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Arizona declares state holiday to honor World War II-era Navajo code talkers

30 March 2021
Dan Ackermann

Arizona has adopted a new state holiday to honor Navajo Nation members who used their language to pass on coded messages during World War II.

Driving the news: Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation on Monday that designates Aug. 14 "Navajo Code Talkers Day."

  • If Aug. 14 doesn't fall on a Sunday, the day will be observed the following Sunday.
  • Proponents have been urging the state to adopt a holiday since President Ronald Reagan declared Navajo Code Talkers Day by presidential proclamation on Aug. 14, 1982.

What they're saying: “The Navajo Code Talkers are American heroes. They assisted on every major operation involving the U.S. Marines in the Pacific theatre, using their native language to come up with an unbreakable code," Ducey said in a statement.

  • "Their crucial service during WWII will not be forgotten, and we will continue to honor them every August 14th," said state Sen. Jamescita Peshlakai (D-Ariz.), a Navajo Nation member who sponsored the bill.

Flashback: The U.S. government recruited and enlisted more than 400 Navajo men to serve in standard communications units.

  • The Navajo Code Talkers used their code to assist in major operations involving the U.S. Marines in the Pacific Ocean theatre, including during the battle at Iwo Jima.
  • A dozen of Hopi and members of other tribes also used their own codes.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.