Although we remain in the midst of what the World Health Organization declared a worldwide pandemic, the protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd are challenging it as the number one global news story. In the UK, celebrity community members like John Boyega, Anthony Joshua and Jamelia have lent their voices to the chorus of outrage. (1)
As such, we continue our discussion of the aftermath of the Minneapolis police’s execution of Bro. George on May 25th and the protests that that occurred across the USA everyday since. It can’t be emphasised enough that the root of the protests go beyond George Floyd. Indeed, many regard his death as the proverbial “last straw,” that broke the restraint underneath the mounting weight of systemic oppression and police brutality. (2)
News broke during our last show that the private autopsy ordered by the family of George Floyd completely contradicted the one carried out by the County Attorney’s Office preliminary and concluded that the death “was homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain.” (3)
Other developments in recent days include the addition of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to the prosecution case which was quickly followed by the upgrading of the charge against Derek Chauvin from third to second degree murder as well as the other three officers — Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane — finally being charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. (4) Ellison asserted that public pressure did not influence this decision, saying the decision was “based on the law,” while somewhat ominously admitting that “conviction will be hard” (5)
It’s been a curious spectacle to watch the UK establishment media deal with the protests almost as if it’s a uniquely USA phenomenon. Amongst his customary word salads, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has feigned understanding as the reason for the protests, even though, as London Mayor, was ready to deploy water cannons against the people protesting the execution of Mark Duggan in 2011 – until banned from doing so by then Home Secretary Theresa May. (6)
The BBC’s “Reality Check” team tried to address the issue with a customary sleight of hand. In their June 3rd article George Floyd death: How many black people die in police custody in England and Wales? they for some reason limit their study of deaths in custody to the last ten years (as if it wasn’t an issue before then) and specifically deaths in police custody, although deaths in custody often represent an intersection of state agencies (police, prisons, health service, etc) (7)
But even if we accept ‘Reality Check’s’ narrow definition and time frame they present a figure of thirteen deaths in police custody. Our desk research has identified eighteen fatalities, a thirty-eight percent increase on the BBCs figure. If we then include the other agencies it jumps from eighteen to thirty-two Afrikan deaths in custody in the last ten years. (8)
Another gaping lacuna in the ‘Reality Check’ piece is that, whereas Attorney General Keith Ellison admits that “conviction will be hard” in the Chauvin, et al case, in the UK conviction of police/state is as good as impossible. Not a single officer has ever been convicted for killing an Afrikan in custody, not even when the inquest returns a verdict of unlawful killing. Many or not even charged or disciplined, let alone convicted. As if to cement the lack of consequences for police killings, the current commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, was ‘Gold Commander’ of the operation that led to one of the highest (if not the highest) profile police killings in recent years Jean Charles De Menezes. (9)
At least in the USA we can point to the likes of police officers, Amber Guyger, Jason Van Dyke and Michael Slager even though their sentences were often obscenely lenient. (10)
The current UK government’s handling of race issues makes clear they are not planning any sea change any time soon even while “more black people jailed in England and Wales proportionally than in US.” (11) It’s suppression of the report into the disproportionate Covid-19 deaths (even after the section highlighting the role of discrimination had been removed) due to concerns about the “close proximity to the current situation in America,” makes this abundantly clear. They then laughably appointed of all people Kemi Badenoch, the minister for equalities, to address the issue. Given that Badenoch doesn’t recognise “institutional racism,” claims of US racism that “We don’t have all the horrible stuff that’s happened in America here” and doesn’t believe the black community really exists, we cannot conceivably expect a substantive outcome. (12)
However, it matters not what the political stripe of the government is. In fact, we look at the record of current Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, who was previously Head of the Crown Prosecution Service and Director of Public Prosecutions from November 2008 to November 2013. Starmer presided over the custody deaths of Olaseni Lewis, Jimmy Mubenga, Sarah Mulenga, Smiley Culture, Kingsley Burrell Brown, Demetre ‘T.Dot’ Fraser and Mark Duggan to name a few but was never able to find “sufficient evidence for a realistic chance of a conviction.”
