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Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Firsthand footage of ICE raids is both witness and resistance
It has been five years since May 25, 2020, when George Floyd gasped for air beneath the knee of a Minneapolis police officer on the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue. Five years since 17-year-old Darnella Frazier stood on the curb outside Cup Foods, raised her phone, and bore witness to nine minutes and 29 seconds that would galvanize a global movement against racial inequality. Frazier's video didn't just show what happened. It insisted the world stop and see. Today, that legacy lives on in the hands of a different community, facing different threats but wielding the same tools. Across the United States, Latino organizers are lifting their phones not to go viral but to go on record. They are livestreaming Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, filming family separations, documenting protests outside detention centers. Their footage is not content. It is evidence. It is warning. It is resistance. Here in Los Angeles, where I teach journalism, several images have seared themselves into public memory. One viral video shows a shackled father stepping into a white, unmarked van — his daughter sobbing behind the camera, pleading with him not to sign any official documents. He turns, gestures for her to calm down, then blows her a kiss. Across town, LAPD officers on horseback charged at peaceful protesters. In Spokane, Wash., residents formed a spontaneous human chain around their undocumented neighbors mid-raid, their bodies and cameras forming a barricade of defiance. In San Diego, white allies yelled 'Shame!' as they chased a car of uniformed National Guard troops out of their neighborhood. The impact of smartphone witnessing has been both immediate and unmistakable — visceral at street level, seismic in statehouses. On the ground, the videos have fueled the 'No Kings' movement, which organized protests in all 50 states last weekend. Legislators are responding too — with sparks flying in the halls of the Capitol. As President Trump ramps up immigration enforcement, Democratic-led states are digging in, tightening state laws that limit cooperation with federal agents. Local TV news coverage has incorporated witnesses' smartphone video, helping it reach a wider audience. What's unfolding now is not new — it is newly visible. Latino organizers are drawing from a playbook sharpened in 2020, one rooted in a longer lineage of Black media survival strategies forged during slavery and Jim Crow. In 2020, I wrote about how Black Americans have used various media formats to fight for racial and economic equality — from slave narratives to smartphones. I argued that Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells were doing the same work as Darnella Frazier: using journalism as a tool for witnessing and activism. In 2025, Latinos who are filming the state in moments of overreach — archiving injustice in real time — are adapting, extending and carrying forward Black witnesses' work. Moreover, Latinos are using smartphones for digital cartography much as Black people mapped freedom during the eras of slavery and Jim Crow. The People Over Papers map, for example, reflects an older lineage: the resistance tactics of Black Maroons — enslaved Africans who fled to swamps and borderlands, forming secret networks to evade capture and warn others. These early communities shared intelligence, tracked patrols and mapped out covert paths to safety. People Over Papers channels that same logic — only now the hideouts are ICE-free zones, mutual aid hubs and sanctuary spaces. The map is crowdsourced. The borders are digital. The danger is still very real. Likewise, the Stop ICE Raids Alerts Network revives a civil-rights-era blueprint. During the 1960s, activists used Wide Area Telephone Service lines and radio to share protest routes, police activity and safety updates. Black DJs often masked dispatches as traffic or weather reports — 'congestion on the south side' meant police roadblocks, 'storm warnings' signaled incoming violence. Today, that infrastructure lives again through WhatsApp chains, encrypted group texts and story posts. The platforms have changed. The mission has not. Layered across both systems is the DNA of 'The Negro Motorist Green Book,' the guide that once helped Black travelers navigate Jim Crow America by identifying safe towns, gas stations and lodging. People Over Papers and Stop ICE Raids are digital descendants of that legacy: survival through shared knowledge, protection through mapped resistance. The Latino community's use of smartphones in this moment is not for spectacle. It's for self-defense. In cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and El Paso, what begins as a whisper — 'ICE is in the neighborhood' — now races through Telegram, WhatsApp and Instagram. A knock becomes a livestream. A raid becomes a receipt. A video becomes a shield. For undocumented families, the risk is real. To film is to expose oneself. To go live is to become a target. But many do it anyway. Because silence can be fatal. Because invisibility protects no one. Because if the story is not captured, it can be denied. Five years after Floyd's final breath, the burden of proof still falls heaviest on the most vulnerable. America demands footage before outrage. Tape before reform. Visual confirmation before compassion. And still, justice is never guaranteed. But 2020 taught us that smartphones, in the right hands, can fracture the status quo. In 2025, that lesson is echoing again, this time through the lens of Latino mobile journalists. Their footage is unflinching. Urgent. Righteous. It connects the dots: between ICE raids and over-policing, between a border cage and a city jail, between a knee on a neck and a door kicked in at dawn. These are not isolated events. They are chapters in the same story of government repression. And because the cameras are still rolling — and people are still recording — those stories are being told anew. Five years ago, we were forced to see the unbearable. Now, we are being shown the undeniable. Allissa V. Richardson, an associate professor of journalism and communication at USC, is the author of 'Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones, and the New Protest #Journalism.' This article was produced in partnership with the Conversation.
