Show an ad over header. AMP  

Hong Kong vigil organizer arrested on 32nd Tiananmen anniversary

04 June 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Hong Kong police on Friday arrested an organizer of the annual Tiananmen Square vigil and sealed off parts of the park where the event is usually held, according to Reuters.

Why it matters: Thousands of people typically gather in Victoria Park on June 4 to mourn those killed by Chinese troops during the bloody 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square.

Context: The Chinese Communist Party has never allowed public vigils on the anniversary of the massacre in the mainland, but they were allowed to occur in Hong Kong in the past, according to AP.

  • In March, China's government significantly impaired Hong Kong's democratic electoral system by passing a law designed to ensure only "patriotic" figures can run for positions of power.
  • Beijing also passed a security law last year that gave the government broad power to limit people's political freedom. Thousands fearing repression have fled Hong Kong to the U.K. since the law was passed.

The big picture: Friday's suppression of the planned event at Victoria Park is the latest example of the Chinese government's crackdown on rights and freedoms previously enjoyed by those living in Hong Kong.

  • Police arrested Chow Hang Tung, vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, early Friday morning for promoting an unauthorized assembly, according to Reuters.
  • The city has officially banned large gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic, though certain gatherings, like concerts and art fairs, were allowed to take place on Friday. Life in Hong Kong, "which recorded just one new COVID-19 case on Thursday, has largely returned to normal," Reuters noted.
  • Authorities on Friday threatened to arrest more people, warning that anyone who took part in an unauthorized assembly could face up to five years in jail.

Go deeper:Blinken condemns new Hong Kong election law's "denial of democracy"

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

Section2

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.