What the George Floyd protests have achieved in just two weeks
In the weeks since video evidence showed a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, for almost nine minutes, protests have erupted across the US and the rest of the world. From Minneapolis to London to New York and Atlanta, thousands have taken to the streets in a show of solidarity. Organizations and individuals have donated millions; editors have resigned; and statues have toppled. Here are just some of the concrete changes we are seeing happening across the US right now. Protesters gathered outside the Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey’s home over the weekend, and demanded to know his position on defunding the police. When he said he did not believe in fully abolishing the police, he was subjected to chants of “shame” and protesters telling him to leave. But his reluctance didn’t matter. A veto-proof majority of councillors subsequently voted to defund the police on Sunday, pledging a “transformative new model of public safety”.