MINNEAPOLIS: A black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis was seen on a bystander’s video pleading that he could not breathe as a white officer knelt on his neck during the arrest and kept his knee there for several minutes after the man stopped moving.
The death Monday night after a struggle with officers was under investigation by the FBI and state law enforcement authorities. It drew comparisons to the case of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who died in 2014 in New York after he was placed in a chokehold by police and pleaded for his life, saying he could not breathe.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey apologized to the black community Tuesday in a post on his Facebook page.
“Being Black in America should not be a death sentence. For five minutes, we watched a white officer press his knee into a Black man’s neck. Five minutes. When you hear someone calling for help, you’re supposed to help. This officer failed in the most basic, human sense,” Frey posted.
Police said the man matched the description of a suspect in a forgery case and resisted arrest. The video shows an unidentified officer kneeling on his neck and ignoring his pleas. “Please, please, please, I can’t breathe. Please, man,” the man is heard telling the officer.
After several minutes, one of the officers tells the man to “relax.” “Man, I can’t breathe,” he responds. Minutes pass and the man becomes motionless under the officer’s restraint. The officer leaves his knee on the man’s neck for several minutes more.
Several witnesses had gathered on a nearby sidewalk, with some recording on their phones. Bystanders became increasing agitated as the man pleaded with police. One bystander tells officers that they need to let him breathe. Another yells at them to check the man’s pulse.
The man who died was identified as George Floyd by Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights and personal injury attorney who said he had been hired by Floyd’s family.
“We all watched the horrific death of George Floyd on video as witnesses begged the police officer to take him into the police car and get off his neck,” Crump said in a statement. “This abusive, excessive and inhumane use of force cost the life of a man who was being detained by the police for questioning about a non-violent charge.”
Asked by reporters about the use of the knee on the man’s neck, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said the department has “policies in place regarding placing someone under control” that “will be part of the full investigation we’ll do internally.”
The New York City officer in the Garner case said he was using a legal maneuver called “the seatbelt” to bring down Garner, whom police said had been resisting arrest. But the medical examiner referred to it as a chokehold in the autopsy report and said it contributed to his death. Chokehold maneuvers are banned under New York police policy.
In Minneapolis, kneeling on a suspect’s neck is allowed under the department’s use-of-force policy for officers who have received training in how to compress a neck without applying direct pressure to the airway. It is considered a “non-deadly force option,” according to the department’s policy handbook.
A chokehold is considered a deadly force option and involves someone obstructing the airway. According to the department’s use-of-force policy, officers are to use only an amount of force necessary that would be objectively reasonable.
The police union asked the public to wait for the investigation to take its course and not to “rush to judgment and immediately condemn our officers.” The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, which would handle any prosecution of police on state charges, said in a statement that it was “shocked and saddened” by the video and pledged to handle the case fairly. The US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota declined comment.
Nekima Levy-Armstrong, a prominent local activist, told the Star Tribune that watching the footage that was shared on social media made her “sick to her stomach” and reminded her of the Garner case. A grand jury later decided against indicting the officers involved in Garner’s death, sparking protests around the country.
The man’s death in Minneapolis also came amid outrage over the death of Ahmaud Arbery, who was fatally shot Feb. 23 in Georgia after a white father and son pursued the 25-year-old black man they had spotted running in their subdivision. More than two months passed before charges were brought. Crump also represents Arbery’s father.
Officers in Minneapolis were called about 8 p.m. Monday to investigate a report of a forgery at a business, according to police spokesman John Elder. Police found the man, believed to be in his 40s, matching the suspect’s description in his car.
“He was ordered to step from his car. After he got out, he physically resisted officers,” Elder said in a statement. “Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress.”
The man, who was not immediately identified, was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he soon died, police said. His name and cause of death were expected to be released by the medical examiner.
All body camera footage has been turned over to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the agency asked to speak with anyone who saw the arrest or recorded video. The officers involved have been put on paid administrative leave, per department protocol. The agency said the officers’ names will be released after initial interviews with the people involved and witnesses.
The FBI is conducting a separate federal civil rights investigation, at the request of Minneapolis police, the BCA said. Messages left with the FBI were not immediately returned.
Police in Minneapolis have come under scrutiny in recent years for deadly run-ins with citizens. A 24-year-old black man, Jamar Clark, was shot in the head and died in 2015 after a confrontation with two white officers responding to a reported assault. A county prosecutor declined to prosecute the officers, saying Clark was struggling for one of the officers’ gun when he was shot.
A white woman, Justine Rusczcyk Damond, died in 2017 when she was shot in the stomach by a Minneapolis officer responding to her 911 call. That officer, who is black, was convicted of manslaughter and murder and is serving a 12-year prison sentence.