Yet, it should be acknowledged that not attempts to cover the issue from a mainstream UK perspective suffer from the prevailing level of cognitive dissonance. To their credit, Elle.com UK got to heart of the matter by interviewing renowned activist and campaigner Sis. Marcia Rigg to make clear: “You Think Police Brutality Is Just A US Issue? Think Again”:
“It’s great people are coming out, but they need to march for us. The families are crying out for the public’s support. They’re clearly outraged about the deaths in the US and what they’ve seen, so they need to be enraged about what’s happening in the UK. We need to let them know about it. If you can get on the streets for the US, then you can get on the streets for the UK too.” (13)
Having taking a well-earned (and arguably overdue) sabbatical, Sis. Marcia is ready to re-enter the fray: “I’ve been quiet for about a year, but I’m so angry and I have the ability – and people are looking to me – to turn up the heat in the UK. That’s the mode I’m in.” (14)
(1) Paul Fogarty(08/06/20) Anthony Joshua defends Watford speech after criticism of ‘boycott white shops’ comment. https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/06/08/anthony-joshua-white-shops-boycott-speech-watford-black-lives-matter-protest/; Jeremy Vine on 5 – Official Channel (05/06/20) Jamelia challenges caller who says racism isn’t so bad in the UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eulwE-jjnyU
(2) Dasia Moore (07/06/20) This is why we march: These masses are not monoliths. Every crowd is made up of people for whom Floyd’s death was the latest last straw. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/07/metro/this-is-why-we-march/
(3) Stephanie Guerilus (01/06/20) George Floyd’s independent autopsy determines death was a ‘homicide’. https://thegrio.com/2020/06/01/george-floyd-independent-autopsy-results-homicide/
(4) Royce Dunmore (03/06/20) George Floyd’s Killer Cop Has Murder Charge Upgraded As Other Officers Face More Charges. https://newsone.com/3950452/minneapolis-cop-derek-chauvin-charged-with-murder-over-george-floyd-death/
(5) BBC News (03/06/20) As it happened: Conviction ‘will be hard’ in Floyd case. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-52903545
(6) Matthew Weaver (19/11/18) Boris Johnson’s unused water cannon sold for scrap at £300,000 loss. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/19/boris-johnson-unused-water-cannon-sold-for-scrap-at-300000-loss
(7) Harmit Athwal and Jenny Bourne (2015) Dying For Justice. Institute of Race Relations. p. 2-5. http://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wpmedia.outlandish.com/irr/2017/04/26155052/Dying_for_Justice_web.pdf. Rt. Hon. Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC (2017) Report of the Independent Review of Deaths and Serious Incidents in Police Custody. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/655401/Report_of_Angiolini_Review_ISBN_Accessible.pdf
(8) Our research from various sources has identified the following Black Deaths in Custody 2010-2020 (Po = Police; Pr = Prison; Ho = Hospital; Am = Ambulance Service): Olaseni Lewis, 23, 04/09/10 Ps; Jimmy Mubenga, 46, 12/10/10 Pr; Sarah Mulenga,21, 09/01/11, Am; Smiley Culture,48, 15/03/11, Po; Kingsley Burrell Brown, 29, 31/03/11, Ho; Demetre ‘T.Dot’ Fraser, 21, 31/05/11, Po; Mark Duggan, 29, 04/08/11, Po; Jacob Michael, 25, 22/08/11, Po; Shanise Paris-Goff, 18, 10/04/12, Po; Prince Kwabena Ofosu, 31, 30/10/12, Pr; Jonathan Andel Malia, 24, 17/01/13, Ho; Leon Briggs, 39, 04/11/13, Po; Adrian McDonald, 34, 22/12/14, Po; Sheku Bayoh, 31, 03/05/15, Po; Shalane Blackwood, 29, 05/08/15, Pr; Jermaine Baker, 28, 11/12/15, Po; Mzee Mohammed, 18, 13/07/16, Po; Natasha Chin, 39, 19/07/16, Pr; Dalian Atkinson, 48, 15/08/16, Po; Beatrice Lovane, 22, 26/08/16, Am; Sarah Reed, 32, 11/01/16, Pr; Leroy Junior Medford, 44, 02/04/17, Po; Edir Frederico “Edson” Da Costa, 25, 21/06/17, Po; Shane Bryant, 30, 15/07/17, Po; Darren Cumberbatch, 32, 19/07/17, Po; Rashan Charles, 20, 22/07/17, Po; Annabella Landsberg, 45, 06/09/17, Pr;; Anthony Solomon, 38, 27/09/17, Pr; Carlington Spencer, 38, 03/10/17, Pr; Nuno Cardoso, 25, 24/11/17, Po; Tyrone Givans, 32, 26/02/18, Pr; Kevin Clarke, 35, 09/03/18, Po.
