May 31, 2020

Nationwide Demonstrations Turn Violent as Police Attack Protesters

In Seattle, for instance, police maced a child. 

Mike Stewart/AP

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For the fifth night in a row, demonstrators across the country took to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in Minneapolis who was killed by a white police officer who kneeled on his neck while Floyd begged for his life saying, “I can’t breathe.” The officer, Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday. As the protests spread, demonstrators demanded an end to the unjust system and the systemic police brutality that led to Floyd’s death. The police responded with more brutality against protesters, bystanders, and journalists.

In shocking but countless viral videos, police officers in cities around the country responded to protesters with egregious tactics, from unprovoked violent shoving to indiscriminate pepper spraying.

In New York City, a police officer pulls down a young protester’s mask as his hands are in the air and pepper sprays him in the face.

On live television, cops in Atlanta use a Taser on car passengers, remove them from the car, and arrest them.

Again in New York City, police officers plow through protesters with their vehicles. 

In this video, a white police officer decides to shove a Black woman to the ground with his bike. 

In Minneapolis, the National Guard and the city police department fire paint canisters at people standing on their porches. 

In Seattle, police maced a child. 

In Salt Lake City, Utah, police officers dressed in riot gear knock down an elderly man who is walking down the street.

This is a non-exhaustive list. But, despite the ample footage of police violence that took place over the weekend, a few elected officials thanked the police for showing “restraint.” 

Nevertheless, the past few days have revealed to the public what American policing actually looks like. But remember this is what happened when the cameras were rolling. What happens when they’re not?

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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