June 10 Black Lives Matter protests

By Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Meg Wagner, Joshua Berlinger, Steve George and Peter Wilkinson, CNN

Updated 12:44 a.m. ET, June 11, 2020
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9:05 a.m. ET, June 10, 2020

George Floyd's brother will testify in Congress today on police brutality

Philonise Floyd speaks at a memorial service for his brother, George Floyd, in Minneapolis on June 4.
Philonise Floyd speaks at a memorial service for his brother, George Floyd, in Minneapolis on June 4. Julio Cortez/AP

George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, will testify before Congress this morning during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on "Policing Practices and Law Enforcement Accountability." 

The hearing will feature 12 witnesses, some testifying in person and others virtually, including Floyd family attorney Ben Crump, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who is also president of the Major City Chiefs Association, and Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

“There are now protests taking place in every state as people take a stand against police brutality and racism. People are rightfully upset, they are frustrated, and they want to be heard. They want real change, not meaningless words. I want Americans to know that I hear them, and I see them. The House Judiciary Committee is working very closely with the Congressional Black Caucus to determine the best path forward to address police brutality and racial inequality," the committee's chair, Jerry Nadler, said in a news statement released last week about the hearing.

The hearing comes days after Democrats put forward sweeping legislation aimed at cracking down on police brutality and recording patterns of misuse of force across the country, the first concrete step toward action from Washington as a national movement continues to emerge.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Congress "cannot settle for anything less than transformative structural change."

The legislation is the most expansive effort in recent years to crack down at a federal level on policing practices across the US, but it is expected to face strong resistance from Republicans, police unions and local officials who don't want Washington intervening in their policy making.

9:01 a.m. ET, June 10, 2020

It's 8 a.m. in New York and 5 a.m. in San Francisco. Here's the latest on the worldwide protests

People protest in San Francisco on June 3.
People protest in San Francisco on June 3. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

George Floyd's death has sparked an outpouring of grief and protest worldwide. Here's the latest on the demonstrations:

Hundreds march in Seattle: The crowd marched into the city hall late Tuesday night to demand the resignation or impeachment of Mayor Jenny Durkan. The protests appeared peaceful.

Richmond protesters remove Christopher Columbus statue: The crowd vandalized the monument to the explorer before throwing it into a lake.

UK rapper speaks out over police brutality: British rapper Wretch 32 posted a clip of his 62-year-old father being tasered by a police officer. The video has been viewed more than 1 million times online.

HBO Max temporarily removes "Gone with the Wind": The company will return the film to its library with additional historical context. The film's portrayal of slavery, African Americans and the Civil War South has been criticized in the decades since its release.

9:06 a.m. ET, June 10, 2020

Trump eyes police reforms while ignoring systemic racism

From CNN's Jeremy Diamond, Kevin Liptak and Jim Acosta

President Donald Trump walks past police officers in Washington's Lafayette Park on June 1.
President Donald Trump walks past police officers in Washington's Lafayette Park on June 1. Patrick Semansky/AP

In the two weeks since George Floyd's death, President Donald Trump's advisers have worked to prepare him to meet the national moment.

Some have shared stories with him about their own or their friends' experiences with racism, encouraging Trump to be more empathetic.

A group of White House officials solicited ideas from criminal justice reform advocates about policing reforms and proposed the President meet with African American leaders. And this week, White House officials put the President in a room with law enforcement officials who argued certain aspects of policing could change.

But as Trump now considers backing some of those reforms and addressing issues of race and policing in a prominent speech, his message on the subject remains muddled and -- in the view of some advisers -- tinged by a hardline stance he adopted at the start of nationwide protests that some view as difficult to walk back.

In the two weeks since national protests began, Trump has sought to stamp out unrest using overwhelming police and military force, shown little interest in addressing questions of systemic racism at the heart of the protests and renewed his criticism of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem as a form of peaceful protest.

Even as he considers unveiling police reform proposals as early as this week, Trump and many of his top lieutenants have denied systemic racism is a problem in policing at all.

Read more here.

