn into riots; the mobilization of the National Guard.”

The article called the events a “bloody routine” linked to large numbers of people killed at the hands of police in the United States each year.

The online edition of Die Zeit, a prominent center-left weekly newspaper in Germany, published an opinion piece Friday headlined “Violence is his solution,” describing President Trump as racist and accusing him of “dropping the pretense of empathy.”

Norway’s Princess Martha Louise condemned Floyd’s death, sharing a photo of a woman holding a sign that read “George Floyd’s life mattered.” She called out the actions of the officers involved, deeming them “monsters” and urging people to “wake up and stop the inhumanity.”

Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile who now serves as the high commissioner for human rights at the United Nations, urged the United States this week to take “serious action” to pursue justice and stop a cycle of violent killings of black Americans.

“Procedures must change, prevention systems must be put in place, and above all police officers who resort to excessive use of force, should be charged and convicted for the crimes committed.”

@threadreaderapp unroll please