02 November 2020
America's cities are bracing for violence as soon as tomorrow.
Driving the news: Landmarks, stores, and restaurants in New York, Washington D.C. and other cities are boarding up their doors in fear that Election Day will bring another blow to their businesses, many of which are already reeling from the pandemic and damage from protests.
Why it matters: The election’s outcome could lead to civil unrest, no matter who wins. People all over the country are preparing for the worst.
In photos
A store with Trump graffiti in Soho, New York, on Monday. Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
Craftsmen attach wooden panels to shop windows for protection in the upscale Fifth Avenue shopping mile. Photo: Christina Horsten/picture alliance via Getty Images
Craftsmen attach wooden boards to the shop windows of the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. Photo: Christina Horsten/picture alliance via Getty Images
A person passes by a business boarded up in the Soho area. Soho was one of the areas where most of the looting occurred in June. Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
The White House is seen behind fencing and barriers at Black Lives Matter plaza, 3 days before the election. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Concrete barriers are put in place to stabilize black fencing that surround the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building across from Lafayette Square. Photo: Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via Getty Images
People walk past a shop being boarded up in precaution to unrest related to the election. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Go deeper: A safe, sane way to navigate election night — and beyond
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.