AFSC condemns police violence around George Floyd’s death

The American Friends Service Committee has condemned the police violence surrounding the death of George Floyd

The Quaker organisation American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has condemned the police violence surrounding the death of George Floyd, branding it ‘the consequence of a racist system that disproportionately targets people of colour for violence, imprisonment, and premature death’.

The comments made by Shanene Herbert, director of AFSC’s Healing Justice programme in the Twin Cities area, goes on to say that: ‘Firing these police officers is not enough. We need resources directed away from the police forces that occupy our communities. We need investment in our young people, in our schools, in our health care, and in transformative forms of justice that address the root causes of harm.’

Staff from the Healing Justice programme also held a ‘restorative circle’ in front of the nearby police precinct for young people of colour to share their grief and anger.

Meanwhile, protesters gathered at Trafalgar Square in London to ‘kneel for George’, following the alleged murder of the forty-six-year-old Minneapolis resident by white police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged, and three other officers, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng, who are under investigation. The incident sparked furious protests across the US which were met with tear gas and rubber bullets. Around two dozen protesters were also arrested at Trafalgar Square for breaching lockdown rules.

AFSC has been distributing groceries and resources, as communities struggle with both the fall-out from Covid-19 and the vandalisation of nearby grocery stores.

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