Indian Express
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
In Photos: Thousands gather in US cities to mark 5 years since George Floyd's murder
On the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's murder, thousands gathered across Minneapolis and Houston to honour his memory and renew calls for racial justice and police reform. Activists, families, and community leaders also criticised the Trump administration for recent actions they say undermine progress made since Floyd's death. In Minneapolis, events centred around George Floyd Square—the intersection where former police officer Derek Chauvin fatally pinned Floyd to the ground for 9 1/2 minutes in 2020. Mourners laid flowers, lit candles, and left tributes at the site near Cup Foods, where Floyd was killed. Across the street, activists served food at a former gas station that has served as a community space since 2020. A mock pig's head wearing a police cap was mounted in the street as a stark symbol of protest. Events began Friday with music, a street festival, and a 'self-care fair,' and culminated in a Sunday evening candlelit vigil featuring gospel music, speeches, and a short march led by a brass band. Many advocates expressed frustration with the pace of change despite promises from city officials to overhaul policing. The global protests that erupted after Floyd's death spurred hope for national police reform. While the Biden administration has sought increased federal oversight of abusive police departments, many now fear those efforts are being reversed. Just days before the anniversary, the Trump administration moved to cancel federal settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville—agreements that aimed to restructure their police forces following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Trump has also declared an end to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government, and is pushing state and local agencies to do the same using federal funding as leverage. Republican-led states have ramped up efforts to dismantle DEI policies in public institutions. (With inputs from AP)
New Indian Express
26-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Thousands mark 5th anniversary of George Floyd's murder as they call for justice and decry Trump
MINNEAPOLIS: Police reform and civil-rights activists joined thousands of ordinary people Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's murder and decry the Trump administration for actions they say set their efforts back decades. The Rev. Al Sharpton said at a graveside service with the dead man's family in Houston that Floyd, 46, represented all of those 'who are defenseless against people who thought they could put their knee on our neck.' He compared Floyd's killing to that of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black child who was abducted, mutilated and slain in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman. 'What Emmett Till was in his time, George Floyd has been for this time in history,' Sharpton said. Site of his death Events in Minneapolis centered around George Floyd Square, the intersection where police Officer Derek Chauvin used his knee to pin Floyd's neck to the pavement for 9 1/2 minutes, even as Floyd cried 'I can't breathe.' By midday Sunday, a steady stream of people were paying their respects at a memorial in front of Cup Foods, where he was killed. Across the street, activists had set up a feeding area at an old gas station that has often served as a staging area since Floyd's death. In the middle of the street, a fake pig's head was mounted on a stick. The head wore a police cap. Events started Friday with music, a street festival and a 'self-care fair.' It culminated Sunday evening when hundreds gathered at the square for a candlelit vigil that included a worship service, a gospel concert and speeches calling for racial justice. A brass band then led the crowd on a short march through city streets.
Hindustan Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
5 years later: The murder of George Floyd and its impact on Minneapolis
Some things have changed for the better in Minneapolis since Memorial Day 2020, when a police officer murdered George Floyd. Some have not. Sunday marked five years since white Officer Derek Chauvin used his knee to pin the Black man's neck to the pavement for 9 1/2 minutes, leading to his death. A tidal wave of racial justice protests erupted in U.S. cities. Demonstrators chanted Floyd's dying words: 'I can't breathe.' The protests were mostly peaceful at first but some turned violent, and parts of Minneapolis have yet to recover from the rioting, looting and arson. And the city is still struggling to decide what should become of the intersection where Floyd was killed. The Minneapolis Police Department has faced some changes under court supervision that aim to reduce racial disparities. Violent crime, which spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic and after Floyd's death, is mostly back around pre-pandemic levels, although homicides are inching up. The intersection where a crowd of concerned onlookers urged Chauvin and other officers to heed Floyd's dying cries quickly became known as George Floyd Square. A large sculpture of a clenched fist is just one of the tributes to Floyd. He died steps from the Cup Foods convenience store that has since been renamed Unity Foods. The area draws visitors from around the world. One visitor last week was Alfred 'A.J.' Flowers Jr., a local activist, who said the police killings of young Black men before Floyd's murder only fueled the frustration and rage that erupted on the streets five years ago. It's significant that the Black community tends to come together at 'places where we die, whether it's by our own hands or by police violence,' Flowers said. A majority of City Council members support building a pedestrian-only mall where Floyd drew his final breaths, but Mayor Jacob Frey and many property and business owners oppose the idea of closing the area to all vehicles. Any final decisions remain a long way off. In the meantime, businesses in the neighborhood are struggling and crime remains high. Flowers urged authorities to provide more support for Black-owned businesses, housing, education and crime prevention to improve the local economy. The shell of the 3rd Precinct police station, which was allowed to burn during the unrest in 2020, has been the subject of intense debate. The City Council last month voted to proceed with a plan to build a 'Democracy Center' there that would house voter services and a community space. The former chief of police has said he doesn't regret the decision to abandon the structure. The slogan 'Defund the Police' caught fire after Floyd's death, but it never came to pass. While a majority of council members initially backed the idea, what appeared on the city ballot in 2021 was a more modest attempt to reimagine policing. Voters rejected it. The police force lost hundreds of officers following the unrest. From nearly 900 in early 2020, the ranks fell to less than 600 as officers retired, took disability or went to work elsewhere. Staffing started to recover last year. Officers are now back engaging with the community at George Floyd Square, which became a 'no-go zone' for police immediately after Floyd's death. Flowers acknowledged there have been 'significant strides' in community-police relations. Police Chief Brian O'Hara said his 'officers are starting to heal." 