Black man dies after video shows officer kneeling on neck
https://arab.news/8yn7s
Black man dies after video shows officer kneeling on neck
- George Floyd pleaded he could not breathe as officer knelt on his neck during arrest – officer kept knee on neck after Floyd stopped moving
- Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey apologized to the black community Tuesday in a post on his Facebook page
Why both Harris and Trump have Michigan’s Arab and Muslim endorsements
- The swing state could very well determine the outcome of the fierce battle to capture the White House and Congress
- Many blame Biden administration for failing to use US influence to secure ceasefire in Gaza, end the war in Lebanon
CHICAGO: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the two major political party candidates, have secured endorsements from prominent Arab and Muslim community leaders in Michigan, a key battleground state that could determine the outcome of the upcoming US presidential election.
A recent Arab News/YouGov poll has shown Trump and Harris in a tight race among Arab American voters, while third-party Green candidate Dr. Jill Stein has also drawn significant support, largely due to her stance on the Gaza conflict, in a bid to capture 5 percent of the vote, enough to qualify the Green Party as a major political party in future elections.
Arab and Muslim Americans endorsed Trump at a rally in Novi, Michigan, on Oct. 25, while Harris received the community’s support in Dearborn on Oct. 26.
Appearing on “The Ray Hanania Radio Show” on Thursday, representatives of both camps argued that their candidate was better equipped to end conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, which the Arab News/YouGov poll identified as critical issues for Arab Americans in the Nov. 5 election.
“People have said, well, (former) President Trump talked about a Muslim ban. President Trump is no longer talking about a Muslim ban. President Trump moved the (US) Embassy to Jerusalem. It’s a plaque that was moved; it was not the 43,000 Palestinians who have been killed at the hands of Israel with arms provided by the US,” said Dr. Bishara Bahbah, a former Democrat who helped organize pro-Trump rallies in swing states like Michigan.
Criticizing the Biden administration’s policies, Bahbah argued that the current support for Israel would continue under Harris, suggesting that her presidency would lead to more civilian deaths and destruction in Gaza and Lebanon.
“That is unacceptable. The Biden administration’s policies will continue, and we will see Israel doing whatever the hell it wants to do against our people,” Bahbah added.
The Biden administration has faced mounting criticism from Arab Americans and the international community over its military and financial support for Israel, which critics argue has fueled escalating violence that has left close to 50,000 dead across Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon, along with widespread displacement and injury. Washington has also been accused of failing to effectively leverage its diplomatic influence to secure a much-needed ceasefire.
Reflecting this perceived policy gap, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that “good progress” had been made toward a ceasefire deal in Israel’s offensive against Lebanon. However, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati cautioned on Friday that Israel’s “renewed expansion” of attacks could derail any potential truce efforts, indicating resistance to a diplomatic resolution despite over a month of war.
Bahbah believes the Gaza and Lebanon conflicts reflect weak leadership on the part of President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris, who assumed the Democratic nomination in August.
“You (Arabs and Muslims) have a choice between a Harris administration that’s going to continue killing our people, or you have a choice to vote for Trump, who has told us, me personally as well, that he wants to stop the wars immediately,” Bahbah said adding that the former president is committed “to lay the groundwork for lasting peace agreements in the Middle East that are satisfactory to all parties in the region.”
Arab and Muslim mayors, including Amer Ghalib of Hamtramck and Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights, joined Trump’s endorsement in Novi, Michigan, on Saturday, highlighting Trump’s outreach to these communities and his potential impact in the swing state.
Trump greeted his Arab and Muslim supporters at the rally, expressing confidence that they could “turn the election one way or the other.” At the same event, Imam Belal Alzuhairi endorsed Trump as a “peacemaker,” echoing Bahbah’s view that Trump is better positioned than Harris to “bring peace to the Middle East.”
This sentiment aligns with Arab News/YouGov poll findings that indicate many Arab Americans see the former president as more capable of addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Meanwhile, in Dearborn, Michigan, on Sunday, a dozen Arab and Muslim community leaders held a press conference to endorse Harris, including Ismael Ahmed, a co-founder and former director of the influential Michigan-based social services organization ACCESS.
Ahmed cited the ongoing violence in Gaza and Lebanon as key to their support for Harris, noting her recent hints at diverging from the current administration’s approach and supporting a shift in US policy toward implementing a two-state solution.
“The horror is true for all of us, all Americans. And we want it to end. We want to cease fire. We want equity for the Palestinians, a Palestinian state. And we want to live side by side with Jews and Israelis in particular,” said Ahmed who was joined by Arab American Institute President Jim Zogby and Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad I. Turfe on the show.