9:02 a.m. ET, June 10, 2020

As George Floyd is laid to rest, his legacy reverberates across the globe

From CNN's Stephen Collinson

A horse-drawn carriage carries George Floyd's casket to Houston Memorial Gardens in Pearland, Texas, on June 9.
A horse-drawn carriage carries George Floyd's casket to Houston Memorial Gardens in Pearland, Texas, on June 9. Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

"He's going to change the world."

The poignant eulogy to George Floyd delivered by his brother Rodney on Tuesday is already at least partially true, although how deep and enduring that change is will be decided by future struggles.

In a span of mere days, the death of a black man with a white policeman's knee on his neck became a parable in America's aching racial story and a rallying point for action that resonated far beyond Minnesota, where he died, and disrupted politics, business, culture and sports. Floyd's impact has spanned continents -- sparking debate and reflections across the Atlantic in Europe.

Barely known outside his own circle, Floyd suddenly became the most famous man in the world, shouldering the pain of the racially oppressed everywhere with his dying words, "I can't breathe."

Yet he will never know of his fame nor perceive the change he has wrought.

Read more here.

9:02 a.m. ET, June 10, 2020

Christopher Columbus statue thrown into lake in Richmond, Virginia

A statue of Christopher Columbus is seen in a lake in Richmond, Virginia, on June 9.
A statue of Christopher Columbus is seen in a lake in Richmond, Virginia, on June 9. WTVR

A statue of Christopher Columbus in Richmond's Byrd Park was vandalized, torn down, and thrown in the park's lake on Tuesday night, according to CNN affiliate WTVR.

Protesters marched to the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday. Later, some groups returned and vandalized the statue.

The crowd pulled the statue down with rope and pushed it into the lake, WTVR reported.

Columbus, a 15th-century Italian explorer, is a deeply controversial figure in the United States and held responsible for paving the way for European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

It's not the first time that a statue of him has been vandalized. In 2019 people threw red paint over statues of the explorer in San Francisco and Providence, Rhode Island.

6:11 a.m. ET, June 10, 2020

UK rapper speaks out about police brutality after posting video of his 62-year-old father being tasered

From CNN's Lindsay Isaac and Samantha Tapfumaneyi

Wretch 32 attends a UEFA Champions League match in Liverpool, England, on May 7, 2019.
Wretch 32 attends a UEFA Champions League match in Liverpool, England, on May 7, 2019. Peter Byrne/PA Wire/AP

British rapper Wretch 32 has spoken out about police brutality in the country after posting a video of his 62-year-old father being tasered in London.

"This is how the police think they can treat a 62 year old black man in Tottenham but this 1 happens to be my dad #Nojusticenopeace," the rapper, whose real name is Jermaine Scott, wrote on Twitter.

In the clip Scott’s father, Millard Scott, can be seen falling downstairs in a home after an officer says, “police officer with a Taser. Stay where you are.”

The video has been viewed 1.1 million times on social media so far.

Scott gave an interview to UK broadcaster and CNN affiliate ITV News in which he criticized London's police force for its historical use of heavy-handed tactics.

“I grew up in a household with my Dad and my uncle and I have watched them fight against police brutality my whole life," he said.
"I am 35 now and we are still here again today. And I now have to have the same conversations that my dad and my uncle and my grandparents and my parents had with me when I was a child. That means there is no progression.”

A spokesperson for London's Metropolitan Police said: "Officers entered the home to carry out arrest enquiries as part of a long running operation to tackle drugs supply.”

In response to Wretch 32 on Twitter, the police force said “no indication of misconduct has been identified.”

Police officers said they arrested a 22-year-old man inside the house, who was charged with encouraging another to commit an offense.

Officers also arrested a 52-year-old woman at the scene on suspicion of obstructing or resisting a police constable in the execution of duties.

7:15 a.m. ET, June 10, 2020

The cities, states and countries finally putting an end to police neck restraints

From CNN's Harmeet Kaur and Janine Mack

People protest in New York's Foley Square on June 2.
People protest in New York's Foley Square on June 2. Ira L. Black/Corbis/Getty Images

Police departments around the world are moving to ban neck restraints in the aftermath of George Floyd's death and the widespread protests that followed.

