Deadly tornadoes strike South as 100 million at risk of severe weather
04 May 2021
At least two people have died as a powerful storm system moved across much of the U.S. Monday, spawning tornadoes that knocked out power in several states.
The big picture: Over 100 million people from the southern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic on Monday faced the risk of severe weather, which was expected to continue to hit Southern states through Tuesday, per the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.
Very large hail, tornadoes (a couple of which may be significant), and intense damaging winds are expected tonight in a corridor from northeast Texas and southeast Oklahoma to the Lower Ohio Valley. https://t.co/o6VyTZ45jY
— National Weather Service (@NWS) May 4, 2021
Of note: Tornadoes were "reported from Kentucky to South Carolina, and even as far as southwest of Atlanta," per CBS News.
- In Douglasville, Georgia, a man was killed when a tree fell on his car as a tornado struck the Atlanta area Monday morning, the Atlanta Constitution-Journal reports.
- In Bonaire, Georgia, a 55-year-old died after a tree fell on her home, AP notes.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly 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.