“They’ve suffered loss, too. And our heart goes out to them as well. We need peace,” he said, adding that “all of us, no matter who we are supporting for the elections, have been working hard to make that happen” and that the uncommitted movement has been a reaction to bring more attention and to force more movement on the issue.
Many prominent Arab American Democrats have refused to endorse the Democratic ticket this year, pressing Harris and Biden to adopt a more assertive stance toward Israel, including a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas conflict and an arms embargo.
The Uncommitted National Movement, a group of disenchanted Arab American Democrats, said it will not endorse Harris, citing disappointment with her response to community requests for a meeting with Palestinian families in Michigan. Reflecting the ambivalence many Arab Americans feel about their options, the Uncommitted National Movement also warned against a Trump presidency, which it claims would intensify military action in Gaza and increase suppression of anti-war efforts.
“Frankly speaking, Kamala Harris has been more sympathetic. We believe that’s real, but there’s been very little put on the table,” Ahmed said. “But when you match that to what Donald Trump is saying, he’s called for a Muslim ban, which he says he will reinstate the very first day he is in office. He’s called for internment camps. And none of us can have doubts that we’re one of the groups that will end up in those internment camps.”
Ahmed, an associate provost at the University of Michigan at Dearborn and former director for the Michigan Department of Human Services, warned that Trump’s stance on immigration and close alliance with Israel would pose significant risks to the community.
“(Trump) has called for the arrest and deportation by the military of 11 million immigrants. Some of them are our families. They’re mostly hardworking and contributing to the economy. In fact, our economy wouldn’t function without them. And on Palestine, Donald Trump opposes a Palestinian state, (he) has called for Netanyahu to continue his bloody approach to the war until victory, whatever that is. And I can go on.”
Until then, the Harris campaign had been unsuccessful in winning public endorsements from the Arab and Muslim leaders because of community criticism of her failure to stop Israel’s concurrent military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
Michigan, a swing state that Trump won in 2016 and Biden narrowly captured in 2020, could once again play a decisive role in the election. Of more than 5.5 million votes cast in Michigan in 2020, Biden led by fewer than 155,000 votes. With more than 200,000 Arab Americans living in the state, their vote could be pivotal this November.
“The Ray Hanania Radio Show” airs every Thursday at 5 PM on Michigan’s WNZK AM 690 radio and rebroadcasts Mondays at 5 PM on the US Arab Radio network, sponsored by Arab News. For more information on the show or to listen to the podcast, visit ArabNews.com/rayradioshow.
Microsoft ‘crumbled under pressure’ over Palestinian vigil, fired employee says
- Hossam Nasr says he and Abdo Mohamed were targeted for ‘daring to humanize Palestinians’
- Israel-linked lobby group broke news of Nasr’s firing before he was informed
LONDON: Two recently fired Microsoft employees claim that the tech giant targeted them over their pro-Palestinian activism.
Data scientist Abdo Mohamed and software engineer Hossam Nasr, both of whom are Egyptian, had their employment terminated on Oct. 24, the same day they held a vigil outside Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, for Palestinians killed in Gaza, The Guardian reported.
They were both members of No Azure for Apartheid, a pressure group of Microsoft employees who campaigned against the company’s sale of its Azure cloud services to Israel, including the Israel Defense Forces.
After his firing, Nasr said that Microsoft had targeted him and Mohamed for “daring to humanize Palestinians.”
The pressure group has demanded that Microsoft end all Azure links to Israel, disclose all ties with the country, call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and uphold employee free speech.
“Microsoft really crumbled under pressure, internally and externally, to fire me and to shut down and retaliate against our event, not because of policy violations, simply because we were daring to humanize Palestinians, and daring to say that Microsoft should not be complicit with an army that is plausibly accused of genocide,” Nasr said.
In a statement, Microsoft said that Nasr and Mohamed were fired for “disrupting the work of their colleagues” and hosting the vigil on company property.
But the pair reject both claims, saying that the event followed the same procedures as other company employee groups, with more than 200 Microsoft workers attending on the ground or virtually.
Nasr and Mohamed said that they communicated with Microsoft ahead of the vigil, and that police, who were called to the event, observed the vigil without taking action.
“(Microsoft) never, at any point, said that termination was on the table or even that disciplinary consequences were on the table,” Nasr told The Guardian.
Another controversy surrounding the firing involves an Israel-linked lobby group, Stop Antisemitism, publicizing Nasr’s dismissal before the employee himself had been informed.
Nasr showed The Guardian a phone log, showing that he was informed of his firing at 9 p.m. that day — 90 minutes after Stop Antisemitism had posted the news of his termination on social media.
He also claimed that he was the subject of repeated investigations for his pro-Palestinian comments in employee groups, while comments accusing him and Mohamed of being “members of Hamas” were ignored by HR.
