The Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter but demonstrations have continued in spite of curfews and fears of coronavirus transmission.
In Australia, thousands marched peacefully through Sydney on Tuesday, chanting “I can’t breathe”.
These words were uttered by Floyd before he died on the street after Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.
“I can’t breathe” were also the final words of David Dungay, a 26-year-old Aboriginal man who died in a Sydney prison in 2015 while being restrained by five guards.
As 3000 people marched through Sydney on Tuesday, many said they had been inspired by a combination of sympathy for African Americans amid ongoing violent protests in the US and the need for change in Australia’s treatment of its Indigenous population, particularly involving police.
A total of 432 Indigenous Australians have died in police detention since a 1991 Royal Commission — Australia’s highest level of official inquiry — into Aboriginal deaths in custody.
Australia has also never signed a treaty with the country’s Indigenous population, who suffer higher-than-average rates of infant mortality and poor health, plus shorter life expectancy and lower levels of education and employment than white Australians.
The mostly Australian crowd at the authorised demonstration also included protesters from the US and elsewhere.
It comes after around 2000 demonstrators gathered in Perth to peacefully protest Floyd’s murder and Indigenous deaths in custody, and rallies are planned for other Australian cities later this week.
Elsewhere, tear gas inundated Paris streets as riot police faced off with protesters setting fires on Tuesday, while thousands more demonstrated in the Dutch capital of The Hague and hundreds rallied in Tel Aviv.
The European Union also formally condemned Floyd’s death, with its top foreign policy official saying the bloc was “shocked and appalled” by the incident.
Meanwhile, the social media world went dark in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, with Black Out Tuesday.
Instagram and Twitter accounts were full of black squares posted in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.
Most of the captions were blank, though some posted #TheShowMustBePaused, black heart emojis or encouraged people to vote on Tuesday with seven states and the District of Columbia hosting the largest slate of presidential primary elections in almost three months.
Musical artists Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Radiohead, Coldplay, Kelly Rowland and the Beastie Boys were among the celebrities to join Black Out Tuesday on social media.
