June 8 George Floyd protest news

By Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Meg Wagner and Emma Reynolds, CNN

Updated 9:43 a.m. ET, June 9, 2020
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12:50 a.m. ET, June 9, 2020

Our live coverage of the nationwide George Floyd protests has moved here.

11:57 p.m. ET, June 8, 2020

LAPD to stop using carotid holds effective immediately

From CNN's Sarah Moon

Protesters march past LAPD officers during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd, in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6.
Protesters march past LAPD officers during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd, in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 6. Kyle Grillot/AFP/Getty Images

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore and Los Angeles Police Commission President Eileen Decker agreed to an immediate moratorium on the training and use of carotid restraints on Monday.

A carotid restraint compresses the neck arteries and restricts blood flow to the brain, rendering a person unconscious.

The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that the moratorium would be in place "until such time that the Board of Police Commissioners can conduct a detailed review."

It follows a similar moratorium from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD).

“There will be an immediate moratorium on the use of the LASD carotid restraint in all situations which do not rise to the level of deadly force,” the department said in a statement. 

According to the statement, which lists eight use of force policies the department currently uses, “all LASD personnel are prohibited from using chokeholds, strangleholds, and carotid restraints performed with legs, knees, or feet.”

11:37 p.m. ET, June 8, 2020

St. Louis man arrested in fatal shooting of retired police officer David Dorn

From CNN's Theresa Waldrop, Gregory Lemos and Kay Jones

A St. Louis man has been charged with murder in the death of retired St. Louis police officer David Dorn, who was shot during a pawn shop burglary in last week's protests in the city. 

Stephan Cannon, 24, of St. Louis was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, three counts of armed criminal action and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner said in a statement released on Twitter Sunday.

No bond is allowed for Cannon, Gardner said.

Dorn, 77, was killed when he responded to an alarm at the pawn shop during the early morning hours of June 2, the St. Louis Police Department said last week. The retired officer was providing security for the store.

About 55 businesses in the city were burglarized and had property damage that night, city Police Chief John Hayden told reporters last week.

Read the full story:

11:22 p.m. ET, June 8, 2020

Officer charged in killing repeatedly suggested rolling George Floyd over, lawyer says

Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane.
Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane. Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office 

A lawyer representing one of the former police officers charged in George Floyd’s death, claims that Floyd was resisting arrest and that his client suggested rolling Floyd over while officer Derek Chauvin was kneeling on his neck. 

Earl Gray, attorney for former officer Thomas Lane, described the body camera footage from the scene, which has not been made public.

Gray said that if the public saw the full body camera footage from Lane, "I believe they would have a different opinion."

"It wasn't a violent resistance, but it was not a kind of nonresistance that an individual should do when a police officer is arresting him," Gray said of Floyd.

Lane, 37, had only been on the force for four days when he helped to restrain Floyd, according to his lawyer.

"My client is holding his legs, Mr. Floyd is saying he can't breathe and my client says to the 20-year veteran Chauvin should we roll him over," Gray said.
"Lane asked, should we roll him on his side and officer Chauvin said no," Gray said. "Now, we've got a 20-year officer here and a four-day officer in my client."
"Then later, my client again says, do you want to roll him on his side? This is right before the ambulance comes and again he's not rolled on his side."

Gray said that Lane "did not want to see the man die" and started to perform CPR on Floyd.

"My client is holding his feet. When the ambulance comes, my client goes in the ambulance. Four days on the force ... and starts his own CPR, pushing down on his chest, which he did for a lengthy period of time, until they got the machine on," according to Gray.

Officers Chauvin, Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were responding to a call about a $20 counterfeit bill on May 25 when they detained Floyd

Chauvin -- who pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes -- was charged last Wednesday with a new, more serious count of second-degree murder. 

Kueng, Thao and Lane were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

11:28 p.m. ET, June 8, 2020

Reebok cuts ties with CrossFit after CEO's controversial tweets about George Floyd

From CNN's Clare Duffy

Gyms across the country are dropping their affiliation with CrossFit over the company's response to last week's protests.

Gym owners say they were dismayed by CrossFit's failure to quickly put out a statement expressing solidarity with protesters or support for black athletes, as dozens of corporations did in the days following George Floyd's death. Then on Saturday, CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman posted several controversial tweets referencing Floyd's death and the coronavirus pandemic, sparking outrage online. 

That led Reebok and other brand partners to distance themselves from CrossFit. Glassman apologized and walked back the tweets on Sunday. 

"I, CrossFit HQ, and the CrossFit community will not stand for racism," Glassman said on Twitter. "I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday. My heart is deeply saddened by the pain it has caused. It was a mistake, not racist but a mistake. Floyd is a hero in the black community and not just a victim. I should have been sensitive to that and wasn't. I apologize for that."

Read the full story.

10:18 p.m. ET, June 8, 2020

Minneapolis Mayor says he supports "major structural reform" of policing after being booed by protesters

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks with demonstrators calling for the Minneapolis Police Department to be defunded on June 6, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks with demonstrators calling for the Minneapolis Police Department to be defunded on June 6, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he supports "major structural reform" of police departments.

