In many parts of the world, the death of yet another Black man at the hands of police in the United States is setting off mass protests against police brutality and reviving concerns that America is abandoning its traditional role as a defender of human rights.
On the streets of Berlin and Vancouver, in halls of power in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Beijing, a chorus of criticism has erupted alongside the unrest in the United States over the death of George Floyd. Floyd, 46, died last week after he was handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a white police officer in Minneapolis. The officer who pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck has been charged with third-degree murder.
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Paired with the global anger at police violence in some US cities has been another demand: That lawmakers heed the signs of racism and police abuse in their own countries.
In London, thousands of demonstrators gathered around the moated US Embassy in defiance of stay-at-home coronavirus restrictions and chanted Floyd’s name, “I can’t breathe,” and “No justice, no peace,” before making their way to Grenfell Tower. The building was the site of a devastating fire in 2017 that killed many Arab, Muslim, and African residents. On a memorial at the base of the tower, a protester wrote, “Black Lives Matter.”
In Toronto, calls to end American racism merged with outrage at the recent death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, 29, a Black woman who police said fell from her balcony after officers arrived at her home in response to what Toronto’s police chief called a “rather frantic” call about an assault.
And in Paris, among those calling for a demonstration was the family of Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old Black man who died in custody in 2016 after being tackled and pinned down by police in the Paris suburbs. La Vérité Pour Adama, or “the truth for Adama,” an advocacy group led by Traoré’s sister, Assa, said Floyd’s death was a chilling reminder of Traoré’s.
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“How can one not think of Adama’s terrible suffering when he had three police officers on him and he was repeating, ‘I can’t breathe’,” the group wrote on Facebook last week. “His name was George Floyd, who just like Adama died because they were black.”
The widespread condemnation reflected growing unease about America’s rapidly eroding moral authority on the world stage. President Trump already faces criticism across the globe for a response to the coronavirus pandemic that has led the United States to relinquish its longtime role as a global leader in times of crisis.
Now the death of Floyd has brought protests to at least 140 US cities. Images of police officers and protesters engaged in heated street fights have spread swiftly around the world, drawing furious comments and calls for action.
Just as American demonstrators have been pained in part by the disproportionate toll of the coronavirus on Black and immigrant neighborhoods, so, too, have activists around the world taken note of the gaping inequities laid bare by the pandemic. In England and Wales, for example, Black people are twice as likely to die from the virus as white people.
In Berlin, thousands of demonstrators held a peaceful protest outside of the US Embassy on Saturday, some carrying signs that read, “Stop Killing Us.” Three players in Germany’s top soccer league — English forward Jadon Sancho, French striker Marcus Thuram, and American midfielder Weston McKennie — made gestures of support for Floyd during weekend matches. Germany’s soccer federation, which bans players from making political statements during matches, said it would investigate the display by McKennie.
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In downtown Montreal, a protest Sunday turned violent after police deemed it illegal and ordered people to disperse. Clutches of protesters responded by throwing projectiles at police, who used tear gas and pepper spray.
In Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, the target of a monthslong offensive by the Syrian government to seize control from opposition forces, two artists painted a mural on the shell of a ruined building that read “I Can’t Breathe” and “No to Racism.”
For America’s rivals, the tensions have provided an opportunity to deflect attention from their own problems.
In China, where officials have chafed at Trump’s criticism of how they handled the coronavirus outbreak, the state-run news media heavily featured reports about Floyd’s death and portrayed the protests as another sign of America’s decline. The violent protests were covered extensively in the news media and on the social media platform Weibo. “BunkerBoy” became a trending topic after reports that Secret Service agents rushed Trump to a bunker Friday night as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House.
Pierre Haski, a noted French journalist, commented on France Inter on Monday: “Beijing could not have hoped for a better gift. The country that designates China as the culprit of all evils is making headlines around the world with the urban riots.”
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In an unusual statement on US affairs, the European Union said Monday that it hoped “all the issues related to the protests in the US will be settled swiftly and in full respect for the rule of law and human rights.” It usually reserves this type of language for violent breakdowns in nations with few democratic or human rights safeguards.
“We regret the loss of life, express our condolences to those affected and condemn violence and racism regardless of where it comes from,” the statement added.