new day of peaceful protests in the United States

Washington, Philidelphia, New York: tens of thousands of Americans demonstrated on Saturday June 6 against racism and police brutality. As in recent days, the marches – which now go beyond the case of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American who died during his arrest by the police on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota – to denounce systemic racism and demand real change – remained peaceful.

The day was also marked by a new ceremony in memory of George Floyd in North Carolina.

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  Massive mobilization in Washington

The demonstrations across the country took place in a peaceful atmosphere. Several cities, including Washington, Seattle and Los Angeles, have now lifted their curfew, but not New York, where it is maintained until Sunday evening.

AT Washington, under a blazing sun, sometimes stopping to put a knee on the ground, a dense crowd invaded the streets of the American federal capital, near the White House, the Capitol or the Lincoln memorial, where Martin Luther King had launched "I have a dream", in a speech that has become a reference in the struggle for civil rights, on August 28, 1963.

More than a dozen collectives, many of whom formed spontaneously on social media after the death of George Floyd, had called to invade the streets of the capital. On the imposing fence erected in front of Donald Trump’s residence were hung portraits of George Floyd, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, African-Americans all dead at the hands of American police in recent years. Opposite, in a very family atmosphere, the demonstrators alternately sang classic souls and political slogans like "No Justice, No Peace, No racist Police" (No justice, No peace, No racist police), taking advantage of the cold water bottles distributed by many associations, in oppressive heat.

AT New York, thousands of people marched again. Protesters crossed the Brooklyn Bridge to get to Manhattan. The city continued to apply a curfew at 8 p.m., which created tensions between the protesters and the police.

AT San Francisco, California protesters gathered at the Golden Gate Bridge. Impressive rallies were also held in Los Angeles, or San Diego.

AT SeattleIn Washington State, where police were harshly criticized for using tear gas to disperse globally peaceful crowds, the parades were among the largest the city has seen in years. Many doctors and nurses were present – many of them in overalls – in front of the town hall in the morning. "The nurses kneel with you, not on you", could we read on a sign, while on another was written: “Police violence and racism are a public health emergency. "

AT Atlanta, in Georgia, where the curfew had been lifted, the protest at times took a festive turn, the demonstrators dancing in the streets of the city.

AT Miami, in Florida, a walk took place in the peace, in the center of the city. Nearby, in Doral, a hundred people protested outside the golf course of US President Donald Trump. "Vote Him Out" (vote against him), was it written on the signs.

• In North Carolina, a new homage to George Floyd in family intimacy

AT Raeford, in North Carolina, the birthplace of George Floyd, his relatives paid him a new homage on Saturday, in family intimacy, after a first moving ceremony in Minneapolis on Thursday. His funeral is scheduled for June 9 in Houston.

• Breonna Taylor releases balloons in Kentucky

AT Louisville, in Kentucky, hundreds of people participated Saturday morning in a march against police brutality. Then a large crowd participated in a tribute to Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black woman killed by police in her apartment in March, dropping blue, purple and white balloons in her honor.

• Police on the hot seat

New examples of police violence – especially during the suppression of protests, which were sometimes violent – continue to fuel anger. Several videos showing muscular police interventions against peaceful protesters have emerged in recent days.

The latest, broadcast Thursday evening, shows a protester firmly pushed back by two police officers and violently hitting the ground, while he is alone facing dozens of them in the city of Buffalo, in New York State . A first official statement said that the 75-year-old protester, who was bleeding profusely and seemed to have lost consciousness, had "Stumbled and fallen". Before the outrage, the two police officers involved were suspended. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has called for their dismissal and the local prosecutor has opened an investigation.

In anticipation of the new protests, the Seattle police chief had announced a 30-day ban on the use of tear gas. Minneapolis police also announced on Friday that they are now banning "strangling", a dangerous technique used in 2014 in New York on Eric Garner, another black man who died at the hands of the police, whose cries " I can not breathe " were also spoken by George Floyd when he died.

• Donald Trump wants to be president of "law and order"

From the White House, where he spends the weekend, Donald Trump continued his intense activity on Twitter.

LAW & ORDER!

– realDonaldTrump (@Donald J. Trump)