His comments, in an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo, comes after Frey was met with a chorus of boos on Saturday after telling a group of demonstrators he did not support abolishing the city police department.

Frey said that protesters "called me up and asked me if I was willing right there to commit to getting rid of the police. And I was honest."

"If we're talking about massive cultural shift in the way our police department does business, I'm on board. If we're talking about major structural reform that pushes back on the horrid nature of how our police departments have treated black and brown communities, I am fully on board. If we're talking about abolishing the entire police department, I was honest, that's not where I am," Frey said.

Frey said that people are right to be angry, frustrated and upset right now.

"Let's be very real here. George Floyd was murdered by one of our police officers, we need to recognize that and acknowledge it. The next step is to harness all of that energy and anger and sadness that we have, and commit to realtime, real reforms," Frey said.

Frey also said that it's the system that "inhibits the culture shift from happening" and police unions are standing in the way.

"If the chief or I are prevented from disciplining and terminating officers because of the system that's in place, that inhibits the culture shift from happening," Frey said. "We've seen it again and again and again, where officers are disciplined or terminated they work their way through the process."

10:24 p.m. ET, June 8, 2020

Minneapolis City Council President on dismantling the police department: "The system of policing isn't working"

Lisa Bender speaks with Chris Cuomo on Cuomo Prime Time.
Lisa Bender speaks with Chris Cuomo on Cuomo Prime Time. CNN

Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council on Sunday announced they intend to defund and dismantle the city's police department following the police killing of George Floyd.

Council President Lisa Bender spoke to CNN's Chris Cuomo about what that would really mean.

"What we pledged was to start a year-long conversation with Minneapolis residents to help us reimagine what public safety looks like as we make those short-term fixes that are so clearly needed in our department," Bender said.

Bender said the pledge was a "long-term commitment" in which the city would need to "build up those systems of public safety as the highest priority, along with getting more accountability in our police department."

Would someone still respond to 911 calls? "If something is happening there needs to be someone to call. We need to make sure every single person in our community feels safe. But we have a crisis of confidence in our police department," Bender said.

How would that work? "We've looked at every reason that folks call 911. Why are people in Minneapolis calling for help? And we're starting to pair what's the right response to those calls. In the short term that helps our police officers focus on the work that they're trained to do, while we have a better response to people who have a mental health crisis or a physical health crisis," Bender added.

Policing "isn't working" for many: "The system of policing isn't working for a lot of victims of crime. We have thousands of rape kits that have gone untested. We need to improve our response to all kinds of different violations of public safety, because again that trust in the system is so eroded that our community is across the board," Bender said.

"We should look at budget, community safety, our city's charter, and understand ways we can adjust our charter, which would include potentially going to a vote of the people to make some of these longer term changes," Bender said. "The commitment we made is real, the work is serious, and it builds on years of investment in our community. And those answers will absolutely be made in partnership with our community. With lots of community engagement."

Watch:

9:51 p.m. ET, June 8, 2020

Police unions dig in as calls for reform grow

From CNN's Marshall Cohen, Sara Murray, David Shortell, Katelyn Polantz and Mark Morales

A crowd of police officers in Philadelphia gathered outside their local union headquarters on Monday to show their support for one of their own -- a staff inspector facing assault charges after allegedly beating a college student at an anti-racism protest last week.

Like all criminal defendants, Philadelphia Police Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna is innocent until proven guilty. But it seemed like the crowd of more than 100 applauding officers already made up their minds, despite viral footage of Bologna hitting the student in the back of the head with a metal baton, sending him to the hospital. 

Following the rally, the union that represents Bologna issued a statement, saying it "will not stand-by and watch Inspector Bologna get railroaded."

As public opinion shifts on issues of police violence and racial discrimination, and cities begin to rethink their approach to law enforcement, powerful police unions across the country are digging in, and preparing for a once-in-a-generation showdown over policing.

Read the full story:

9:02 p.m. ET, June 8, 2020

Venus Williams: “Just as sexism is not only a ‘women's issue,’ racism is not only a ‘black issue’”

Venus Williams practices ahead of the 2020 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 16, in Melbourne, Australia.
Venus Williams practices ahead of the 2020 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 16, in Melbourne, Australia. Dan

Tennis great Venus Williams posted on Instagram on Monday, saying that, "just as sexism is not only a ‘women's issue,’ racism is not only a ‘black issue.’"

Williams said that she was "deeply saddened that it has taken multiple acts of police brutality to make people painfully aware of the racism that still pervades America." But she also said she was "amazed at the solidarity that has erupted across the USA."

“In the past, I had the honor of fighting for equal prize money for all women’s players at the grand slams in tennis. To make this even more simple to understand, just as sexism is not only a ‘women's issue,’ racism is not only a ‘black issue.’
When we fought for and won equal prize money, everyone pitched in, men and women, all colors all races. And we won," Williams said. “When the majority groups stay quiet, when they sit in the chair of disbelief, they unwittingly condone the oppression of marginalized groups. Those with power and privilege actually have an easier time getting heard. They must CONTINUALLY exercise that privilege!"
“We MUST win!" she said. “We cannot let systematic racism persist.”