Neck restraints, or neck holds, refer to the practice of officers using their arm or leg to restrain someone's neck. The technique has been a subject of controversy for years, particularly following the death of Eric Garner in 2014 after a police officer was accused of choking him.

The term "chokehold" is often used in mainstream discourse to refer to any neck hold, but police generally categorize neck restraints in two ways: the stranglehold and the chokehold. Strangeholds -- also called carotid restraints, sleeper holds or blood chokes -- temporarily cut off blood flow to the brain and are meant to render a subject unconscious for a time. Chokeholds -- also called airway holds -- restrict breathing by applying pressure to the windpipe.

Law enforcement officers say the techniques are used to gain control of aggressive or resisting subjects. Some departments state that they should only be employed as a last resort, when the officer believes the subject poses a threat to their or others' lives. But as the cases of Floyd, Garner and others have shown, neck restraints have the potential to go badly wrong -- sometimes resulting in death.

Read more here.

9:06 a.m. ET, June 10, 2020

Hundreds of protesters filled Seattle's City Hall late Tuesday night

From CNN's Mitchell McCluskey

Protesters led by Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant occupy City Hall to call for the resignation of Mayor Jenny Durkan and for defunding of Seattle police department in Seattle, Washington, on Tuesday, June 9.
Protesters led by Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant occupy City Hall to call for the resignation of Mayor Jenny Durkan and for defunding of Seattle police department in Seattle, Washington, on Tuesday, June 9. Lindsey Wasson/Reuters

Hundreds of protesters marched into Seattle's City Hall late Tuesday after a member of the City Council called for the resignation or impeachment of Mayor Jenny Durkan, CNN affiliate KIRO reported.

The event appeared to be peaceful. Protesters left the building around 10:30 p.m. local time, and Seattle Police did not report any arrests.

The councilwoman who led the protesters on their march before they entered the building, Kshama Sawant, began calling for Durkan to step down after police continued to use tear gas to disperse protesters, despite Durkan announcing a 30-day ban on the substance's use. Sawant has also called for the city to defund the police.

In a statement to CNN affiliate KOMO, Durkan's office said the mayor "will not be distracted from the critical work that needs to be done at a moment that Seattle is facing its most challenging time in its history."

"The disparities, health, and economic impacts of the pandemic are an unprecedented challenge. Now we are faced with the pain and trauma relating to the murder of Mr. Floyd and the generations of systemic racism in our city and country that rightfully need to be addressed not through words but action," the statement read.
9:07 a.m. ET, June 10, 2020

George Floyd's loved ones say they hope his funeral is only the beginning of widespread change

From CNN's Christina Maxouris

Terence Reed Jr. raises his arm as he drives his horse drawn hearse containing the remains of George Floyd into the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery in Houston on June 9.
Terence Reed Jr. raises his arm as he drives his horse drawn hearse containing the remains of George Floyd into the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery in Houston on June 9. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Thousands gathered in Houston, Texas, Tuesday to bid a final farewell to George Floyd -- the man whose last moments sparked outrage and protests across the country.

In the two weeks since Floyd's death, tens of thousands flooded the streets across the US decrying police brutality and demanding lasting change. Floyd's friends and loved ones say they hope his funeral isn't the end -- but instead marks the beginning of that widespread call for change.

Jonathan Veal, Floyd's longtime friend, told CNN's Don Lemon Tuesday night the two talked about the impact they wanted to make on their world and added Floyd had once said, "I want to touch the world."

"That comment, back in the eleventh grade, was prophetic in nature," Veal said. "He is literally having a global impact."

In the face of continuing demonstrations, city and state leaders have moved to tackle police reform. Members of the Minneapolis City Council announced they intend to defund and dismantle the city's police department. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he intends to quickly sign a package of police reform bills legislators are preparing. And across the US, at least 11 cities and municipalities are starting to ban or have banned police officers' use of chokeholds, according to data gathered by CNN.

Read more here.