(9) Athwal and Bourne. Op. cit.; Vikram Dodd (!7/02/17) De Menezes family call for Cressida Dick to be barred from leading Met. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/17/de-menezes-family-call-cressida-dick-barred-from-leading-met
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(10) Bill Hutchinson, Marcus Moore (04/10/19) Forgiveness doesn’t erase consequences: Amber Guyger’s victim’s family speaks out. https://abcnews.go.com/US/forgiveness-erase-consequences-amber-guygers-victims-family-speaks/story?id=66032905
(11) Randeep Ramesh (11/10/10) More black people jailed in England and Wales proportionally than in US. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/oct/11/black-prison-population-increase-england
(12) Afua Hirsch (03/06/20) The racism that killed George Floyd was built in Britain https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/03/racism-george-floyd-britain-america-uk-black-people?fbclid=IwAR2k69pxSxLwU9kPTcoGZI4gpgp3yCqBS9ydxJjaOzRxNJ4v8hXzSu55Inc#_=_
(13) Olivia Blair (02/06/20) Marcia Rigg: You Think Police Brutality Is Just A US Issue? Think Again https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/a32742001/marcia-rigg-anti-racism/
(14) Ibid.
We ask the question:
How do we get Justice For George Floyd? Part 2
1) Would you have continued filming or intervened?
2) Have you attended any of the protests? How effective are they?
3) Did “public pressure” really have no influence on the changed/new charges?
4) Does the UK have “cognitive dissonance” over racism/deaths in custody?
5) How do we “turn up the heat in the UK” and effect some real change?
Our Special Guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK and national co-Chair of the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
Sis. Marcia Rigg: is the older sister of Bro. Sean Rigg who died in Brixton Police station on 21/08/2008. Sis. Marcia has lead the campaign to get justice for her brother, compelling her to give up her 20-year career as a legal PA in the City, as leading the campaign “has been like a full time job.” Although the campaign is ongoing it has scored some significant legal victories against the state. Sis. Marcia is the current Chair of the United Friends and Families Campaign (UFFC), a coalition of those affected by deaths in police, prison and psychiatric custody.
Eld. Bro. Minkah Adofo: is a legendary grassroots organiser and has been described as “arguably the most prominent activist on campaigns for Justice in Black deaths in custody cases for over 30 years strong.” He is certainly one of most well known freedom fighters in the UK. Bro. Minkah is a veteran of numerous organisations and campaigns past and present – many of which is was instrumental in establishing, including : Black Unity and Freedom Party, Afrikan People’s Liberation Organisation, Justice For Joy Campaign, Afrikan United Action Front, Pan-Afrikan Youth Organization, Pan-Afrikan Society Community Forum, Marcus Garvey Organising Committee, United Friends & Family Campaign, Global Afrikan Congress (uk) and Afruika Bantu Saturday School.