John Lewis to be carried across Edmund Pettus Bridge for final time
26 July 2020
The body of the late Rep. John Lewis will be escorted Sunday across the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where the civil rights icon first helped lead a march for voting rights in 1965, CNN reports.
Why it matters: The march, in which Lewis and other activists were beaten by police officers who attacked them with clubs, became known as "Bloody Sunday" and was a critical turning point in the civil rights movement. The event helped lead to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.
- At 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, networks will break in with special coverage when Lewis travels across the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the final time.
- The bridgeis named for a Confederate general and KKK leader. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.)is among those calling for the bridge to be named for Lewis, but some in Selma are opposed.
The big picture: Sunday's event is part of a six-day memorial ceremony honoring Lewis, who died on July 17 at age 80 after battling with pancreatic cancer.
This story will be updated with more coverage.
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.