'I think they're starting to be proud of what they do again, getting back to the reasons they got into this profession in the first place,' he told reporters last week. President Donald Trump's administration moved Wednesday to cancel agreements to overhaul the police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, both accused of widespread abuses. Frey, the mayor, decried the timing of the announcement as 'political theater' in the week before the anniversary of Floyd's murder. National reform advocates also denounced the administration's move. But O'Hara and Frey pledged Minneapolis would move forward, with or without the White House. The police department is also operating under a consent decree with the Minnesota Human Rights Department. The decree proposes addressing race-based policing and strengthening public safety by ensuring officers only use reasonable force, never punish or retaliate, and de-escalate conflicts when possible, among other aims. The mayor and chief noted that Minneapolis got high marks in a report released Tuesday by a nonprofit that monitors various cities' compliance with consent decrees. Activists cautioned that Minneapolis has little to brag about. 'We understand that change takes time,' Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said in a statement last week. 'However, the progress being claimed by the city is not being felt in the streets.'
Boston Globe
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
How has Minneapolis changed since the murder of George Floyd 5 years ago?
The Minneapolis Police Department has faced some changes under court supervision that aim to reduce racial disparities. Violent crime, which spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic and after Floyd's death, is mostly back around pre-pandemic levels, although homicides are inching up. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up A place of pilgrimage Advertisement The intersection where a crowd of concerned onlookers urged Chauvin and other officers to heed Floyd's dying cries quickly became known as George Floyd Square. A large sculpture of a clenched fist is just one of the tributes to Floyd. He died steps from the Cup Foods convenience store that has since been renamed Unity Foods. The area draws visitors from around the world. One visitor last week was Alfred 'A.J.' Flowers Jr., a local activist, who said the police killings of young Black men before Floyd's murder only fueled the frustration and rage that erupted on the streets five years ago. It's significant that the Black community tends to come together at 'places where we die, whether it's by our own hands or by police violence,' Flowers said. Advertisement The fate of George Floyd Square A majority of City Council members support building a pedestrian-only mall where Floyd drew his final breaths, but Mayor Jacob Frey and many property and business owners oppose the idea of closing the area to all vehicles. Any final decisions remain a long way off. In the meantime, businesses in the neighborhood are struggling and crime remains high. Flowers urged authorities to provide more support for Black-owned businesses, housing, education and crime prevention to improve the local economy. The shell of the 3rd Precinct police station, which was allowed to burn during the unrest in 2020, has been the subject of intense debate. The City Council last month voted to proceed with a plan to build a 'Democracy Center' there that would house voter services and a community space. The former chief of police has said he doesn't regret the decision to abandon the structure. The demise of defund the police The slogan 'Defund the Police' caught fire after Floyd's death, but it never came to pass. While a majority of council members initially backed the idea, what appeared on the city ballot in 2021 was a more modest attempt to reimagine policing. Voters rejected it. The police force lost hundreds of officers following the unrest. From nearly 900 in early 2020, the ranks fell to less than 600 as officers retired, took disability or went to work elsewhere. Staffing started to recover last year. Officers are now back engaging with the community at George Floyd Square, which became a 'no-go zone' for police immediately after Floyd's death. Flowers acknowledged there have been 'significant strides' in community-police relations. Advertisement Police Chief Brian O'Hara said his 'officers are starting to heal.' 'I think they're starting to be proud of what they do again, getting back to the reasons they got into this profession in the first place,' he told reporters last week. Remaking policing President Donald Trump's administration moved Wednesday to cancel agreements to overhaul the police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, both accused of widespread abuses. Frey, the mayor, decried the timing of the announcement as 'political theater' in the week before the anniversary of Floyd's murder. National reform advocates also denounced the administration's move. But O'Hara and Frey pledged Minneapolis would move forward, with or without the White House. The police department is also operating under a consent decree with the Minnesota Human Rights Department. The decree proposes addressing race-based policing and strengthening public safety by ensuring officers only use reasonable force, never punish or retaliate, and de-escalate conflicts when possible, among other aims. The mayor and chief noted that Minneapolis got high marks in a report released Tuesday by a nonprofit that monitors various cities' compliance with consent decrees. Activists cautioned that Minneapolis has little to brag about. 'We understand that change takes time,' Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said in a statement last week. 'However, the progress being claimed by the city is not being felt in the streets.' Associated Press videographer Mark Vancleave contributed to this story.
