Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.
By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief (A longtime Cleveland activist and community organizer, Coleman, also a former educator, attended the rally and march in Cleveland, Ohio on May 30 for justice for George Floyd)
CLEVELAND, Ohio-Following a postponement and the denial by a judge of a request for a change of venue in the case, the trial of fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin (pictured) will begin tomorrow relative to the the death of George Floyd, whom Chauvin erroneously killed on May 25 following Floyd's arrest on a forgery charge.
The city has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Floyd's family for $27 million, the largest of its kind in U.S. history.
The arresting officer, Chauvin, who is White, held his knee on Floyd's neck for nine minutes before a crowd of bystanders as Floyd pleaded for his life and cried out that he could not breathe.
The unarmed 46-year-old Black man was pronounced dead an hour later at an area hospital.
The disturbing video of the incident, taken by a bystander, has shocked the conscience.
Chauvin and the other three involved officers who were on the scene but did nothing to help Floyd, nearly all of them White, were immediately fired.
Chauvin faces charges of second degree intentional murder, third degree murder, and second degree manslaughter and is out of jail on a $1 million bond, the other three former officers, some also out on bond are faces felony charges of aiding and abetting and second degree murder.
He and the police officers at issue have all pleaded not guilty.
Protests in Minneapolis ensued behind the tragic shooting death of Floyd, and spread to over 2,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, and riots subsequently broke out in Minneapolis and in cities nationwide, including in Cleveland, Ohio.
Black Lives Matter activists led Cleveland's protest last May 30 where protesters rioted and tore up downtown Cleveland.
In Cleveland rioters torched or completely destroyed some five police cars, broke out the windows of multiple businesses, including the downtown Arcade, destroyed some downtown shelters, and threw rocks and boulders at police.
They wrote messages and profanity on some government buildings, and a group of protesters clashed with police.
Police shot off tear gas repeatedly, and in some instances unnecessarily, said activists.
More than 100 protesters, most of them White, and young, were arrested with charges ranging from disorderly conduct to criminal damaging and aggravated rioting.
There were more than 50 felony arrests and practically all of those arrested were from Ohio, mainly Cleveland and its suburbs.
Cleveland's riot was something to remember.
They shouted at police as some rode on horseback along the strip between City Hall and the Justice Center and the Justice Center and Public Square where more than three thousand protesters gathered.
"Am I next"? a sign read that was held up by a young Black woman as police and their horses trotted through the streets.
Most of the protesters were under 30 and many were White as well as Black with participants across ethic lines joining in one of at least three different marches and chanting such phrases of "No Justice No Peace," Black Lives Matter," and "Dump Trump."
The rally that lead up to the riot began at 1:30 pm at the Free Stamp next to Cleveland City Hall and went on peacefully as an array of speakers took to the podium.
But by the time protesters had marched from the Free Stamp to the Justice Center and settled in, some became anxious and the once peaceful event quickly turned violent.
One protester wore a t-shirt that read "F--- the police."
Organizers begged protesters to act right.
"They expect us to misbehave," a Black Lives Matter Cleveland organizer said to no avail.
Given Cleveland's history of excessive force killings against Blacks and a pending consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice for police reforms and the climate nationally relative to police brutality, the upheaval was not at all surprising, sources said, though Cleveland's Black leaders have said for years that Cleveland is a sleepy town when standing up against police brutality.
The George Floyd riot in the city obviously proves otherwise.
City officials say that it was a small group of agitators who precipitated the violence.
Others say the unrest is deeply rooted in systemic racism and the ongoing undercurrent between police and the Black community and that it cannot be laid at the feet of protesters alone.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
