In photos: Thousands of Cubans take to the streets for anti-government protests
11 July 2021
Thousands of people protested across Cuba on Sunday against food and medicine shortages during the pandemic, per AP.
Why it matters: It's unusual for demonstrations to be held against the Communist government, which is known for cracking down on dissent. The protests in Havana and elsewhere are the biggest since 1994, when an uprising saw many Cubans leave by sea, the New York Times notes.
A man is arrested during the anti-government protest in Havana on July 11, during which protesters chanted "Down with the dictatorship" and "We want liberty." Photo: Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images
AP photographer Ramon Espinosa is grabbed by the police while covering the demonstration against Diaz-Canel in Havana on July 11. AP reports that a group of government supporters assaulted him. SomPhoto: Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty Images
Cubans standing outside Havana's Capitol during a demonstration against the government on July 11. Photo: Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (C) walks alongside his supporters in the town of San Antonio de los Banos after the anti-government protests on July 11. Photo: Yander Zamora/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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.