In photos: Major sports grind to halt as players protest Jacob Blake shooting
27 August 2020
The Milwaukee Bucks' boycott of their playoff game over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, prompted the NBA to postpone all games scheduled for Wednesday night and triggered a wave action in other sports.
The big picture: Quick to follow suit were the Women's National Basketball Association quickly followed suit and a slew of Major League Soccer matches. In baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers called off their game against the Cincinnati Reds, the Seattle Mariners' voted against playing the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Francisco Giants was also postponed.
Photo: Ashley Landis-Pool/Getty Images
The words "Justice Equality Now" on the jumbotron at the Milwaukee Brewers' Miller Park. Photo: Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Los Angeles F.C. players pose after their game against Real Salt Lake was postponed at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, on Wednesday. Photo: Chris Gardner/Getty Images
Here’s the NHL moment of reflection for Jacob Blake before playing tonight’s playoff game between Boston and Tampa Bay. @hockeynight@cbcsportspic.twitter.com/xswBBjDate
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 27, 2020
Go deeper: Obama praises Bucks for "standing up for what they believe in" with boycott
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.