Workers at Microsoft have reported widespread internal discontent over the firings.
One Palestinian employee told The Guardian: “It was unjust and very intentional as a message to the community to silence the loudest voice in our community.”
Microsoft is not the only tech giant to suffer employee discontent over its ties to the Israeli military. In April, Google fired more than 50 employees who protested against its links to the Israel Defense Forces.
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India condemns Canada for linking home minister to plots against Sikh separatists
- A row broke out between the two states after a Sikh separatist’s murder on Canadian soil last year
- India denies any role in the incident, though both countries have expelled each other’s diplomats
NEW DELHI: India’s foreign ministry said on Saturday it had lodged a protest with Canada for linking its home minister to alleged plots against Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.
The ministry also accused Ottawa of surveillance of some Indian consular staff.
Canada’s global affairs department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, made outside usual work hours.
The Washington Post newspaper first reported in October that Canadian officials alleged Amit Shah, considered the number two in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, was behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists in Canada.
Canadian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison told a parliamentary panel on Tuesday that he had told The Washington Post that Shah was behind the plots.
“It was conveyed in a note that the government of India protests in the strongest terms to the absurd and baseless references made to the Union Home Minister of India,” foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday.
Jaiswal said what he called Canada’s “unfounded insinuations” would have serious consequences for bilateral ties between the two nations.
Jaiswal also said Canada has informed India’s consular officials that they have been under audio and video surveillance, and that India viewed this as “harassment and intimidation.” He did not say when Canada informed Indian officials about this.
India has previously denied any role in the 2023 murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and the alleged targeting of other dissidents there. The dispute has led to expulsions of diplomats in both countries.
Indian troops kill three suspected rebels in disputed Kashmir
- Two separate gunbattles took place in Anantnag and Srinagar districts
- Police say two soldiers and two policemen were injured in the fighting
SRINAGAR: Three suspected militants were killed Saturday in separate gunbattles in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials said Saturday.
India’s military in a statement said soldiers intercepted a group of militants in a forested area in southern Anantnag district on Saturday, leading to a gunbattle that killed two rebels.
In a separate incident in the disputed region’s main city of Srinagar, police and paramilitary soldiers killed a militant in an exchange of gunfire after troops cordoned off a neighborhood on a tip that he was hiding in a house. Police said two soldiers and two police were injured in the fighting.
Residents said the troops torched the home where the rebel was trapped, a common tactic employed by Indian troops in the Himalayan region. There was no independent confirmation of the incident.
India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over the territory since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Militants in the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is “Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.” Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Bangladesh introduces 10-year tax exemption for renewable energy projects
- Policy grants 100 percent tax exemption for renewable energy plants in first 5 years
- Bangladesh’s renewable energy output is among the lowest in the world
DHAKA: Bangladesh is introducing a 10-year tax exemption package for renewable energy production — a move expected to help boost clean electricity generation, which is still hampered by high production costs.
The National Board of Revenue issued a notification earlier this week for projects that will begin commercial operations by mid-2030.
The policy grants 100 percent tax exemption for renewable energy plants in the first five years, 50 percent in the next three years, and 25 percent in the following two years.
“Companies whose commercial production will start between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2030, are exempted from the tax,” NBR chairman Abdur Rahman Khan said in a statement specifying the waivers.
The policy backtracks on the previous government’s 2023 decision to withdraw full tax exemptions for the renewable energy sector, which discouraged local and foreign investors.
“It’s a very timely and good initiative ... it will create confidence among the investors,” Dr. S.M. Nasif Shams, director of the Institute of Energy at Dhaka University and secretary of the Bangladesh Solar Energy Society, told Arab News.
“It’s a good sign that within such a short span of time this interim government came up with this decision for boosting the renewable energy sector. It also complies with Prof. Yunus’ ‘three zero’ concept which he promotes around the world.”
Bangladesh’s caretaker government took office in August when ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quit and fled the country amid violent protests.
It is headed by Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and economics professor who invented microcredit, who has been advocating work toward a world of zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero carbon emissions.
While Bangladesh aims to achieve its net-zero emissions goal by 2050, currently its clean electricity generation capacity is 1.38 GW or only about 5 percent of the total, which comes mostly from fossil fuels — mainly natural gas.
The country has been struggling for years with energy crises as demand grows about 7 percent a year amid increasing household and industry use, increasing Bangladesh’s dependence on imports as local production is insufficient, with the renewable energy output being among the lowest in the world.
Attracting investors with tax waivers could help with the high costs of building clean energy plants — currently one of the main obstacles to developing the renewable sector in the country.
“This decision will help the country’s economy a lot, as well as it will save the environment in a sustainable way,” Shams said.
“We have to go for renewable energy ... There is no alternative for us.”
