(Chapter 2) - THE IMMEDIATE REPERCUSSIONS IN THE US AND ACROSS THE GLOBE

Within a few hours of the video shooting of Flyod's murder, it gets on to the internet and then in minutes it goes viral. The whole world is shaken when it watches this horrible act of murder of a single black guy at the hands of 4 policeman at Minneapolis, Minnesota. There are extreme repercussions to this totally inhuman criminal behaviour of these 4 men, not just in the US but also in countries like UK, France, Germany, Canada and Australia. All news channels go berserk, especially CNN and NBC. There is so much hue and cry across all social media platforms including facebook, twitter, youtube and whatsapp. Barring white supremacists and their type, all have a unified opinion - What happened today, was ghastly and a crime of the worst kind. It was not the murder of 1 person by 4 others. It was the murder of humanity, as a whole. Humanity got surrounded, handcuffed, abused, thrown to the ground and then finally got suffocated to death. Racism was back again, with all its evil might. 

Leaders across the world condemn this incident. People from almost all religions, races and castes raise their voice against it, although momentarily. This obviously does not include those with a racist mindset. The world watches with anxious eyes towards America, once again. 

This incident occurs between 7:30 pm and 8:40 pm ET. Meanwhile, I am in India and it's around 5 am IST (Indian Standard Time) in the morning here, when this happens. As the news spreads fast, I come to know about it while having my breakfast at 8:30 am. While scrolling through channels, I suddenly pause at CNN, where they are showing this news. At present, there are only photographs, not that videoclip, which is discussed above. But they too are very graphic and tell the story of what happened. I go to the internet and try to find out the other aspect of the story, as I do not form an full opinion without looking at both sides of the story. I am curious to know if this guy Floyd resisted violently or had a weapon. I found that it was none. He resisted but not violently. He did not have a weapon and was unarmed. Despite that the police officers acted in a manner as if he was heavily armed and very dangerous. I have to rush to my work and hence decide to think deeply about this later on. 

Hours later after having my lunch, I again grow curious around 2 pm. I look at the videoclip over and over again for about 4 times. I find these things:-

(1) Floyd appears drunk in those clips and under heavy stress. He is seen speaking something continuously, first of all. 

(2) There are no signs of a weapon on his side. He is unarmed. 

(3) He keeps resisting arrest but is not violent about it. 

(4) The amount of force and violence used by the 4 officers much exceeds what is required to arrest an unarmed single man. 

(5) After getting thrown to the ground, Floyd asks for mercy, for giving him a chance to breathe for 16 times in 5 minutes, by saying "I Can't Breathe... please..." But officer Chauvin doesn't listen to those requests by a dying man. 

(6) Even after he becomes motionless, Chauvin maintains the same amount of pressure on his neck. His neck is seen tilted sideways due to this unbearable pressure. His teeth are seen coming out with his mouth getting opened up, in an attempt to breathe. His condition is such that even a child of 5 can understand that this man is needs some space so that he can breathe. But still Chauvin is relentless and maintains the pressure with his left knee on his neck. 

After all this investigations from the videoclip and from news coverage from different channels, I come to certain conclusions. First is that this was nothing less than a Murder of an unarmed black guy at the hands of 4 armed white policeman. Second - this is not the first time a black man has died on the streets of America like this - pleading for someone to help him breathe by pushing away those policemen. Many have died in a similar manner before. 

Suddenly I feel heavily tensed and decide to put my work aside for half a day. I put myself on the bed and try to go to sleep in an attempt to relieve myself from the horrificness of wha I had just watched. I can't sleep but on the bed begins a process of deep thought:- What is going on in America since quite some time now? Murders during daylight of black guys by policemen - one after the other - Michael Brown at Ferguson in 2014, then Eric Gardener, Walter Scott.... so many names after that. And now a new name to join that tragic list - George Floyd. When will this stop?? When will the blacks get their due justice?? When will racism stop on the surface of this planet?? Several such questions come to my mind. Finally, I decide to raise my voice against this inhuman crime too - through online efforts and also in real life. Being an author, I decide to write a book on this and get it on both platforms - online and offline. I ponder over ways to stop racism in the name of religion, caste and creed here in India too. Right now due to Coronavirus pandemic, there are no such conflicts going on as people are rather subdued. But I know this will recur in India too again - these shameful incidences of racism, where a single person gets killed by a more than one because of his different race. I am waiting for such an incidence to happen here. When it happens I will plunge into it, in the full support of who is true and getting exposed to unjust discrimination. 

I share my idea of writing a book on this topic with my friends on facebook and get a wonderful response. I start writing this book in the second week of June, 2020. 

Meanwhile the repercussions of George Floyd's murder grow louder and louder with each passing day. Thousands of people march on the streets of Minnesota on 26th May, to protest against this kind of violence shown by the police. This is followed by similar protests at Chicago, LA, Houston, Florida, New York, Washington, Kansas and many other american cities. Hundreds of thousands, mostly from the black community, come out of their homes to join the protests with banners of "BLACK LIVES MATTER", "I CAN'T BREATHE", "WE CAN'T BREATHE", "RACISM MUST END NOW" and "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH". 

Suddenly these protests turn violent as some protesters set ablaze vehicles and shops in Minnesota and other cities. Some indulge in looting stores like NIKE etc. Videoclips of blacks looting such stores are also seen on social media. The white supremacists get a golden chance to blame the entire black community for all these. Instead of trying to understand that this looting and violence is an act of a very portion of the protesters and does not, in any way, present the true image of the black people living in America, they start accusing each and every black person - whether a man or a woman or even a child of being violent by his birth, by his very inherent nature. They start accusing the blacks of committing a major proportion of violent crimes in the US - like murders, rapes, loots etc. But everyone of us knows that these accusations are baseless. There is no substance behind them. No doubt blacks are on an average less educated than the white  population there, but they DO NOT COMMIT more violent crimes than the whites or other communities living in America. 

The violence and looting stop after 4 days of Floyd's Murder, which is around 29th May night. People across the globe start thinking that since the violence has stopped, the protests too will stop. Black americans and their supporters will get cooled down by some sweet words from the government and the President and go back home. The entire episode of George Floyd's murder will get forgotten very soon, just like the earlier incidents involving Michael Brown and others. But then the grim reality comes out - This is not going to stop this time so soon. The Blacks have decided something very deep inside their minds very firmly. They want a Revolution, a total change in status quo. Enough is enough... no more black lives getting butchered mercilessly on american streets. No more injustice. They want justice done this time - the one which changes the whole thing, the one which totally prevents the white policemen from acting like wild animals whilst dealing with black men. 

Today as I am writing this, the protests have entered the 14th day. And there is no sign of them cooling off or getting called off. In fact, they have spread to all parts of America, not just cities but to towns and remote countrysides too. People want change at any cost. Apart from the US, it has spread to other countries as well - to different parts of the world including the UK, Canada, Germany, France, etc. Hundreds of people are seen coming out on the streets of London, Berlin, Paris, Toronto, etc. - not just black people but also the whites, the latinos, the asians - all of them - they just don't want any more police atrocities inflicted upon them.

A change is round the corner, coming soon. Yes, it is.